A Guide to Reported Speech in English: Mastering Direct and Indirect Speech

Reporting Verbs

Some common reporting verbs include:

• admit
• agree
• announce
• ask
• complain
• explain
• invite
• offer
• promise
• refuse
• tell
• warn

Direct Speech - Reported Speech

When changing from direct speech to reported speech, several changes occur:

Time Expressions

• now - then
• today - that day
• tomorrow - the next day/the following day
• yesterday - the day before/the previous day
• last year - the year before/the previous year
• five years ago - five years before
• next week - the next week/the following week

Pronouns

• I - he/she
• you - I/she/he/we/they
• we - they
• me - him/her
• you - me/him/her/us/them
• us - them
• my - his/her
• your - my/his/her/our/their
• our - their

Tense Changes

Present Simple - Past Simple

"I fancy you" - He told me that he fancied me.

Present Continuous - Past Continuous

"I'm going out with Tim" - She said that she was going out with Tim.

Past Simple - Past Perfect

"I met her at a party" - He told me that he'd met her at a party.

Present Perfect - Past Perfect

"I've met someone else" - She told me that she'd met someone else.

Will - Would

"We'll miss you" - They said that they'd miss me.

Is/Are Going To - Was/Were Going To

"He's going to ask you out" - She said that he was going to ask me out.

Can - Could

"I can't go out with you" - He told me that he couldn't go out with me.

Have To - Had To

"I have to finish with Sam" - She said that she had to finish with Sam.

Phrasal Verbs with Someone

Here are some common phrasal verbs used with "someone":

• cheat on someone
• fall in love with someone
• fancy someone
• finish with someone
• flirt with someone
• get on with someone
• go out with someone
• have an argument with someone
• miss someone