Unit 10: Reported Speech
Learning Objectives
- Apply tense backshift rules when converting direct speech to reported speech
- Change pronouns, modals, and time expressions appropriately
- Use the tool to see a step-by-step breakdown of each transformation
What Is Reported Speech?
Reported speech (also called indirect speech) is used to convey what someone said without quoting their exact words. The reporting verb — usually said or told — is followed by that and the reported clause.
Direct speech: "I will send the report tomorrow."
Reported speech: You said that you would send the report the following day.
Four types of changes are typically required: tense backshift, pronoun changes, modal changes, and time expression changes.
The Four Changes in Reported Speech
Expand each change to see the rule and examples.
| Direct speech tense | Reported speech tense |
|---|---|
| Present simple | Past simple |
| Present continuous | Past continuous |
| Present perfect | Past perfect |
| Past simple | Past perfect |
| Future (will) | Conditional (would) |
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| I | you |
| me / my / mine | you / your / yours |
| we / our / us | you / your / you |
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| will | would |
| can | could |
| may | might |
| shall | would |
| must | had to |
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| now | then |
| today | that day |
| yesterday | the day before |
| tomorrow | the following day |
| here | there |
| this / these | that / those |
| last week / next week | the previous week / the following week |
Tool: Reported Speech Converter
Enter a direct speech sentence (without quotation marks). The tool will convert it to reported speech and show you each transformation step.
Try: "I will call you tomorrow." or "I can finish this today."
Check Your Understanding
'I can help you.' — What is the correct reported form?
What happens to 'tomorrow' in reported speech?
'She worked hard.' — What is the correct tense backshift in reported speech?
Watch
Video coming soon
Review
| Change type | Rule |
|---|---|
| Tense backshift | Move one step back: present → past, past → past perfect |
| Pronoun change | I/me/my → you/your; we/us/our → you/your |
| Modal backshift | will → would, can → could, may → might, must → had to |
| Time expressions | now → then, today → that day, tomorrow → the following day |
Tense backshift is not required when the reporting verb is in the present tense ("He says that…"), or when the reported statement is a general truth ("She said that water boils at 100°C."). In these cases, the original tense may be retained.
You have completed all 10 units of the iCALL Suite. Well done!