reported speech british council

British Council TeachingEnglish Africa

Reported speech – say and tell.

Author: British Council | Published on 1 November 2022

Stage 1: Present examples

Write these sentences on the board with the words underlined as shown. Ask. “What do you notice about the underlined words in the sentences?”

a) She said they would be late.

b) She told me they would be late.

c) She said to me she was cold.

d) She told me she was cold.

e) “I’m cold,” she said.

To help learners, ask:

•  “What’s the difference between sentence a & b?
•  “What’s the difference between sentence c & d?

Stage 2: Take feedback

Ask learners to share their feedback on what they noticed in the examples. Some key points you might want to share with them include:

• With ‘said’ we don’t need to say who is being spoken to, but with tell we do. (Sentences a & b)
• If you want to say who is being spoken to with ‘said’ you need ‘to’ (Sentence c) 
• We usually use ‘said’ not ‘told’ to introduce direct speech .

Stage 3: Use the grammar

A. say or tell.

Write up some sentences with a choice between ‘say’ and ‘tell’ and say: Choose the correct word to complete each sentence. 

• They said / told us they were coming soon.
• Abdoulaye said / told he loves Ethiopian food.
• What did she say / tell ?
• What did she say / tell you?
• “I’ll be there by 3 o’clock.” he said / told .

b. Matching

Write up some half sentences on the board and say: “Match the correct ending to the correct sentence start.”

1. He saida) me he was sorry.

2. He told b) he was sorry.

3. She saida) to me that she had finished her homework.

4. She toldb) me that she had finished her homework.

5. She saida) him she was tired.

6. She toldb) “I’m tired.”

7. He saida) her he liked her.

8. He toldb) to her that he liked her.

c. An interview

Choose a learner to come and sit at the front of the class. Say: Ask <learner’s name> some questions about their hobby. The other learners interview the learner sitting at the front for a few minutes.

Put the learners in groups and say: “Now try and remember what <learner’s name> said and write up a short report about the interview.”

In large classes, you can do this in groups rather than as a whole class activity.

Direct speech : a sentence in which the exact words spoken are reproduced in speech marks

• Reported speech

• Teaching adults
• Intermediate B1

Eavesdropping

This is an activity for students to practise reporting speech. It provides a situation for reporting what others have said that can be more realistic than some of the exercises that are found in textbooks, and great fun!

My students particular enjoy the fact that in this activity they are encouraged to listen in to each other’s conversations: the concept of ‘eavesdropping’.

You will need to decide on a context that will be of interest to your class. One idea that works well with my students is that of 'first dates', with conversations taking place between two people in a cafe. Preparation

You may have to explain the concept of eavesdropping (listening to someone else's conversation). With lower levels it may be easier to explain spying.

Before starting the activity, I do a short revision session on reported speech, eliciting from students what happens to speech when it is reported and some of the constructions we can use to do so. I write on the board sentence starters such as:

- First he said… - And she replied.. - So he then said... - Only for her to say that... - He then went on to ask her ...

I also remind students that reported speech is rarely a word per word account, but often more of a summary of what was said.

• I then start by introducing the context of the a 'first date' in a cafe, brainstorming ideas about who the people might be and what they might talk about in this situation.
• Next I put students in pairs, of 'first date couples', asking them first to decide on their new names and characters (real or imaginary), and then giving them around ten minutes to prepare a short conversation, which they should write down. I remind students that their conversations can be serious or, if they prefer, humorous!
• Once students are ready, I set up the classroom as if it is a cafe, with couples sitting face to face. To add interest to the role-play, I ask the students to come up with the name of their cafe and sometimes even allocate a few students to the roles of waiter / waitress.
• I then explain to students that some of the people in the bar will be eavesdropping on others, as obviously the conversations taking place are very interesting! Couples should start talking, and if I, the teacher, tap someone on the shoulder, s/he should get up and go and eavesdrop on another couple’s conversation (of their choice). S/he then goes back to his/her partner and reports what was being said.
• I usually tap students on the shoulder to get enough people eavesdropping, and then place myself discreetly at the back of the classroom to observe the activity.
• This process can continue for up to fifteen minutes, with different students having an opportunity to eavesdrop and report back.
• The class then comes back together, for each couple to report to everyone what another couple said. The couple in question can then explain to what extent this corresponded to their original conversation!
• The activity can also be followed-up by a writing stage, where students report the speech in writing, and then compare it with the original conversation.

Research and insight

Browse fascinating case studies, research papers, publications and books by researchers and ELT experts from around the world.

See our publications, research and insight

Reported Speech

Perfect english grammar.

Reported Statements

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.

We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'. (As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)

But , if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech:

• Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.

* doesn't change.

• Direct speech: The sky is blue.
• Reported speech: She said (that) the sky is/was blue.

Click here for a mixed tense exercise about practise reported statements. Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.

Reported Questions

So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and negative sentences. But how about questions?

• Direct speech: Where do you live?
• Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
• Direct speech: Where is Julie?
• Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.
• Direct speech: Do you like chocolate?
• Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.

Click here to practise reported 'wh' questions. Click here to practise reported 'yes / no' questions. Reported Requests

There's more! What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For example:

• Direct speech: Close the window, please
• Or: Could you close the window please?
• Or: Would you mind closing the window please?
• Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.
• Direct speech: Please don't be late.
• Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.

Reported Orders

• Direct speech: Sit down!
• Reported speech: She told me to sit down.
• Click here for an exercise to practise reported requests and orders.
• Click here for an exercise about using 'say' and 'tell'.
• Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.

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• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Reported speech

Reported speech is how we represent the speech of other people or what we ourselves say. There are two main types of reported speech: direct speech and indirect speech.

Click on a topic to learn more about reported speech.

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Reported Speech: Rules, Examples, Exceptions

👉 Quiz 1 / Quiz 2

Advanced Grammar Course

What is reported speech?

“Reported speech” is when we talk about what somebody else said – for example:

• Direct Speech: “I’ve been to London three times.”
• Reported Speech: She said she’d been to London three times.

There are a lot of tricky little details to remember, but don’t worry, I’ll explain them and we’ll see lots of examples. The lesson will have three parts – we’ll start by looking at statements in reported speech, and then we’ll learn about some exceptions to the rules, and finally we’ll cover reported questions, requests, and commands.

So much of English grammar – like this topic, reported speech – can be confusing, hard to understand, and even harder to use correctly. I can help you learn grammar easily and use it confidently inside my Advanced English Grammar Course.

In this course, I will make even the most difficult parts of English grammar clear to you – and there are lots of opportunities for you to practice!

Backshift of Verb Tenses in Reported Speech

When we use reported speech, we often change the verb tense backwards in time. This can be called “backshift.”

Here are some examples in different verb tenses:

Reported Speech (Part 1) Quiz

Exceptions to backshift in reported speech.

Now that you know some of the reported speech rules about backshift, let’s learn some exceptions.

There are two situations in which we do NOT need to change the verb tense.

No backshift needed when the situation is still true

For example, if someone says “I have three children” (direct speech) then we would say “He said he has three children” because the situation continues to be true.

If I tell you “I live in the United States” (direct speech) then you could tell someone else “She said she lives in the United States” (that’s reported speech) because it is still true.

When the situation is still true, then we don’t need to backshift the verb.

But when the situation is NOT still true, then we DO need to backshift the verb.

Imagine your friend says, “I have a headache.”

• If you immediately go and talk to another friend, you could say, “She said she has a headache,” because the situation is still true
• If you’re talking about that conversation a month after it happened, then you would say, “She said she had a headache,” because it’s no longer true.

No backshift needed when the situation is still in the future

We also don’t need to backshift to the verb when somebody said something about the future, and the event is still in the future.

Here’s an example:

• On Monday, my friend said, “I ‘ll call you on Friday .”
• “She said she ‘ll call me on Friday”, because Friday is still in the future from now.
• It is also possible to say, “She said she ‘d (she would) call me on Friday.”
• Both of them are correct, so the backshift in this case is optional.

Let’s look at a different situation:

• On Monday, my friend said, “I ‘ll call you on Tuesday .”
• “She said she ‘d  call me on Tuesday.” I must backshift because the event is NOT still in the future.

Review: Reported Speech, Backshift, & Exceptions

Quick review:

• Normally in reported speech we backshift the verb, we put it in a verb tense that’s a little bit further in the past.
• when the situation is still true
• when the situation is still in the future

Reported Requests, Orders, and Questions

Those were the rules for reported statements, just regular sentences.

What about reported speech for questions, requests, and orders?

For reported requests, we use “asked (someone) to do something”:

• “Please make a copy of this report.” (direct speech)
• She asked me to make a copy of the report. (reported speech)

For reported orders, we use “told (someone) to do something:”

• “Go to the bank.” (direct speech)
• “He told me to go to the bank.” (reported speech)

The main verb stays in the infinitive with “to”:

• She asked me to make a copy of the report. She asked me  make  a copy of the report.
• He told me to go to the bank. He told me  go  to the bank.

For yes/no questions, we use “asked if” and “wanted to know if” in reported speech.

• “Are you coming to the party?” (direct)
• He asked if I was coming to the party. (reported)
• “Did you turn off the TV?” (direct)
• She wanted to know if I had turned off the TV.” (reported)

The main verb changes and back shifts according to the rules and exceptions we learned earlier.

Notice that we don’t use do/does/did in the reported question:

• She wanted to know did I turn off the TV.
• She wanted to know if I had turned off the TV.

For other questions that are not yes/no questions, we use asked/wanted to know (without “if”):

• “When was the company founded?” (direct)
• She asked when the company was founded.” (reported)
• “What kind of car do you drive?” (direct)
• He wanted to know what kind of car I drive. (reported)

Again, notice that we don’t use do/does/did in reported questions:

• “Where does he work?”
• She wanted to know  where does he work.
• She wanted to know where he works.

Also, in questions with the verb “to be,” the word order changes in the reported question:

• “Where were you born?” ([to be] + subject)
• He asked where I was born. (subject + [to be])
• He asked where was I born.

Reported Speech (Part 2) Quiz

Learn more about reported speech:

• Reported speech: Perfect English Grammar
• Reported speech: BJYU’s

If you want to take your English grammar to the next level, then my Advanced English Grammar Course is for you! It will help you master the details of the English language, with clear explanations of essential grammar topics, and lots of practice. I hope to see you inside!

I’ve got one last little exercise for you, and that is to write sentences using reported speech. Think about a conversation you’ve had in the past, and write about it – let’s see you put this into practice right away.

Master the details of English grammar:

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