Grammar

Reported speech in English

450 fill-in-the-gap exercises in 1 form

Saying what somebody said, without quoting them. Three things shift: the tense, the pronouns and the time words.

Pick a form to practice

The three shifts

When the reporting verb is in the past — said, told, asked — three things move:

1. The tense steps back one place.

present → past, past → past perfect, will → would, can → could, may → might, must → had to.

“I am busy.” → She said she was busy.

The past perfect cannot step back any further, so it stays: “I had finished.” → He said he had finished.

2. The pronouns change to match the new speaker.

"I lost my keys." → He said he had lost his keys.

This is easy to forget and produces sentences that make no sense: He said that he painted in my free time.

3. The time and place words move.

say or tell

The commonest slip in the whole topic:

• tell needs a person: He told me that…
• say does not take one: He said that…

He said me is wrong. He told that is wrong. If you want to name the listener with say, you need to: He said to me that…

that is optional

Both are correct, and leaving it out is more usual in speech:

She said that she was leaving. / She said she was leaving.

When the tense does not shift

Two cases where you can leave the present alone:

• the reporting verb is present: She says she is busy.
• the statement is still true: He told me the shop opens at nine.

The shifted version is never wrong, so when in doubt, shift.

Reported questions

Two changes, and both matter:

• the word order goes back to subject then verb
• do, does and did disappear

“Where do you live?” → He asked where I lived.

For a yes/no question, add if or whether:

"Are you coming?" → She asked if I was coming.

Reported commands and requests

No tense shift at all. The verb becomes an infinitive with to:

“Sit down.” → He told me to sit down. “Don’t touch it.” → She told me not to touch it. “Please wait.” → He asked me to wait.

All forms

Mistakes to avoid