Mastering Reported Speech in English: Examples

Reported Speech: Statements

Here’s how to transform direct statements into reported speech:

Emily: “Our teacher will go to Leipzig tomorrow.”
Emily said that their teacher would go to Leipzig the following day.
Helen: “I was writing a letter yesterday.”
Helen said that she had been writing a letter the day before.
Robert: “My father flew to Dallas last year.”
Robert said that his father had flown to Dallas the previous year.
Lisa: “Tim went to the stadium an hour ago.”
Lisa said that Tim had gone to the stadium an hour before.
Patricia: “My mother will celebrate her birthday next weekend.”
Patricia said that her mother would celebrate her birthday the following weekend.
Michael: “I am going to read a book this week.”
Michael said that he was going to read a book that week.
Jason and Victoria: “We will do our best in the exams tomorrow.”
Jason and Victoria said that they would do their best in the exams the following day.
Andrew: “We didn’t eat fish two days ago.”
Andrew said that they hadn’t eaten fish two days before.
Alice: “I spent all my pocket money on Monday.”
Alice said that she had spent all her pocket money on Monday.
David: “John had already gone at six.”
David said that John had already gone at six.

Transforming questions into reported speech involves using “asked” and adjusting pronouns and tenses:

Mandy: “Are the boys reading the book?”
Mandy asked if the boys were reading the book.
Jason: “Who gave you the laptop?”
Jason asked me who had given me the laptop.
Robert: “Is Tim leaving on Friday?”
Robert asked if Tim was leaving on Friday.
Daniel: “Will it rain tomorrow?”
Daniel asked if it would rain the following day.
Jennifer: “Where do you play football today?”
Jennifer asked us where we had played football that day.
Nancy: “Why didn’t Nick go to New York last summer?”
Nancy asked why Nick hadn’t gone to New York the previous summer.
Barbara: “Must I do my homework this afternoon?”
Barbara asked if she had to do her homework that afternoon.
Linda: “Did Max fly to London two weeks ago?”
Linda asked if Max had flown to London two weeks before.
Grandmother: “Where are my glasses?”
Grandmother asked where her glasses were.
A man: “When does the train to Liverpool leave?”
A man asked when the train to Liverpool left.

Use “told” or “asked” followed by the infinitive form of the verb for reported commands:

Marcel: “Don’t sing that song, please!”
Marcel asked me not to sing that song again.
Jane: “Don’t watch the new film!”
Jane told me not to watch the new film.
Walter: “Don’t ring Romy on Sunday!”
Walter told him not to ring Romy on Sunday.
Lisa: “Don’t fly via Paris!”
Lisa told us not to fly via Paris.
Jamie: “Don’t eat so much junk food!”
Jamie told her not to eat so much junk food.

“Suggested” is used to report suggestions, followed by a verb in the present participle form:

Lisa: “Why don’t we play a game of tennis?”
Lisa suggested playing a game of tennis.
Peter: “Let’s order hamburgers instead of Indian food.”
Peter suggested ordering hamburgers instead of Indian food.
Anne: “Let’s not jump to any conclusions.”
Anne suggested not jumping to any conclusions.
Jamie: “Why not take a taxi?”
Jamie suggested taking a taxi.
Nelly: “I think we should examine the budget carefully at this meeting.”
Nelly suggested examining the budget carefully at that meeting.

I go to school every day: He said that he went to school every day.
I’m going to school: He said that he was going to school.
I went to school yesterday: He said that he had gone to school the day before.
I have gone to school twice: He told her he had gone to school twice.
I had gone to school before: He told her he had gone to school before.
I was going to school: He told Peter that he had been going to school.
I will go to school tomorrow: He said that he would go to school.
I can go to school tomorrow: He said that he could go to school the following day.
You should go to school next week: He told me that I should go to school the following week.
I might go to school: He said that he might go to school.
The policeman asked me: “Could you give me your driving license?”
The policeman asked me to give him my driving license.
André told me: “Clean the blue bike.”
André told me to clean the blue bike.
Jess asked them: “Write the next message.”
Jess asked them to write the next message.