reported speech statement exercises pdf

Reported speech exercises PDF

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Reported speech

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Reported speech PDF exercise 1

Key with answers 1

• Complete sentences: "It is too late." - I said it was too late.

Reported speech PDF exercise 2

Key with answers 2

• A multiple choice choice test: "Sam may contact you." - He said Sam might contact me.

Reported speech PDF exercise 3

Key with answers 3

• Reported speech to direct speech: She said she lived in York. - "I live in York," she said.

Reported speech PDF exercise 4

Key with answers 4

• Time in reported speech: We will set off tomorrow." - They said they would set off the next day.

Reported speech PDF exercise 5

Key with answers 5

• Correct mistakes: "I have been with Jill since yesterday," said Joe on Friday morning. On Friday morning Joe said he had been with Jill since yesterday. Correct: On Friday morning Joe said he had been with Jill since the day before .

Reported speech PDF exercise 6

Key with answers 6

• All changes in reported speech: Tim said he had worked with them the previous month. - "I worked with them last month," said Tim.

Reported questions + commands exercises PDF Practise questions, commands and requests in the reported speech.

Online exercises with answers:

Direct and indirect speech exercises Multiple choice and gap-filling exercises on reported statements, questions and commands.

Grammar rules PDF:

Reported speech rules PDF Changes of tenses, pronouns, time and place in reported statements, questions and commands.

English grammar PDF All PDF rules with examples on this website to download for free.

The reported speech is used if we want to report what other people said, thought or felt. We use reporting verbs such as say, tell, explain, think, hope, etc. If these verbs are in the past tense, we change the following: a) verb tenses and verb forms b) pronouns c) adverbs of time and place

A) Verb tenses

We change the tenses in the following way.

• Present simple - past simple: "I work in York," Joe said. - Joe said (that) he worked in York.
• Present continuous - past continuous: "We are playing a game," Jane explained. - Jane explained (that) they were playing a game.
• Past simple - past perfect simple: "Sarah came back," I thought. - I thought (that) Sarah had come back.
• Past continuous - past perfect continuous: "I was talking to our new neighbour," Ben told me. - Ben told me (that) he had been talking to our new neighbour.
• Present perfect simple - past perfect simple: "I have eaten all sandwiches," he admitted. - He admitted (that) he had eaten all sandwiches.
• Present perfect continuous - past perfect continuous: "I have been driving for three hours," he comnplained. - He complained (that) he had been driving for three hours.
• Will - would I will wait outside the station," he reminded me. - He reminded me (that) he would wait outside the station.

Note: Some modal verbs change in a specific way, whereas other verb forms remain the same in special cases.

Read more: Direct and indirect speech

B) Pronouns

Personal pronouns

We have to change pronouns in the reported speech to keep the same meaning. "We are in Italy," he said. - He said they were in Italy. "They invited us," Betty said. - Betty said they had invited them. "I admire your new garden," she told me. - She told me she admired my new garden. "You can take my car," Peter said. - Peter said I could take his car.

This and these

This and these are usually substituted. "They will move this year," my mum said. - My mum said they would move that year. "I like these shoes," Tim insisted. - Tim insisted he liked the shoes.

C) Time and place

The time expressions change as follows.

now - then, today - that day, tomorrow - the next day/the following day, the day after tomorrow - in two days' time, yesterday - the day before, the day before yesterday - two days before, next week/month - the following week/month, last week/month - the previous week/month, a year ago - a year before/the previous year

Marion: "I will do it tomorrow." - Marion said she would do it the next day. Dan: "We arrived last week." - Dan said they had arrived the previous week. Judith: "Brian got married a year ago." - Judith said Brian had got married a year before.

Here and there

Here usually becomes there . But sometimes we have to make different adjustments. "I'll stay here till the evening," he said. - He said he would stay there till the evening. In the hospital: "We'll meet here." - He said they would meet in the hospital.

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Reported Speech Exercise 1

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Here's an exercise about reported statements.

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Reported Speech – Free Exercise

Write the following sentences in indirect speech. Pay attention to backshift and the changes to pronouns, time, and place.

• Two weeks ago, he said, “I visited this museum last week.” → Two weeks ago, he said that   . I → he|simple past → past perfect|this → that|last …→ the … before
• She claimed, “I am the best for this job.” → She claimed that   . I → she|simple present→ simple past|this→ that
• Last year, the minister said, “The crisis will be overcome next year.” → Last year, the minister said that   . will → would|next …→ the following …
• My riding teacher said, “Nobody has ever fallen off a horse here.” → My riding teacher said that   . present perfect → past perfect|here→ there
• Last month, the boss explained, “None of my co-workers has to work overtime now.” → Last month, the boss explained that   . my → his/her|simple present→ simple past|now→ then

Rewrite the question sentences in indirect speech.

• She asked, “What did he say?” → She asked   . The subject comes directly after the question word.|simple past → past perfect
• He asked her, “Do you want to dance?” → He asked her   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you → she|simple present → simple past
• I asked him, “How old are you?” → I asked him   . The subject comes directly after the question word + the corresponding adjective (how old)|you→ he|simple present → simple past
• The tourists asked me, “Can you show us the way?” → The tourists asked me   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you→ I|us→ them
• The shop assistant asked the woman, “Which jacket have you already tried on?” → The shop assistant asked the woman   . The subject comes directly after the question word|you→ she|present perfect → past perfect

Rewrite the demands/requests in indirect speech.

• The passenger requested the taxi driver, “Stop the car.” → The passenger requested the taxi driver   . to + same wording as in direct speech
• The mother told her son, “Don’t be so loud.” → The mother told her son   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The policeman told us, “Please keep moving.” → The policeman told us   . to + same wording as in direct speech ( please can be left off)
• She told me, “Don’t worry.” → She told me   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The zookeeper told the children, “Don’t feed the animals.” → The zookeeper told the children   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t

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• B1-B2 grammar

Reported speech: statements

Do you know how to report what somebody else said? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how we can tell someone what another person said.

direct speech: 'I love the Toy Story films,' she said. indirect speech: She said she loved the Toy Story films. direct speech: 'I worked as a waiter before becoming a chef,' he said. indirect speech: He said he'd worked as a waiter before becoming a chef. direct speech: 'I'll phone you tomorrow,' he said. indirect speech: He said he'd phone me the next day.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar B1-B2: Reported speech 1: 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech.

direct speech: 'I work in a bank,' said Daniel. indirect speech: Daniel said that he worked in a bank.

In indirect speech, we often use a tense which is 'further back' in the past (e.g. worked ) than the tense originally used (e.g. work ). This is called 'backshift'. We also may need to change other words that were used, for example pronouns.

Present simple, present continuous and present perfect

When we backshift, present simple changes to past simple, present continuous changes to past continuous and present perfect changes to past perfect.

'I travel a lot in my job.' Jamila said that she travelled a lot in her job. 'The baby's sleeping!' He told me the baby was sleeping. 'I've hurt my leg.' She said she'd hurt her leg.

Past simple and past continuous

When we backshift, past simple usually changes to past perfect simple, and past continuous usually changes to past perfect continuous.

'We lived in China for five years.' She told me they'd lived in China for five years. 'It was raining all day.' He told me it had been raining all day.

Past perfect

The past perfect doesn't change.

'I'd tried everything without success, but this new medicine is great.' He said he'd tried everything without success, but the new medicine was great.

No backshift

If what the speaker has said is still true or relevant, it's not always necessary to change the tense. This might happen when the speaker has used a present tense.

'I go to the gym next to your house.' Jenny told me that she goes to the gym next to my house. I'm thinking about going with her. 'I'm working in Italy for the next six months.' He told me he's working in Italy for the next six months. Maybe I should visit him! 'I've broken my arm!' She said she's broken her arm, so she won't be at work this week.

Pronouns, demonstratives and adverbs of time and place

Pronouns also usually change in indirect speech.

'I enjoy working in my garden,' said Bob. Bob said that he enjoyed working in his garden. 'We played tennis for our school,' said Alina. Alina told me they'd played tennis for their school.

However, if you are the person or one of the people who spoke, then the pronouns don't change.

'I'm working on my thesis,' I said. I told her that I was working on my thesis. 'We want our jobs back!' we said. We said that we wanted our jobs back.

We also change demonstratives and adverbs of time and place if they are no longer accurate.

'This is my house.' He said this was his house. [You are currently in front of the house.] He said that was his house. [You are not currently in front of the house.] 'We like it here.' She told me they like it here. [You are currently in the place they like.] She told me they like it there. [You are not in the place they like.] 'I'm planning to do it today.' She told me she's planning to do it today. [It is currently still the same day.] She told me she was planning to do it that day. [It is not the same day any more.]

In the same way, these changes to those , now changes to then , yesterday changes to the day before , tomorrow changes to the next/following day and ago changes to before .

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar B1-B2: Reported speech 1: 2

Language level

Hello Team. If the reporting verb is in the present perfect, do we have to backshift the tenses of the direct speech or not?    For example: He has said, "I bought a car yesterday."    

1- He has said that he bought a car yesterday.

2- He has said that he had bought a car the previous day.

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Hello Ahmed Imam,

It's not necessary to backshift the verb form if the situation being reported is still true. For example:

"I'm a doctor"

She told me she is a doctor. [she was a doctor when she said it and she is still doctor now]

She told me she was a doctor. [she was a doctor when she said it and may or may not still be a doctor now]

The reporting verb in your example would be 'said' rather than 'has said' as we are talking about a particular moment in the past. For the other verb both 'bought' and 'had bought' are possible without any change in meaning. In fact, when the verb is past in the original sentence we usually do not shift the verb form back.

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello again. Which one is correct? Why?

- He has said that he (will - would) travel to Cairo with his father.

The present perfect is a present form, so generally 'will' is the correct form.

In this case, assuming that the man said 'I will travel to Cairo', then 'will' is the correct form. But if the man said 'I would travel to Cairo if I had time to do it', then 'would' would be the correct form since it is part of a conditional statement.

I think you were asking about the first situation (the general one), though. Does that make sense?

Best wishes, Kirk LearnEnglish team

Thank you for the information. It states that If what the speaker has said is still true or relevant, it's not always necessary to change the tense. I wonder if it is still correct to change the tense in this example: 'London is in the UK', he said. to He said London was in the UK. Or  it has to be the present tense. 

Hello Wen1996,

Yes, your version of the sentence is also correct. In this case, the past tense refers to the time the speaker made this statement. But this doesn't mean the statement isn't also true now.

Good evening from Turkey.

Is the following example correct: Question: When did she watch the movie?

She asked me when she had watched the movie. or is it had she watched the movie. 

Do Subjects come before the verbs? Thank you. 

Hello muratt,

This is a reported question, not an actual question, as you can see from the fact that it has no question mark at the end. Therefore no inversion is needed and the normal subject-verb word order is maintained: ...she had watched... is correct.

You can read more about this here:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/b1-b2-grammar/reported-speech-questions

Thank you for your response.

Hello Sir, kindly help with the following sentence-

She said, "When I was a child I wasn't afraid of ghosts." 

Please tell me how to write this sentence in reported/ indirect speech.

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Reported speech - 1

Reported speech - 2

Reported speech - 3

Worksheets - handouts

Exercises: indirect speech

• Reported speech - quiz 1
• Reported speech - quiz 2
• Orders in reported speech
• Reported speech - pronouns
• Reporting verbs quiz 2
• Reported statements
• Reported speech 1 - grammar
• Reported speech 2 - grammar
• Reported speech 3 - grammar
• Reported speech 4 - grammar

Reported speech

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Reported statements, questions, commands

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Reported Speech Statements Exercise

See the Video Exercise