the reported speech exercises

Reported Speech – Free Exercise

Write the following sentences in indirect speech. Pay attention to backshift and the changes to pronouns, time, and place.

• Two weeks ago, he said, “I visited this museum last week.” → Two weeks ago, he said that   . I → he|simple past → past perfect|this → that|last …→ the … before
• She claimed, “I am the best for this job.” → She claimed that   . I → she|simple present→ simple past|this→ that
• Last year, the minister said, “The crisis will be overcome next year.” → Last year, the minister said that   . will → would|next …→ the following …
• My riding teacher said, “Nobody has ever fallen off a horse here.” → My riding teacher said that   . present perfect → past perfect|here→ there
• Last month, the boss explained, “None of my co-workers has to work overtime now.” → Last month, the boss explained that   . my → his/her|simple present→ simple past|now→ then

Rewrite the question sentences in indirect speech.

• She asked, “What did he say?” → She asked   . The subject comes directly after the question word.|simple past → past perfect
• He asked her, “Do you want to dance?” → He asked her   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you → she|simple present → simple past
• I asked him, “How old are you?” → I asked him   . The subject comes directly after the question word + the corresponding adjective (how old)|you→ he|simple present → simple past
• The tourists asked me, “Can you show us the way?” → The tourists asked me   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you→ I|us→ them
• The shop assistant asked the woman, “Which jacket have you already tried on?” → The shop assistant asked the woman   . The subject comes directly after the question word|you→ she|present perfect → past perfect

Rewrite the demands/requests in indirect speech.

• The passenger requested the taxi driver, “Stop the car.” → The passenger requested the taxi driver   . to + same wording as in direct speech
• The mother told her son, “Don’t be so loud.” → The mother told her son   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The policeman told us, “Please keep moving.” → The policeman told us   . to + same wording as in direct speech ( please can be left off)
• She told me, “Don’t worry.” → She told me   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The zookeeper told the children, “Don’t feed the animals.” → The zookeeper told the children   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t

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English Grammar Online Exercises and Downloadable Worksheets

Online exercises.

• Reported Speech

Levels of Difficulty : Elementary Intermediate Advanced

• RS012 - Reported Speech Intermediate
• RS011 - Reported Speech Intermediate
• RS010 - Reporting Verbs Advanced
• RS009 - Reporting Verbs Advanced
• RS008 - Reporting Verbs Advanced
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Reported Speech

Perfect english grammar.

Reported Statements

Here's how it works:

We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. ( Click here for more about using 'say' and 'tell' .) If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the sentence:

• Direct speech: I like ice cream.
• Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.

We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'. (As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)

But , if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech:

• Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.

* doesn't change.

• Direct speech: The sky is blue.
• Reported speech: She said (that) the sky is/was blue.

Click here for a mixed tense exercise about practise reported statements. Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.

Reported Questions

So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and negative sentences. But how about questions?

• Direct speech: Where do you live?
• Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
• Direct speech: Where is Julie?
• Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.
• Direct speech: Do you like chocolate?
• Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.

Click here to practise reported 'wh' questions. Click here to practise reported 'yes / no' questions. Reported Requests

There's more! What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For example:

• Direct speech: Close the window, please
• Or: Could you close the window please?
• Or: Would you mind closing the window please?
• Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.
• Direct speech: Please don't be late.
• Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.

Reported Orders

• Direct speech: Sit down!
• Reported speech: She told me to sit down.
• Click here for an exercise to practise reported requests and orders.
• Click here for an exercise about using 'say' and 'tell'.
• Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.

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Reported Speech Exercises (With Printable PDF)

| Candace Osmond

| Grammar , Quizzes

Candace Osmond

Candace Osmond studied Advanced Writing & Editing Essentials at MHC. She’s been an International and USA TODAY Bestselling Author for over a decade. And she’s worked as an Editor for several mid-sized publications. Candace has a keen eye for content editing and a high degree of expertise in Fiction.

In English grammar, reported speech is used to tell someone what another person said. It takes another person’s words (direct speech) to create a report of what they said (indirect speech.) With the following direct and indirect speech exercises, it will be easier to understand how reported speech works.

Reported Speech Exercise #1

Complete the sentence in the reported speech.

Reported Speech Exercise #2

Fill in the gaps below with the correct pronouns required in reported speech. Ex. Mary said: “I love my new dress!” Sentence: Mary said ____ love ____ new dress. Answer: she, her

Reported Speech Exercise #3

Choose the correct reported speech phrase to fill in the sentences below.

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Reported speech exercises

• English grammar PDF
• PDF worksheets
• Mixed PDF tests
• Present tenses
• Past tenses
• Future tenses
• Present perfect
• Past perfect
• Future perfect
• Irregular verbs
• Modal verbs
• If-conditional
• Passive voice
• Reported speech
• Time clauses
• Relative clauses
• Indirect questions
• Question tags
• Imperative sentence
• Gerund and infinitive
• Direct | indirect object

Rewrite the sentences in the reported speech

Change the tenses, pronouns, expressions of time and place to rewrite the sentences from the direct to reported speech.

Check test Answer key Clear test

Direct and indirect speech Exercises with answers and grammar rules.

Reported speech worksheets PDF exercises with answers.

Reported questions, commands and requests Exercises and grammar rules.

Reported speech - brief summary

In the reported speech we usually change tenses (one tense back), pronouns, time and place.

"I admire you," said Sarah. Sarah said she admired me.

"We came back yesterday," they told me. They told me they had come the day before.

"Peter has put it here," he thought. He thought that Peter had put it there.

"I'm afraid that your parents won't like me," said George. George said he was afraid that my parents wouldn't like him.

How to avoid the shift of tenses:

It is simple to avoid shift of tenses in the reported speech if you use the reporting verb in the present simple tense instead of the past simple tense.

"I admire you," said Sarah. Sarah says she admires me.

"I'm afraid that your parents won't like me," said George. George says that he is afraid that my parents won't like him.

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• B1-B2 grammar

Reported speech

Daisy has just had an interview for a summer job. 

Instructions

As you watch the video, look at the examples of reported speech. They are in  red  in the subtitles. Then read the conversation below to learn more. Finally, do the grammar exercises to check you understand, and can use, reported speech correctly.

Sophie:  Mmm, it’s so nice to be chilling out at home after all that running around.

Ollie: Oh, yeah, travelling to glamorous places for a living must be such a drag!

Ollie: Mum, you can be so childish sometimes. Hey, I wonder how Daisy’s getting on in her job interview.

Sophie: Oh, yes, she said she was having it at four o’clock, so it’ll have finished by now. That’ll be her ... yes. Hi, love. How did it go?

Daisy: Well, good I think, but I don’t really know. They said they’d phone later and let me know.

Sophie: What kind of thing did they ask you?

Daisy: They asked if I had any experience with people, so I told them about helping at the school fair and visiting old people at the home, that sort of stuff. But I think they meant work experience.

Sophie: I’m sure what you said was impressive. They can’t expect you to have had much work experience at your age.

Daisy:  And then they asked me what acting I had done, so I told them that I’d had a main part in the school play, and I showed them a bit of the video, so that was cool.

Sophie:  Great!

Daisy: Oh, and they also asked if I spoke any foreign languages.

Sophie: Languages?

Daisy: Yeah, because I might have to talk to tourists, you know.

Sophie: Oh, right, of course.

Daisy: So that was it really. They showed me the costume I’ll be wearing if I get the job. Sending it over ...

Ollie: Hey, sis, I heard that Brad Pitt started out as a giant chicken too! This could be your big break!

Daisy: Ha, ha, very funny.

Sophie: Take no notice, darling. I’m sure you’ll be a marvellous chicken.

We use reported speech when we want to tell someone what someone said. We usually use a reporting verb (e.g. say, tell, ask, etc.) and then change the tense of what was actually said in direct speech.

So, direct speech is what someone actually says? Like 'I want to know about reported speech'?

Yes, and you report it with a reporting verb.

He said he wanted to know about reported speech.

I said, I want and you changed it to he wanted .

Exactly. Verbs in the present simple change to the past simple; the present continuous changes to the past continuous; the present perfect changes to the past perfect; can changes to could ; will changes to would ; etc.

She said she was having the interview at four o’clock. (Direct speech: ' I’m having the interview at four o’clock.') They said they’d phone later and let me know. (Direct speech: ' We’ll phone later and let you know.')

OK, in that last example, you changed you to me too.

Yes, apart from changing the tense of the verb, you also have to think about changing other things, like pronouns and adverbs of time and place.

'We went yesterday.'  > She said they had been the day before. 'I’ll come tomorrow.' >  He said he’d come the next day.

I see, but what if you’re reporting something on the same day, like 'We went yesterday'?

Well, then you would leave the time reference as 'yesterday'. You have to use your common sense. For example, if someone is saying something which is true now or always, you wouldn’t change the tense.

'Dogs can’t eat chocolate.' > She said that dogs can’t eat chocolate. 'My hair grows really slowly.' >  He told me that his hair grows really slowly.

What about reporting questions?

We often use ask + if/whether , then change the tenses as with statements. In reported questions we don’t use question forms after the reporting verb.

'Do you have any experience working with people?' They asked if I had any experience working with people. 'What acting have you done?' They asked me what acting I had done .

Is there anything else I need to know about reported speech?

One thing that sometimes causes problems is imperative sentences.

You mean like 'Sit down, please' or 'Don’t go!'?

Exactly. Sentences that start with a verb in direct speech need a to + infinitive in reported speech.

She told him to be good. (Direct speech: 'Be good!') He told them not to forget. (Direct speech: 'Please don’t forget.')

OK. Can I also say 'He asked me to sit down'?

Yes. You could say 'He told me to …' or 'He asked me to …' depending on how it was said.

OK, I see. Are there any more reporting verbs?

Yes, there are lots of other reporting verbs like promise , remind , warn , advise , recommend , encourage which you can choose, depending on the situation. But say , tell and ask are the most common.

Great. I understand! My teacher said reported speech was difficult.

And I told you not to worry!

Check your grammar: matching

Check your grammar: error correction, check your grammar: gap fill, worksheets and downloads.

What was the most memorable conversation you had yesterday? Who were you talking to and what did they say to you?

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Reported speech exercises

Mixed exercises to practise reported, or indirect speech.

Intermediate level

Multiple choice

Reported statements, questions, imperative mood

Filling gaps

Backshift of tenses in reported speech

Try our “total recall” course.

Reported speech is a specific issue in English grammar. There are special rules on how to transfer statements, questions and demands from direct to indirect speech. These exercises are composed for revision and systematization of your knowledge on reported speech. We recommend to do them after you have studied all smaller topics related to reported speech. The links to the explanations and exercises are below.

Related topics

He said he'd come — Reported statements

I asked her where she lived — Reported questions

I told him to stop — Reported requests & orders

Past simple

I was doing — Past continuous

I had done — How to form past perfect

I had been doing — How to form past perfect continuous

Top 10 topics

Irregular verbs

Conditionals (If I knew, I'd tell you)

Get on, turn up... — Phrasal verbs

Modal verbs (can, must, should etc.)

Present perfect vs. Past simple

Present simple and continuous for the future, to be going to

Passive voice (I was told)

At 2 o'clock on Sunday — Prepositions of time

Reported Speech, Indirect Speech – English Grammar Exercises

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Exercise on Reported Speech

Mixed exercise 1.

Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note whether the sentence is a request, a statement or a question.

• He said, "I like this song." → He said
• "Where is your sister?" she asked me. → She asked me
• "I don't speak Italian," she said. → She said
• "Say hello to Jim," they said. → They asked me
• "The film began at seven o'clock," he said. → He said
• "Don't play on the grass, boys," she said. → She told the boys
• "Where have you spent your money?" she asked him. → She asked him
• "I never make mistakes," he said. → He said
• "Does she know Robert?" he wanted to know. → He wanted to know
• "Don't try this at home," the stuntman told the audience. → The stuntman advised the audience

Reported speech - 1

Reported speech - 2

Reported speech - 3

Worksheets - handouts

Exercises: indirect speech

• Reported speech - quiz 1
• Reported speech - quiz 2
• Orders in reported speech
• Reported speech - pronouns
• Reporting verbs quiz 2
• Reported statements
• Reported speech 1 - grammar
• Reported speech 2 - grammar
• Reported speech 3 - grammar
• Reported speech 4 - grammar

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin claims West provoked Kharkiv offensive

The Russian president has said the West provoked the Kremlin's latest offensive into Ukraine's Kharkiv region by ignoring warnings not to allow Kyiv to strike the Russian region of Belgorod.

Tuesday 28 May 2024 18:50, UK

• Russian forces capture two villages in eastern Ukraine
• Putin claims West provoked Kharkiv offensive
• NATO comments open door to allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with Western weapons
• Your questions answered:  When will F-16s arrive in Ukraine?
• The big picture : What you need to know about the war right now
• Eyewitness: Russia producing shells three times faster than Ukraine's allies
• Live reporting by Samuel Osborne

We're pausing our coverage of the Ukraine war for the moment.

Scroll through the blog below to catch up on today's developments.

By Sean Bell , military analyst

President Putin knows that his critical vulnerability is Western military capability, and that should the West become directly involved in the defence of Ukraine, Russia's objectives would no longer be achievable.

As a result, Russia continues to augment its military strategy in Ukraine with targeted rhetoric and information operations designed to deter Western governments from increasing military support to Ukraine.

As Mr Putin's concerns have mounted, the rhetoric has become more inflammatory, leading to more regular rattling of the nuclear sabre.  

You can listen more about this on  Bell's RedMatrix podcast

However, Mr Putin is also well aware that a nuclear war would have no winners; the concept has been described as MAD - Mutually Assured Destruction. 

If the strategy succeeds and the West is deterred from protecting a nation from Russian aggression, where does that leave Russia's wider "empire" ambitions - and China's too?

This past week, Russia chose to remind the world that it had developed the most powerful and longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile - called SATAN II - which can deliver nuclear weapons to almost any point on the Earth's surface. 

Russia routinely uses the threat of escalation as a weapon of war.  No civilised country wants to go to war, and reminding nations of the potential consequences of an escalation is a powerful deterrent.

However, history shows that there are times when people need to make choices if they are to preserve their way of life and the values they cherish. 

A utopian world where all nations live in peace might have enduring appeal, but the harsh reality is that there are always those that will seek to capitalise, to build empires, and provoke major conflicts. 

The omnipresent challenge is when to confront such tyrants, and history suggests the earlier, the better.

Mr Putin knows that his battle-worn forces would be no match for Western air and land power, so is using all the tools at his disposal to deter greater Western engagement. And, that strategy appears to be working. 

However, if the West decides not to call Mr Putin's bluff and accepts Russia's aggressive expansion, where next? 

Russia should stand its ground and keep on with what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine in response to the West's military fervour, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Mr Peskov said at the same time the West had no unanimity of opinion regarding the Ukrainian army's strikes on Russian territory using Western weapons.

NATO's Parliamentary Assembly has called for member states to support Ukraine's "international right" to defend itself by lifting "some restrictions" on Kyiv's use of Western weapons in Russia (see 10.57am post).

Vladimir Putin has said the West provoked the Kremlin's latest offensive into Ukraine's Kharkiv region by ignoring warnings not to allow Kyiv to strike the Russian region of Belgorod.

Giving a speech earlier today, the Russian president said strikes on Belgorod this month were carried out using weapons provided by the West and were only possible with the help of specialists from Western countries. 

"[The] West should understand what it is playing with," Mr Putin warned, adding that any escalation could lead to "serious consequences". 

Kharkiv remains a major focus after Russia opened a new front on the northeastern border.

Over the weekend, Moscow's defence ministry claimed it had taken the settlement of Ivanivka, but victory in the Kharkiv region has been the subject of conflicting reports, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying Ukraine had secured "combat control".

Ukraine 'rejected' peace talks

When questioned about potential peace talks with Ukraine, Mr Putin blamed Kyiv for refusing negotiations.

He said Russia had never abandoned peace talks and was ready to return to them, but claimed Ukraine was instead focusing on its fortunes on the battlefield.

"That's Ukraine that rejected the peace talks," Mr Putin said. 

"They do not want to agree, but are trying to change the situation on the battlefield. In that case, there will be more Ukrainian losses."

These pictures show a Ukrainian drone squad attaching a grenade to a drone before flying it over the positions of Russian troops.

The 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade is on the frontline in the eastern Donbas region.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for Joe Biden to attend a peace summit organised by Kyiv in Switzerland next month.

The Ukrainian president said if the US president missed the event it would be like a standing ovation for Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine hopes to host as many countries as possible in an effort to unite opinion on how to halt the war and heap pressure on Russia, which has seized almost a fifth of Ukraine's territory.

"I know that the US supports the summit but we don't know at what level," Mr Zelenskyy said in Brussels at a joint press conference with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

"[The] peace summit needs President Biden and so do the other leaders who look at the reaction of the United States.

"His absence would be an applause to Putin, a personal standing applause to Putin." 

On Sunday Mr Zelenskyy urged both Mr Biden and his Chinese counterpart and Mr Putin's close ally, Xi Jinping, to attend the summit .

Russia has said it sees no point in the conference.

These pictures show Russian volunteers posing before handing over equipment to an informal military unit consisting of Russians fighting in the armed forces of Ukraine in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The funds are from voluntary donations from Russian citizens and ethnic Russians living in Bulgaria.

More than 1,400 Russian troops have been injured since last Friday, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Defence.

Moscow also lost 21 tanks and 40 armoured combat vehicles, it said.

Although Western estimates of Russian losses differ from Ukraine's, it is nonetheless a sign of the staggering human cost of the war for Moscow.

Russia does not routinely publish numbers of casualties or losses of equipment. Ukraine provides some figures - but infrequently.

In February, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 31,000 of his troops had been killed in two years of war.

Poland should not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in comments published today.

It comes as Kyiv struggles to repel Russian advances in eastern Ukraine.

Mr Sikorski did not specify what role Polish troops would play in the conflict.

Ukraine's NATO allies have vowed to supply the beleaguered nation with weapons and money for as long as it takes to fend off Russia's invasion, but they have generally ruled out the possibility of sending soldiers.

Asked in an interview whether Poland was ready to send troops to Ukraine, Mr Sikorski said: "We shouldn't rule it out. We should leave Putin guessing as to our intentions".

The interview was published in Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza, Italy's La Repubblica and Spain's El Pais.

Previously, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested Western troops could help with the training of Ukrainians in Ukraine.

It comes after Ukraine's top military commander said he had signed paperwork allowing French military instructors to visit Ukrainian training centres soon.

As Russia opens a new front on Ukraine's northeastern border, the war has entered an important phase.

Readers have been sending in their questions to our senior correspondents and military experts for their take on the changing battlefield environment.

Today, Tali-IhanTala asks: 

When will F-16s arrive? I truly believe they will mark a turning point in the War.

Military analyst Sean Bell  had this to say:

Although there is growing expectation that the initial tranche of F-16 fighter jets being donated to Ukraine could arrive as soon as early July, it is not clear whether the other ingredients of this powerful air power capability will be in place by that time.

Providing a credible and effective Ukrainian combat air capability requires suitably trained and experienced pilots, ground crew, weapons, defensive aids and radar. All these components need to be in place before the Ukrainian Air Force will be ready to go into battle with the Russian military.  

Once the F-16s are place, the challenge facing Ukraine will be when and where to use these valuable resources - and how to avoid them being destroyed before they can contribute to the Ukrainian defensive effort.

They will provide Ukraine with an invaluable - albeit scarce - resource. The F-16s could be used to support the frontline, but they will be very vulnerable in that dynamic and hostile air environment. 

They could also be used to conduct strikes against key military targets inside Russian territory, which would certainly force a change in Moscow's tactics. Or, if Ukraine wanted to threaten Crimea, the F-16s could be used in a coordinated attack in support of a wider campaign.

Regardless, with Russia on the front foot in the Donbas, Ukraine needs all the help it can to reverse Russian momentum on the battlefield.

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