But her exact words were "I can't come." Something changed. In this lesson you'll learn exactly what — and why it matters every time you report what someone said, wrote, or asked.
Imagine you're telling a friend about a conversation you had. You have two choices:
Two things happened when we reported Daniel's words. The quotation marks disappeared — we are no longer quoting. And the verb work shifted back to worked. This shift is called backshift.
| Direct Speech | Reported (Indirect) Speech |
|---|---|
| Quote the speaker's exact words | Describe what was said |
| Words go in quotes "" | Use a reporting verb + that / if / to |
| No change of tense | Tense shifts one step back (backshift) |
Why does this matter? Reported speech appears in news articles, academic writing, conversations, and interviews. Every time you say "She told me that…" or "They asked whether…" — you're using it.
Instead of always using say, English has many reporting verbs that carry extra meaning. Select a verb below to see its pattern and an example:
| Use case | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Statements | verb + that | She said that she was tired. |
| Yes/no questions | verb + if / whether | He asked if I was coming. |
| Commands / requests | verb + obj + to-infinitive | She told me to open the window. |
| "Suggest" (special) | suggest + …ing or suggest that… | She suggested leaving early. |
Watch out: Suggest never takes a to-infinitive.
✗ She suggested to leave. ✓ She suggested leaving. ✓ She suggested that we leave.
When the reporting verb is past (said, told…), the verb inside the reported clause shifts one step back in time:
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
| "Your times are really good." | She said my times were really good. |
| "I called you twice." | He said he had called me twice. |
| "I have never been to Paris." | She said she had never been to Paris. |
| "I'm sure you will qualify." | He said he was sure she would qualify. |
| "You can use the truck." | His dad said he could use the truck. |
Time and place references also shift: now → then, today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, here → there, this → that.
Choose the best reported speech version. Your score is saved for the results page.
Rewrite each sentence as reported speech. Type your answer and press Check — answers are graded by AI.