Reported Speech

Tense Changes in Reported Speech

E.g. He said: “ I work hard”
He said that he worked hard.

Verb tense forms usually need to change. The tenses generally move backwards in this
way:

 Present Simple Tense into Past Simple Tense

 Present Continuous Tense into Past Continuous Tense
 Present Perfect Tense into Past Perfect Tense
 Past Simple Tense into Past Perfect Tense
 Past Continuous Tense into Past Perfect Continuous Tense
 Past Perfect Tense (The tense remains unchanged)
 Will into Would
 Will be into Would be
 Will have into Would have
 Will have been into Would have been
Other Verb Form Changes in Indirect Speech
 Can into Could
 Could (The verb remains unchanged)
 Have to into Had to
 Must into Must/Had to
 May into Might
 Might (The verb remains unchanged)
 Should (The verb remains unchanged)
 Imperative changes into infinitive.
E.g. He said to his daughter: “Go out with your friends”
He asked his daughter to go out with her friends.

Exercises

Put the sentences into reported speech.

1. She told him, "Shut the door!"
She told him ................................................................................................................
2. He said, "I am going home now."
He said (that) ................................................................................................................
3. Sam asked her, "Have you got 20 pounds?"
Sam asked her ...............................................................................................................
4. He wanted to know, "Which picture is the most famous one?"
He wanted to know .........................................................................................................
 5. She said, "I was biking yesterday."
She said (that) ..............................................................................................................
6. She said, "I am doing my homework.
She said (that) ...............................................................................................................
7. They asked me, "Did Paul lose the match?"
They asked me ...............................................................................................................
8. He told her, "Don't call me before 7 o'clock!
He told her ....................................................................................................................
9. Mother said to me, "I will buy that book for you."
Mother said to me (that) .................................................................................................
10. Cathy asked me, "Is the movie interesting or boring?"
Cathy asked me ....................................................................................................................
11. She said to him, "I have invited you to my party."
She said to him (that) .............................................................................................................
12. They wanted to know, "When is your birthday?"
They wanted to know ..............................................................................................................
13. Susan said, "I like classical music."
Susan said (that) .........................................................................................................................
14. She asked me, "Where did you meet her?"
She asked me ............................................................................................................................

15. He said, "I'm looking forward to my holidays."

He said (that) .............................................................................................................................
16. She said, "We had a day away at the beach."
She said (that) ...................................................................................................................................
17. He said, "My mum took us to an alligator farm."
He said (that) ......................................................................................................................................
18. She said, "There is a big pool with lots of alligators."
She said (that) ..................................................................................................................................
19. She said, "I don't like alligator meat."
She said (that) ..................................................................................................................................
20. He said, "We have never seen such a beautiful view."
He said (that) ....................................................................................................................................
21. She said, "My dad works in town."
She said (that) ...............................................................................................................................
22. They told us, "We spend our holidays on a farm every year."
They told us (that) ..............................................................................................................................
23. She said, "We went for a picnic."
She said (that) ....................................................................................................................................
24. He said, "My brother came home late."
He said (that) .....................................................................................................................................