indirect speech

Reported speech
/
Indirect speech


Statements in
reported speech


Direct speech

Indirect speech

Subject + reporting verb + (that)
+ subject + verb…
* The general reporting verbs in statements
are: “say / tell”


Direct speech









Present simple.
Present continuous.

Have.
Will.
Can.
Must.
May.

Indirect speech









Past simple.
Past continuous.
Had.
Would.
Could.
Had to
Might.


Direct speech






Indirect speech


Past perfect simple.



Past perfect simple.



Past perfect simple.

Past simple.
Present perfect
simple.
Past perfect simple.




Past perfect
continuous.

Past perfect
continuous.

Direct speech









Now.
Today.
Tomorrow.
This.
These.
Here.
I.
My.

Indirect speech










Then.
That day.

The next / following day.

That / the.
Those / the.
There.
He / She.
His / Her.


Direct speech


Yesterday.



The day before yesterday.





Indirect speech


The day before.



Two days before.



Two days later.

The day after tomorrow.

Next week.







Last month.




Ten years ago.

The following week / the week
after.
The previous month / the month
before.
Ten years before.

Direct speech

“I want to be
famous,” said
Alex to her
friends.

Indirect speech
Alex said (to her
friends) that she
wanted to be
famous.
Alex told her
friends that she
wanted to be
famous.


Direct speech

“Brad is
studying,”his
mum said.

Indirect speech

Brad’s mum said
that he was

studying.


Direct speech

“You can see Big
Ben if you go to
London,” the
tour guide said.

Indirect speech

The tour guide
said that I
could see Big
Ben if I went to
London.


Direct speech

“You must be 18
to drive,” the
police said.

Indirect speech

The police said
that I had to
be 18 to drive.

Direct speech

“I will bring you
my CD
tomorrow,” Jane
said.

Indirect speech

Jane said that
she would bring
me her CD the
next day.


Direct speech

Indirect speech

“We have been
here before,”
he said.

He said that
they had been
there before.

Direct speech

Indirect speech

“There was an
earthquake last
night,” the
reporter said.

The reporter
said that there
had been an
earthquake the
night before.


Direct speech
“I was really
proud of my
brother when he
won this quiz
show,” said
Clare.

Indirect speech
Clare said that
she had been
really proud of
her brother
when he had

won that / the
quiz show.


Direct speech

“These people
deserve better,”
stated the MP.

Indirect speech

The MP stated
that those
people deserved
better.


Direct speech

“I moved to
Oxford six
months ago, “
said Scarlett.

Indirect speech

Scarlett said
that she had
moved to

Oxford six
months before.


Direct speech

“It may snow
today,” warned
the
weatherman.

Indirect speech

The weatherman
warned that it
might snow that
day.


Questions in reported
speech


Direct speech


Indirect speech
Questions

Wh-questions.






Yes / No questions.

Subject + reporting
verb + wh-word +
subject + verb…
Subject + reporting
verb + whether / if
+ subject + verb…

*The general reporting verb in questions is: “ask”