English Grammar Online Exercises and Downloadable Worksheets
Online exercises.
- Reported Speech
Levels of Difficulty : Elementary Intermediate Advanced
- RS012 - Reported Speech Intermediate
- RS011 - Reported Speech Intermediate
- RS010 - Reporting Verbs Advanced
- RS009 - Reporting Verbs Advanced
- RS008 - Reporting Verbs Advanced
- RS007 - Reporting Verbs Intermediate
- RS006 - Reported Speech Intermediate
- RS005 - Reported Speech - Introductory Verbs Advanced
- RS004 - Reported Speech Intermediate
- RS003 - Reporting Verbs Intermediate
- RS002 - Reported Speech Intermediate
- RS001 - Reported Speech Intermediate
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- Multiple Choice
- Banked Gap Fill
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Reported Speech in English Grammar
Direct speech, changing the tense (backshift), no change of tenses, question sentences, demands/requests, expressions with who/what/how + infinitive, typical changes of time and place.
- Lingolia Plus English
Introduction
In English grammar, we use reported speech to say what another person has said. We can use their exact words with quotation marks , this is known as direct speech , or we can use indirect speech . In indirect speech , we change the tense and pronouns to show that some time has passed. Indirect speech is often introduced by a reporting verb or phrase such as ones below.
Learn the rules for writing indirect speech in English with Lingolia’s simple explanation. In the exercises, you can test your grammar skills.
| Mandy is sitting in the café where James works. He tells her, “I work in this café almost every day. But yesterday I saw a famous TV presenter here for the first time. She was eating an ice-cream at the table where you are sitting now.” |
| A week later, Mandy is speaking to a friend on the phone, “I saw James at the café last week. He said that .” |
When turning direct speech into indirect speech, we need to pay attention to the following points:
- changing the pronouns Example: He said, “ I saw a famous TV presenter.” He said (that) he had seen a famous TV presenter.
- changing the information about time and place (see the table at the end of this page) Example: He said, “I saw a famous TV presenter here yesterday .” He said (that) he had seen a famous TV presenter there the day before .
- changing the tense (backshift) Example: He said, “She was eating an ice-cream at the table where you are sitting .” He said (that) she had been eating an ice-cream at the table where I was sitting .
If the introductory clause is in the simple past (e.g. He said ), the tense has to be set back by one degree (see the table). The term for this in English is backshift .
| direct speech | indirect speech |
|---|---|
| simple present | simple past |
| present progressive | past progressive |
| simple past | past perfect simple |
| present perfect simple | |
| past perfect simple | |
| past progressive | past perfect progressive |
| present perfect progressive | |
| past perfect progressive | |
| future (going to) | was / were going to |
| future (will) | conditional (would) |
| conditional (would) |
The verbs could, should, would, might, must, needn’t, ought to, used to normally do not change.
If the introductory clause is in the simple present , however (e.g. He says ), then the tense remains unchanged, because the introductory clause already indicates that the statement is being immediately repeated (and not at a later point in time).
In some cases, however, we have to change the verb form.
When turning questions into indirect speech, we have to pay attention to the following points:
- As in a declarative sentence, we have to change the pronouns, the time and place information, and set the tense back ( backshift ).
- Instead of that , we use a question word. If there is no question word, we use whether / if instead. Example: She asked him, “ How often do you work?” → She asked him how often he worked. He asked me, “Do you know any famous people?” → He asked me if/whether I knew any famous people.
- We put the subject before the verb in question sentences. (The subject goes after the auxiliary verb in normal questions.) Example: I asked him, “ Have you met any famous people before?” → I asked him if/whether he had met any famous people before.
- We don’t use the auxiliary verb do for questions in indirect speech. Therefore, we sometimes have to conjugate the main verb (for third person singular or in the simple past ). Example: I asked him, “What do you want to tell me?” → I asked him what he wanted to tell me.
- We put the verb directly after who or what in subject questions. Example: I asked him, “ Who is sitting here?” → I asked him who was sitting there.
We don’t just use indirect questions to report what another person has asked. We also use them to ask questions in a very polite manner.
When turning demands and requests into indirect speech, we only need to change the pronouns and the time and place information. We don’t have to pay attention to the tenses – we simply use an infinitive .
If it is a negative demand, then in indirect speech we use not + infinitive .
To express what someone should or can do in reported speech, we leave out the subject and the modal verb and instead we use the construction who/what/where/how + infinitive.
| direct speech | indirect speech |
|---|---|
| today | that day |
| now | then at that moment/time |
| yesterday | the day before |
| … days ago | … days before |
| last week | the week before |
| next year | the following year |
| tomorrow | the next day the following day |
| here | there |
| this | that |
| these | those |
Say or Tell?
The words say and tell are not interchangeable. say = say something tell = say something to someone
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Reported Speech Exercises (With Printable PDF)
| Candace Osmond
| Grammar , Quizzes
Candace Osmond
Candace Osmond studied Advanced Writing & Editing Essentials at MHC. She’s been an International and USA TODAY Bestselling Author for over a decade. And she’s worked as an Editor for several mid-sized publications. Candace has a keen eye for content editing and a high degree of expertise in Fiction.
In English grammar, reported speech is used to tell someone what another person said. It takes another person’s words (direct speech) to create a report of what they said (indirect speech.) With the following direct and indirect speech exercises, it will be easier to understand how reported speech works.
Reported Speech Exercise #1
Complete the sentence in the reported speech.
Reported Speech Exercise #2
Fill in the gaps below with the correct pronouns required in reported speech. Ex. Mary said: “I love my new dress!” Sentence: Mary said ____ love ____ new dress. Answer: she, her
Reported Speech Exercise #3
Choose the correct reported speech phrase to fill in the sentences below.
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English Practice Downloadable PDF Grammar and Vocabulary Worksheets
Reported speech (b1).
- RS013 - Reported Speech
- RS012 - Reported Questions and Commands
- RS011 - Reported Speech
- RS010 - Reported Speech
- RS009 - Reported Commands
- RS008 - Reported Questions
- RS007 - Reported Speech
- RS006 - Reported Speech
- RS005 - Reported Speech
- RS004 - Reported Speech
- RS003 - Reported Speech
- RS002 - Reported Speech - Mixed Exercises
- RS001 - Reported Speech - Mixed Exercises
- Adjective - Adverb
- Gerund and Infinitive
- Modal Verbs
- Reported Speech
- Passive Voice
- Definite and Indefinite Articles
- Quantifiers
- Relative Clauses
- Prepositions
- Questions and Negations
- Question Tags
- Language in Use
- Word Formation
- General Vocabulary
- Topical Vocabulary
- Key Word Transformation
News Articles
- Letters and Emails
- Blog Posts and Comments
- Connectives and Linking Phrases
- Phrasal Verbs
- Collocations and Phrases
Listening Comprehension
Privacy policy.
Reported speech - 1
Reported speech - 2
Reported speech - 3
Worksheets - handouts
Exercises: indirect speech
- Reported speech - present
- Reported speech - past
- Reported speech - questions
- Reported questions - write
- Reported speech - imperatives
- Reported speech - modals
- Indirect speech - tenses 1
- Indirect speech - tenses 2
- Indirect speech - write 1
- Indirect speech - write 2
- Indirect speech - quiz
- Reported speech - tenses
- Indirect speech – reported speech
- Reported speech – indirect speech
Exercise on Reported Speech
Mixed exercise 1.
Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note whether the sentence is a request, a statement or a question.
- He said, "I like this song." → He said
- "Where is your sister?" she asked me. → She asked me
- "I don't speak Italian," she said. → She said
- "Say hello to Jim," they said. → They asked me
- "The film began at seven o'clock," he said. → He said
- "Don't play on the grass, boys," she said. → She told the boys
- "Where have you spent your money?" she asked him. → She asked him
- "I never make mistakes," he said. → He said
- "Does she know Robert?" he wanted to know. → He wanted to know
- "Don't try this at home," the stuntman told the audience. → The stuntman advised the audience
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Reported speech
Reported speech practice
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Reported Speech – English Grammar Explanations
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IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
Perfect English Grammar. Here's a list of all the reported speech exercises on this site: ( Click here to read the explanations about reported speech ) Reported Statements: Present Simple Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here) Present Continuous Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy)
What is indirect speech or reported speech? When we tell people what another person said or thought, we often use reported speech or indirect speech. To do that, we need to change verb tenses (present, past, etc.) and pronouns (I, you, my, your, etc.) if the time and speaker are different.For example, present tenses become past, I becomes he or she, and my becomes his or her, etc.
RS006 - Reported Speech Intermediate. RS005 - Reported Speech - Introductory Verbs Advanced. RS004 - Reported Speech Intermediate. RS003 - Reporting Verbs Intermediate. RS002 - Reported Speech Intermediate. RS001 - Reported Speech Intermediate. Reported Speech - English Grammar Exercises.
Rewrite the demands/requests in indirect speech. The passenger requested the taxi driver, "Stop the car.". → The passenger requested the taxi driver . to + same wording as in direct speech. The mother told her son, "Don't be so loud.". → The mother told her son . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don't.
Watch my reported speech video: Here's how it works: We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. ( Click here for more about using 'say' and 'tell' .) If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the sentence: Direct speech: I like ice cream. Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.
Try this exercise to test your grammar. Grammar test 1. Grammar B1-B2: Reported speech 1: 1. Read the explanation to learn more. Grammar explanation. Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech. direct speech: 'I work in a bank,' said Daniel.
Reported Statements 1. Change the direct speech into reported speech. Use 'she said' at the beginning of each answer. It's the same day, so you don't need to change the time expressions. 1) "He works in a bank." [ . Check. Show.
Introduction. In English grammar, we use reported speech to say what another person has said. We can use their exact words with quotation marks, this is known as direct speech, or we can use indirect speech.In indirect speech, we change the tense and pronouns to show that some time has passed.Indirect speech is often introduced by a reporting verb or phrase such as ones below.
In English grammar, reported speech is used to tell someone what another person said. It takes another person's words (direct speech) to create a report of what they said (indirect speech.) With the following direct and indirect speech exercises, it will be easier to understand how reported speech works.
Unit 6 - Exercise 1 - Reported speech (statements) Rewrite the direct speech as reported speech to complete the sentences. Use contractions where possible.
Exercises on Reported Speech. If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker's exact words (direct speech), but reported (indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech into reported speech. ... "I speak English." reported speech (no backshift) He says that he speaks English ...
Exercises. 2315 Backshift of tenses in Reported speech - Exercise. 2321 Conversion of time phrases in Reported speech - Exercise. 2317 Pronouns in Reported speech - Exercise. 2327 Reported commands - affirmative sentences - Exercise. 2329 Reported commands - negations - Exercise. 2323 Reported questions - Exercise.
Unit 7 - Exercise 1 - Reported speech. Rewrite the direct speech as reported speech to complete the sentences. Use contractions where possible.
RS008 - Reported Questions. RS007 - Reported Speech. RS006 - Reported Speech. RS005 - Reported Speech. RS004 - Reported Speech. RS003 - Reported Speech. RS002 - Reported Speech - Mixed Exercises. RS001 - Reported Speech - Mixed Exercises. Adjective and Adverbs - Downloadable PDF Worksheets for English Language Learners - Intermediate Level (B1)
Exercise 1. Choose say/said or tell/told to complete the following sentences in reported speech. 1 He me that he didn't have enough money. 2 I the waiter the soup was cold. 3 Everybody that I had been great. 4 She I was her favourite student. 5 Victor he would change the windows. 6 I the doctor I didn't want to take any medicine.
Yes, and you report it with a reporting verb. He said he wanted to know about reported speech. I said, I want and you changed it to he wanted. Exactly. Verbs in the present simple change to the past simple; the present continuous changes to the past continuous; the present perfect changes to the past perfect; can changes to could; will changes ...
Exercises: indirect speech. Reported speech - present. Reported speech - past. Reported speech - questions. Reported questions - write. Reported speech - imperatives. Reported speech - modals. Indirect speech - tenses 1. Indirect speech - tenses 2.
Mixed Exercise 1. Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note whether the sentence is a request, a statement or a question. He said, "I like this song." → He said "Where is your sister?" she asked me. → She asked me "I don't speak Italian," she said. → She said "Say hello to Jim," they said. → They asked me
Reported questions in English, Questions, Question, Online Exercise. Task No. 2323. Finish the sentences using Reported speech. Always change the tense, although it is sometimes not necessary.. Show example
Language: English (en) ID: 70308. 26/03/2020. Country code: EC. Country: Ecuador. School subject: English as a Second Language (ESL) (1061958) Main content: Reported speech (2013113) From worksheet author: Reported speech practice.
Reported Speech - English Grammar Explanations. Grammar Reference. Reported Speech (Summary) Reported commands and requests in English. Reported questions in English. Reported statements in English.
Practice the use of some specific reporting verbs with this MCQ exercise. Direct / Indirect speech review 01 Report what Charlie said to you YESTERDAY. 02 I Thought you said .... This is the OE version of my ws. The ss can practise the reported statements in the present with 4 different tasks. Hope you find it useful.
Here's a mixed exercise about reported speech - it includes statements, questions, orders and requests. Review all reported statments, questions, orders and requests here; Download this quiz in PDF here; More reported speech exercises here