Saying what someone said: Reported speech (also called indirect speech) is how you tell someone what another person said, without using their exact words.
You drop the quotation marks, add a reporting verb (said, told, asked, explained), often add that, and then make a few small changes to the words.
Direct: Tom said, "I am tired." Reported: Tom said (that) he was tired.
- direct speech
- the speaker's exact words, inside quotation marks: She said, "I am late."
- reported / indirect speech
- the same idea retold without quotation marks: She said that she was late.
- reporting verb
- the verb that introduces what was said: say, tell, ask, explain, advise
- backshift
- moving the verb one step into the past (am → was, will → would) when the reporting verb is in the past
- the that-clause
- the part after the reporting verb; 'that' is optional: She said (that) she was tired.
Why it carries the marks: Reported speech turns up whenever a text describes a conversation or a writer summarises an interview — common in articles, blogs and reading passages. Using it accurately (right reporting verb, correct backshift, correct pronouns) is core Criterion A (Language), and recognising it helps you answer reading comprehension correctly.
Backshift: move one step into the past: When the reporting verb is in the past (said, told, asked), the verb inside usually moves one step back in time. Pronouns change to match the new speaker, and words about time and place shift too (now → then, today → that day, here → there).
| Direct speech | → becomes | Reported speech |
|---|---|---|
| am / is / are (present) | → | was / were (past) |
| do / does / verb-s (present simple) | → | did / past simple |
| was / were | → | had been |
| will | → | would |
| can | → | could |
| must / have to | → | had to |
| today / tonight | → | that day / that night |
| tomorrow / next week | → | the next day / the following week |
| here | → | there |
The pattern in three steps: Direct: Maria said, "I will call you tomorrow."
Step 1 — reporting verb + (that): Maria said that… Step 2 — change the pronoun: "I" (Maria) → "she"; "you" (me) → "me". Step 3 — backshift + time word: "will" → "would"; "tomorrow" → "the next day".
Reported: Maria said (that) she would call me the next day.
say vs tell: Both report statements, but the grammar differs: say is used without a person (She said that…), while tell needs a person object (She told me that…). Never write "She said me…" or "She told that…" on their own.
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Statements, questions and commands: Reported speech handles three kinds of original sentence, and each has its own pattern:
Statements → said / told someone (that)… Questions → asked (someone) if / whether … (or a question word) + statement word order (no question mark, no do/does). Commands / requests → told / asked someone to + infinitive (or not to + infinitive).
Direct speech
- "I work in a hospital," she said. (statement)
- "Where do you live?" he asked. (question)
- "Are you ready?" she asked. (yes/no question)
- "Close the door," he said. (command)
Reported speech
- She said (that) she worked in a hospital.
- He asked where I lived. (no 'do', statement order)
- She asked if / whether I was ready.
- He told me to close the door.
An interview, reported: Last week our school invited a young engineer, Sofia, to talk about her career. "I loved building things when I was a child," she told us, "and I knew I wanted to be an engineer." She explained that she was working on wind turbines and that the work was never boring.
A student asked her whether the job was difficult for women. Sofia laughed and said that it could be, but that things were slowly changing. Before she left, she advised us to follow our curiosity and told us not to be afraid of making mistakes.
IB-style task — spotting reported speech in a text
One question, step by step
- The question — "According to the text, what did the student ask Sofia?"
- Find the reporting verb. Search for "asked": "A student asked her whether the job was difficult for women."
- The answer — The student asked whether the job was difficult for women. It is a reported question (asked + whether + statement order), so the answer is in the text — no outside knowledge needed.
Reading technique: When a comprehension question says "what did X say / ask / explain?", scan for the reporting verb (said, told, asked, explained, advised). The reported clause right after it is your answer.
From a real conversation to a report: Here is a short exchange retold one line at a time. Watch the three changes happen each time: the reporting verb, the pronoun, and the backshift / time word. Statements, a question and a command all appear.
IB-style task — reported speech in action
A conversation, line by line
- Yesterday my friend Priya told me about her exam results. Here is what she said — first in her own words, then the way I reported it to my mum afterwards.
- Direct: Priya said, "I am really happy with my results." → Reported: Priya said (that) she was really happy with her results. (present "am" backshifts to past "was", and "I" becomes "she".)
- Direct: "I will study medicine next year," she said. → Reported: She said (that) she would study medicine the following year. ("will" → "would", and "next year" → "the following year".)
- Direct: "Can you celebrate with me tonight?" she asked. → Reported: She asked if I could celebrate with her that night. (a question becomes "asked if" + statement word order; "can" → "could", "tonight" → "that night".)
- Direct: "Tell your family the good news!" she said. → Reported: She told me to tell my family the good news. (a command becomes "told me to" + the infinitive.)
Steal this for your writing: When a Paper 1 task asks you to write a report, an article or a blog about an interview or a talk, reported speech is exactly what scores: "The speaker explained that…", "She advised us to…", "He said he would…". Reuse this recipe and you sound fluent and precise.
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The slips to watch for: Four mistakes dominate: forgetting to backshift the verb (She said she is tired instead of was), mixing up say and tell (She told that… / She said me…), keeping question word order in a reported question (asked where do I live), and leaving out to in a reported command (told me close the door). Compare the right version with the typical mistake.
Correct
- She said (that) she was tired.
- She told me (that) she was busy.
- He asked where I lived.
- He told me to wait outside.
Common mistake
- She said she is tired. (no backshift — needs 'was')
- She told that she was busy. ('tell' needs a person — 'told me')
- He asked where do I live. (question order — needs 'where I lived')
- He told me wait outside. (missing 'to' — needs 'to wait')
Ask: did I backshift, and is it say or tell?: Before you write a reported sentence, run two quick checks. 1. If the reporting verb is past (said/told/asked), backshift the inside verb one step (is → was, will → would, can → could). 2. Use say (that) with no person, but tell + person; and for a command use tell/ask + person + to + infinitive. For a reported question, use statement word order with no do/does/did.