Exercises

Write the following sentences in indirect speech.

Pay attention to backshift and the changes to pronouns, time, and place.
 1. Two weeks ago, he said, “I visited this museum last week.”
→ Two weeks ago, he said that he had visited that museum the week before.
2. She claimed, “I am the best for this job.”
→ She claimed that she was the best for that job.
3. Last year, the minister said, “The crisis will be overcome next year.”
→ Last year, the minister said that the crisis would be overcome the following
year.
4. My riding teacher said, “Nobody has ever fallen off a horse here.”
→ My riding teacher said that nobody had ever fallen off a horse there.
5. Last month, the boss explained, “None of my co-workers has to work overtime
now.”
→ Last month, the boss explained that none of his co-workers had to work
overtime then.

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.

Example:

He says/said …

She explains/explained …

She tells/told me …

He asks/asked …

Learn the rules for writing indirect speech in English with Lingolia’s simple explanation.
In the exercises, you can test your grammar skills.

Example

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 he worked in that café almost every day,
but that the day before he had seen a famous TV presenter there for the
first time. She had been eating an ice-cream at the table where I was sitting
at that moment.”

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Direct Speech
When turning direct speech into indirect speech, we need to pay attention to the
following points:

o changing the pronouns

Example:

He said, “I saw a famous TV presenter.”

He said (that) he had seen a famous TV presenter.
o 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.
o 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.

Changing the Tense (backshift)

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.

Example:

He said, “I work every day.”

He said that he worked every day.
 He said, “I saw a TV presenter.”
He said that he had seen a TV presenter.

He said, “She was sitting where you are sitting.”

He said that she had been sitting where I was sitting.

direct speech indirect speech

simple present simple past

present progressive past progressive

simple past

present perfect simple past perfect simple

past perfect simple

past progressive

present perfect
past perfect progressive
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.

Example:

He said, “I could have asked her for an autograph.” – He said that he could have asked
her for an autograph.

No Change of Tenses

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).
 Example:

He says, “I saw a TV presenter.”

He says that he saw a TV presenter.

In some cases, however, we have to change the verb form.

Example:

He says, “I work every day.”

He says that he works every day.

He says, “She was sitting where you are sitting.”

He says that she was sitting where I am sitting.

Question Sentences
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.
To note

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.

Example:

Where is the train station?

→ Could you tell me where the train station is?

Can you help me?

→ I wonder if you can help me.

Demands/Requests
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.

Example:

He said, “Watch the TV presenter’s show tonight.”

He told me to watch the TV presenter’s show that evening.

If it is a negative demand, then in indirect speech we use not + infinitive.

Example:

He said, “Don’t watch the TV presenter’s show tonight.”

He told me not to watch the TV presenter’s show that evening.
Expressions with who/what/how + 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.

Example:

Just tell me when I should stop.

→ Just tell me when to stop.

She doesn’t know what she should do.

→ She doesn’t know what to do.

I asked him how I could get to the post office.

→ I asked him how to get to the post office.

Typical Changes of Time and Place

direct
indirect speech
speech

today that day

then
now
at that moment/time

yesterday the day before

… days ago … days before

last week the week before

next year the following year

the next day

tomorrow
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

Example:

He said (that) he had seen a TV presenter.

He told me (that) he had seen a TV presenter.
Direct and Indirect Speech
When using indirect or reported speech, the form changes. Usually indirect speech is
introduced by the verb said, as in I said, Bill said, or they said. Using the verb say in this
tense, indicates that something was said in the past. In these cases, the main verb in the
reported sentence is put in the past. If the main verb is already in a past tense, then the
tense changes to another past tense; it can almost be seen as moving even further into the
past.

Verb tense changes also characterize other situations using indirect speech. Note the
changes shown in the chart and see the table below for examples. With indirect speech, the
use of that is optional.

DIRECT SPEECH → INDIRECT SPEECH

simple present → simple past

He said, "I  go  to school every day." He said (that) he  went  to school every day.

simple past → past perfect

He said, "I  went  to school every day." He said (that) he  had gone  to school every day.

present perfect → past perfect

He said, "I  have gone  to school every He said (that) he  had gone  to school every day.
day."

present progressive → past progressive

He said, "I  am going  to school every He said (that) he  was going  to school every day.
day."

past progressive → perfect progressive

He said, "I  was going  to school every He said (that) he  had been going  to school every
day." day,

future (will) → would + verb name

He said, "I  will go  to school every day." He said (that) he  would go  to school every day.

future (going to) → present progressive

 He said, "I  am going  to school every He said (that) he  is going  to school every day.
day."

past progressive
He said (that) he  was going  to school every day

auxiliary + verb name → simple past

He said, "Do you go  to school every day?" He asked me  if I went  to school every day.*
He said,  "Where do you go  to school?" He asked me  where I went  to school.

imperative → infinitive
He said, "Go  to school every day." He said  to go  to school every day.

*Note than when a Yes/No question is being asked in direct speech, then a construction
with if or whether is used. If a WH question is being asked, then use the WH to introduce
the clause. Also note that with indirect speech, these are examples of embedded questions.
The situation changes if instead of the common said another part of the very to say is
used. In that case the verb tenses usually remain the same. Some examples of this
situation are given below.

DIRECT SPEECH → INDIRECT SPEECH

simple present + simple present → simple present + simple present

He  says, "I  go  to school every day." He  says  (that) he  goes  to school every day.

present perfect + simple present → present perfect + simple present

He  has said, "I  go  to school every He  has said  (that) he  goes  to school every
day." day.

past progressive + simple past → past progressive + simple past

He  was saying, "I  went to school He  was saying  (that) he  went  to school
every day." every day.

past progressive + past perfect

He  was saying  (that) he  had gone  to school
every day.
 future + simple present → future + simple present
He  will say, "I  go  to school every He  will say  (that) he  goes  to school every
day." day.

Another situation is the one in which modal constructions are used. If the verb said is used,
then the form of the modal, or another modal that has a past meaning is used.

DIRECT SPEECH → INDIRECT SPEECH

can → could
He said, "I  can  go  to school every He said (that) he  could  go  to school every
day." day.

may → might
He said, "I  may go  to school every He said (that) he  might go  to school
day." every day.

might
He said, "I  might go  to school every
day."

must → had to
He said, "I  must go  to school every He said (that) he  had to go  to school
day." every day.

have to
He said, "I  have to go  to school
every day."

should → should
He said, "I  should go  to school every He said (that) he  should  go to school
day." every day.

ought to → ought to
He said, "I  ought to  go to school He said (that) he  ought to  go to school
every day." every day.
 While not all of the possibilities have been listed here, there are enough to provide
examples of the main rules governing the use of indirect or reported speech. For other
situations, try to extrapolate from the examples here, or better still, refer to a good grammar
text or reference book.
Some other verbs that can be used to introduce direct speech are: ask, report, tell,
announce, suggest, and inquire. They are not used interchangeably; check a grammar or
usage book for further information.

Define phrases, clauses and sentences

Identify the kinds of phrases, clauses and sentences.
Complete the missing parts of the given group of words.
Use phrases, clauses, and sentences appropriately and meaningfully.

https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-correspondence-and-reporting/sentence-types-and-word-
power/phrases-clauses-sentences/#:~:text=Any%20group%20of%20meaningful%20words,not%20be
%20meaningful%20at%20all.&text=Prepositional%20Phrase%3A%20This%20group%20of,a%20noun
%20or%20a%20pronoun.

Martin is in a hurry. He is late to work again. Martin's boss doesn't like it when he is late. Martin
was late last week. His boss told him not to be late again. He really wasn’t joking either. He was serious.
“I mean it,” Martin remembers him saying. Martin thinks he might lose his job if he is late again. The
time is now 7:15 am. Martin needs to be at work by 7:30. It takes him 22 minutes to drive to work.
“Things don’t look good,” he says to himself. Martin runs out of the house. He jumps in his car. He puts
the car in reverse. He backs up without looking. BOOM! There is a sound like someone hitting a drum.
Martin’s car jerks to a stop. He has hit the car parked behind him. “Oh, no!” Martin exclaims. He is angry
now. Martin looks at his watch. It is 7:18. He needs to get to work. He looks around. There is no one on
the street. There is no one nearby. He looks in the parked car. It is empty. Martin drives off quickly. He
gets to work 10 minutes late. Martin’s boss is not around. “Thank goodness,” he says to himself. He
stops worrying. He sits at his desk to work. During lunch, Martin goes out to the parking lot. He looks at
his car. There is a big dent in the back. Then he thinks about the other car— the car he hit this morning.
"I know that car is damaged too," he thinks. He feels guilty. “That was not right,” Martin says to himself.
He will see if the car is still outside his house when he gets off work

1) At the beginning of the story, Martin is in a hurry. What does this mean?

A. He is running. B. He is angry. C. He is late. D. He is moving fast.

2) Why is Martin in a hurry?

A. because he is late
B. because he is running
C. because he is moving fast
D. because he had a car accident
3) Martin remembers when his boss told him, “I mean it.” What does this mean?

A. The boss is serious.

B. The boss is angry.
C. The boss is emotional.
D. The boss is interested.
4) What does Martin think will happen if he is late to work again?

A. He will get a pay cut.

B. He will need to buy a watch.
C. He will get fired from his job.
D. He will need to adjust his schedule.
5) What time does Martin need to be at work?

A. 6:30 B. 7:15 C. 7:30 D. 8:15

6) If Martin leaves the house at 7:15, what time does he get to work?

A. 7:32 B. 7:37 C. 7:40 D. 7:52

7) What is the loud noise?

A. Martin yelling
B. police sirens sounding
C. Martin driving off the road
D. Martin hitting someone’s car
8) Martin checks if there is anyone nearby. What does nearby mean?

A. in B. next to C. close by D. far away

9) Why doesn't Martin get in trouble with his boss today?

A. His boss is not around.

B. He gets to work on time.
C. His boss feels sorry for him.
D. Martin says he is sorry for being late.
10) Who does Martin talk to in the story? I. himself II. his boss III. his friends

A. I only B. I and II C. II and III D. I, II, and III