Reported Speech: How to Say What Someone Else Said
Quick Answer
To report what someone said, move the verb one step back in time and change the words that point at people and time. “I am tired,” she said becomes She said she was tired. No quotation marks, and usually no that needed.
See the Pattern First
On the left is what the person actually said. On the right is how you report it later.
- “I am busy.” → He said he was busy.
- “We finished it.” → They said they had finished it.
- “I will call you.” → She said she would call me.
- “I can help.” → He said he could help.
Every verb slides one step further into the past: am → was, finished → had finished, will → would, can → could. Nothing else about the sentence has to change dramatically. Once you see the sliding, reported speech stops feeling like a list of rules.
The Backshift Table
This is the whole system on one screen. Learn the middle column and you can report almost any sentence.
| They said | You report | Example |
|---|---|---|
| present simple | past simple | “I work here” → he worked there |
| present continuous | past continuous | “I am working” → he was working |
| past simple | past perfect | “I worked” → he had worked |
| present perfect | past perfect | “I have worked” → he had worked |
| will | would | “I will work” → he would work |
| can | could | “I can work” → he could work |
| may | might | “I may work” → he might work |
| must | had to | “I must work” → he had to work |
The Two Other Things That Change
Verbs are only half the job. You also have to move the words that point at people and the words that point at time and place, because you are speaking later and somewhere else.
People: “I” becomes he or she, “we” becomes they, “you” becomes me or him. Ask yourself who is speaking now, and choose the pronoun that makes sense from where you are standing.
Time and place: today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the day before, now → then, here → there, this → that. If your friend said “I am busy today”, and you repeat it a week later, “today” would be a lie. That is why it has to move.
Move the verb one step back, and move the people and time words with it.
When You Do NOT Move the Verb
Backshift is not automatic. Leave the verb alone when the statement is still true right now:
- “Water boils at 100 degrees.” → She said water boils at 100 degrees. (Still true — a fact does not move.)
- “I live in Leeds.” → He said he lives in Leeds. (He still lives there, so the present is fine.)
- Also watch say and tell: you say something, but you tell someone. She told me ✓ — She said me ✗.
For questions, drop the question word order: “Where do you live?” becomes He asked where I lived — not “where did I live”. For orders, use tell + to: “Sit down!” becomes She told me to sit down.
Mistakes Learners Make (You Are Not Alone)
These four cover most of what goes wrong in exams and in writing.
- ✗ She said me she was tired. → ✓ She told me she was tired. (say does not take a person; tell does)
- ✗ He asked where did I live. → ✓ He asked where I lived. (a reported question is not a question any more, so normal word order)
- ✗ She said she will come. → ✓ She said she would come.
- ✗ He said that he is tired yesterday. → ✓ He said he was tired. (“that” is optional, but the verb still has to move back)
The say/tell mix-up is the single most common one, and it has nothing to do with intelligence — many languages use one verb for both.
Your Turn — Quick Quiz
Five questions. Use the backshift table above if you get stuck.
1. 1. “I am hungry,” he said. Report it:
2. 2. Which verb goes with a person?
3. 3. “I will help you.” She said she ___ help me.
4. 4. “Where do you work?” He asked where ___.
5. 5. “The sun rises in the east,” said the teacher. The best report is:
Keep Going
You can now report a statement, a question and an order — which covers almost every conversation you will ever need to pass on.
But what about the sentences where someone talks about something that never actually happened? “If I had known, I would have come.” That is a different structure again, and it is how English talks about regret.
Next lesson: The Third Conditional — Talking About a Past That Never Happened
Sources
I’m Khamis Maiouf. English is not my first language – I learned it as an adult in the UK, passed Functional Skills Level 2 in English, qualified in Hairdressing at Level 3, and I’m now studying Business at university. For over five years I’ve taught ESOL classes in my community and tutored students through GCSE English. I write every lesson on this site myself, for the learner I used to be.
