Reported Speech in English: How to Master It

Description: Learn how to change direct speech into reported speech. Includes tense changes, pronouns, time expressions, and examples.

Introduction

Reported speech = telling someone what another person said. It requires tense changes and careful adjustment of pronouns and time expressions.

Basic Rule

Direct: She said, “I am tired.”
Reported: She said (that) she was tired.

Tense Changes (Backshift)

• Present Simple → Past Simple. “I like tea.” → He said he liked tea.
• Present Continuous → Past Continuous.
• Past Simple → Past Perfect.
• Will → Would.

Pronoun & Time Changes

• I → he/she
• now → then
• today → that day
• tomorrow → the next day
• yesterday → the day before

Questions in Reported Speech

• Direct: “Where are you going?”
• Reported: She asked where I was going.
• Yes/No: “Do you like it?” → He asked if I liked it.

Common Mistakes

• ❌ She said me that she was tired. → ✔ She told me (that)…
• ❌ He asked me where was I going. → ✔ He asked me where I was going.

Practice Plan

• Day 1: Convert 10 direct → reported (statements).
• Day 2: Convert 10 questions.
• Day 3: Convert 10 with time expressions.
• Day 4: Write a dialogue, report it.
• Day 5: Listen to a video, rewrite in reported speech.

Conclusion

Reported speech = backshift tenses + adjust pronouns/time. With practice, it becomes automatic.