Blog about English
Frequent learner mistakes involving reported speech.
Choose the reporting structure according to whether the original communication was a statement, question, command, request, advice, or another type of message.
Different kinds of communication require different grammatical patterns, so reported speech cannot be formed with one universal structure.
Use say for reporting words or information and tell when a person is explicitly identified as the recipient of the information.
For example, She said that she was tired and She told me that she was tired.
Say does not normally take a person directly as its object in the same way as tell.
Use She said that she was tired or She said to me that she was tired, not She said me that she was tired.
Tell normally requires an object when it is used to report information to a person.
Use She told me that she was tired, not She told that she was tired.
When a past reporting verb is used, ordinary reported statements often require backshift unless the context supports retaining the original tense.
For example, She said that she was tired is the standard backshifted form of She said, "I am tired."
Do not backshift automatically when the reported information remains true, is a permanent fact, or is otherwise appropriately presented from the current viewpoint.
For example, He said that water boils at 100°C is natural because the fact remains true.
Modal and past forms that already express the required temporal relationship should not be shifted again without a grammatical reason.
For example, He said that he would come is correct; do not mechanically change would to another past form.
Modal verbs change according to their meaning and grammatical form rather than following one automatic substitution rule.
For example, will commonly becomes would, while would, could, might, and should often remain unchanged.
Must may change to had to when reporting past obligation, but must can remain when the obligation is still current or when it expresses deduction.
For example, He said that I had to leave describes past necessity, while He said that I must leave can preserve a current obligation.
Pronouns must be changed according to their actual referents in the reported context.
For example, John said, "I need your help" becomes John said that he needed my help when the reporter is the person John addressed.
Do not change pronouns simply according to a fixed table such as I → he and you → I; determine who each pronoun refers to.
The correct form depends on the identities of the original speaker, listener, and reporter.
Time expressions should change only when the temporal reference changes in the new reporting context.
Today may become that day when reporting later, but it can remain today when the report is made on the same day.
Place references such as here and there should be changed according to the reporting viewpoint.
For example, here may remain here when the reporter is still in the same place.
Reported questions normally use statement word order rather than direct-question inversion.
For example, He asked where I lived, not He asked where did I live.
The auxiliary do is normally removed when converting a direct question into a reported question.
For example, "Where did she go?" becomes He asked where she had gone, not He asked where did she go.
Do not use if or whether to introduce a reported question when the original question already begins with a wh-word.
For example, Where does he live? becomes She asked where he lived, not She asked if where he lived.
A reported question inside a statement normally does not take a question mark.
For example, She asked where I lived. But Do you know where I live? is a complete question and therefore takes a question mark.
Commands are normally reported with an object + to-infinitive rather than an ordinary that-clause.
For example, "Close the door" becomes She told me to close the door.
Negative reported commands normally use object + not + to-infinitive.
For example, "Do not touch it" becomes He told me not to touch it.
Tell commonly reports an instruction or command, while ask commonly reports a request.
For example, She told me to leave is an instruction, while She asked me to leave is a request.
Ask uses different structures depending on whether the person is requesting information or requesting another action.
Compare She asked me if I was ready with She asked me to wait.
Suggest normally takes a gerund or that-clause rather than object + to-infinitive.
Use She suggested leaving or She suggested that we leave, not She suggested us to leave.
Advise can take an object + to-infinitive when advice is directed at a specific person.
For example, She advised me to wait.
Reporting verbs that require prepositions must retain those prepositions before a noun or gerund.
For example, insist on paying, apologize for being late, and accuse someone of lying.
Use the complement form required by the reporting verb rather than treating infinitives and gerunds as freely interchangeable.
For example, promise to do, admit doing, suggest doing, and refuse to do have different patterns.
Passive reporting structures require the appropriate infinitive form and voice.
For example, He is believed to have left and She is believed to have been informed use different active and passive relationships.
Do not combine direct-speech punctuation and word order with reported-speech grammar unless a direct quotation is intentionally being used.
For example, She said that she was tired is reported speech, while She said, "I am tired" is direct speech.
Reported speech normally does not use quotation marks because it does not reproduce the exact original wording.
Use quotation marks for direct quotations, not for ordinary reported statements.
Do not change every tense, pronoun, time expression, or place expression if the original form remains appropriate in the reporting context.
Reported speech is guided by reference and meaning rather than by a fixed list of mandatory substitutions.
Accurate reported speech requires control of reporting verbs, complement patterns, tense relationships, reference changes, question structure, and context.
Before converting a sentence, identify the type of communication, the reporting verb, the original viewpoint, and the relationship between the original and reporting contexts.