Reported speech — also called indirect speech — is how we tell someone else what another person said, without quoting their exact words. Instead of writing 'She said, "I am tired"', we write 'She said she was tired.' Three things typically change when we move from direct to reported speech: the tense shifts back in time, the pronouns change to reflect the new speaker's perspective, and time and place expressions adjust. Understanding these three changes gives teachers a clear, teachable framework that works across all tenses and all sentence types.
Before you start — think honestly about your own teaching and experience.
Look at the examples. Answer each question before reading the explanation — this is how your students will learn too.
Direct: "We work hard."
Reported: They said (that) they worked hard.
Direct: "The school has no water."
Reported: He said (that) the school had no water.
Look at the tense in each direct speech sentence, and then in the reported version. What pattern do you notice? What happens to present simple in reported speech? What happens to present perfect?
When we report what someone said in the past, the tense moves one step back in time — this is called backshift. Present simple ('am', 'work', 'has') becomes past simple ('was', 'worked', 'had'). The verb in the reporting clause ('said') is past, which signals to the listener that we are reporting past speech, so the verb in the reported clause moves back too. This is the fundamental principle behind all reported speech tense changes: one step back in time.
Direct: "I can help you."
Reported: He said he could help me.
Direct: "I must finish this today."
Reported: She said she had to finish it that day.
Look at the modal verbs. What happens to 'will', 'can', and 'must' in reported speech? Are the changes similar to the pattern for main verbs?
Modal verbs also backshift: will → would, can → could, must → had to. Notice also that two other things changed: 'you' became 'me' (pronoun change to reflect the reporter's perspective), and 'tomorrow' became 'the following day' and 'today' became 'that day' (time expression changes because 'tomorrow' and 'today' only make sense from the original speaker's point of view). These three changes — tense, pronoun, time expression — work together as a system.
Direct: Teacher to student: "You did well today."
Reported: The teacher told me I had done well that day.
Compare 'said' and 'told' in these examples. What follows 'said'? What follows 'told'? Can you swap them?
'Say' is followed directly by the reported clause — no person object between 'said' and 'that': 'She said she was ready.' 'Tell' must be followed by a person object before the reported clause: 'She told me she was ready.' / 'The teacher told the students they had done well.' You cannot say 'She said me she was ready' ✗ or 'She told she was ready' ✗. This say/tell distinction is the most common reporting verb error at this level and is worth introducing clearly here, with the full verb inventory covered in Lesson 3.
| Form | Use / Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Direct speech tense | Reported speech tense | Example |
| Present simple (am/is/are) | Past simple (was/were) | 'I am late.' → She said she was late. |
| Present continuous (is working) | Past continuous (was working) | 'She is working.' → He said she was working. |
| Past simple (worked) | Past perfect (had worked) | 'I worked hard.' → She said she had worked hard. |
| Present perfect (has finished) | Past perfect (had finished) | 'He has finished.' → She said he had finished. |
| will | would | 'I will help.' → She said she would help. |
| can | could | 'I can come.' → He said he could come. |
| must | had to | 'You must wait.' → She said I had to wait. |
Not all tenses backshift. Some modal verbs have no backshifted form: 'would', 'could', 'should', 'might', and 'ought to' stay the same in reported speech because they are already past or remote forms. 'She said she would help' — 'would' does not change to 'would have' in standard reported speech at this level. Also worth noting: some verbs do not change in reported speech in certain situations — still-true facts, recently reported speech, and formal direct quotation. These are covered in Lesson 3. At this stage, teaching the standard backshift system as a reliable default is the right approach — the exceptions make more sense once the core rule is secure.
Quick checks when forming reported speech: • What was the tense in direct speech? → Move it one step back • Who said it? Who is the reporter? → Change pronouns accordingly • Does the time expression still make sense from the reporter's position? → If not, change it • Is the reporting verb 'say' or 'tell'? → 'Tell' needs a person object; 'say' does not • Is 'that' needed? → It is optional but never wrong to include it
Rewrite each direct speech sentence as reported speech. Make all necessary changes to tense, pronouns, and time expressions.
Each reported speech sentence contains one error. Find and correct it.
Use this sequence directly in class — guided discovery, no textbook needed. Tap each step to mark it done.
STEP 1 — What changes? (5 min): Say a sentence aloud in direct speech: 'I am very tired today.' Then report it: 'She said she was very tired that day.' Write both on the board. Ask students to spot the three changes: tense (am → was), pronoun (I → she), time expression (today → that day). These three categories are the framework for the whole lesson.
STEP 2 — Tense backshift table (5 min): Build the backshift table together on the board. Give students a present simple sentence, ask for the reported version, write it. Then past simple, then will, then can. Students contribute; you correct and consolidate. Five minutes is enough to establish the pattern.
STEP 3 — Say or tell? (5 min): Write four sentences on the board — two needing 'say' and two needing 'tell'. Ask students to choose and explain why. Establish the rule: 'tell' + person; 'say' + reported clause. Mark 'said me' and 'told she was' as the two errors to watch for.
STEP 4 — Time expressions (5 min): Write six time expressions from direct speech on the board (now, today, yesterday, tomorrow, here, this). Ask students to give the reported speech equivalent. This is best done quickly as a whole-class drill — it is largely memorisation.
STEP 5 — Consolidate: report what your colleague said (5 min): Ask each student to think of something a colleague or student said recently and report it in one sentence, making all three changes. Students share. The class checks: tense backshifted? Pronouns correct? Time expression adjusted? Say or tell used correctly?
Use directly in class — copy, adapt, or read aloud. No printing needed.
For each strategy, choose the option that best describes where you are now.
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