Reported Speech

Reported speech is a very common device for telling other people what someone else said. Here are the rules for reported speech.

1) Always introduce reported speech with a speech verb (like say/tell). The use of that after the say / tell is optional.

2) Since everything that is said happened in the past, the verb goes back a tense (present simple becomes past simple (a), past simple and present perfect become past perfect (b), will becomes would (c)).


3) You have to change the perspective of the people (pronouns and possessive adjectives).

Other alternative speech verbs are affirm, announce, answer, assert, comment, declare, observe, remark, reply, state, think, etc.

Examples:

a) “I help you with your homework.”

Reported form: “He said (1) (that) he helped (2) me (3) with my (3) homework.”

b) “I helped you with your homework.”

b) “I have helped you with your homework.”

Reported form: “He told me (that) he had helped me with my homework.”

c) “I will help you with your homework.”

Reported form: “He said (that) he would help me with my homework.”

With continuous tenses, you only have to change the verb be, so rule (2) still applies:

(a) “I am helping.” >> “He said he was helping.”

(b) “I was helping. / I have been helping.” >> “He said he had been helping.”

(c) “I will be helping.” >> “He said he would be helping.”

To be continued... reported questions.