Reported Speech: Telling People What Was Said
How to report what someone said in English — what changes, what does not, and why the tense shifts back.
When you tell someone what another person said, English usually shifts the verb one step further into the past. This is called backshift, and it is one of the highest-value B1 structures: it appears constantly in exams, emails and everyday retelling.
The basic shift
"I am tired," she said. → She said she was tired.
"We finished it," he said. → He said they had finished it.
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| present simple | past simple |
| present continuous | past continuous |
| past simple | past perfect |
| present perfect | past perfect |
| will | would |
| can | could |
| must / have to | had to |
| may | might |
Past perfect does not shift again — it is already as far back as English goes. Neither do could, should, might, would and ought to: they have no further past form, so they stay put.
"You should call him." → She said I should call him.
What else changes
Words that point to the speaker's here and now have to move:
- I / my → he / his, she / her
- here → there
- this → that
- today → that day; tomorrow → the next day; yesterday → the day before
- now → then
"I'll call you tomorrow," he said. → He said he would call me the next day.
When you do NOT backshift
If the statement is still true, backshift is optional and often avoided:
"Water boils at 100°C." → She said water boils at 100°C. ✅
"I live in Prague." → He said he lives in Prague. ✅ (he still does)
If the reporting verb is in the present (says, tells me), nothing shifts at all:
He says he is busy.
What backshift really signals — distance, not time. Shifting back quietly marks the words as somebody else's report rather than your own claim; keeping the present tense signals that you are vouching for it too.
Reported questions
Two things change: the word order goes back to normal, and do/does/did disappears.
"Where do you live?" → She asked where I lived. (not where did I live)
"Are you coming?" → He asked whether/if I was coming.
Yes/no questions need if or whether. There is no question mark.
Reported requests and orders
Use to + verb:
"Please wait." → She asked me to wait.
"Don't touch it." → He told me not to touch it.
Say and tell
Tell needs a person; say does not.
❌ He said me he was late. ✅ He told me he was late. / He said he was late.
The word that is optional after both: He said (that) he was late. Leaving it out is more conversational.
Better reporting verbs
Say and tell work everywhere, but a precise verb reports the purpose of the words, not just their content — which is what makes written summaries readable.
| Verb | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| explain | that… | She explained that the system was down. |
| admit | -ing / that… | He admitted making a mistake. |
| suggest | -ing / that… | She suggested waiting a week. |
| offer | to + verb | He offered to help. |
| refuse | to + verb | She refused to sign. |
| promise | to + verb | They promised to call back. |
| warn | someone (not) to… | He warned us not to be late. |
| complain | that… | She complained that it was too slow. |
| deny | -ing | He denied seeing the email. |
Compare He said he wouldn't sign it with He refused to sign it — the second is shorter and says more.
Passing on a message
A: Did you speak to Dana?
B: I did. She said the report wasn't ready and asked if we could move the meeting.
A: Did she say when she'd have it?
B: She promised to send it by Thursday, but she warned me not to count on the morning.
Backshift throughout, a reported question with no inversion, and two precise reporting verbs doing the work of whole sentences.
Test yourself
The quiz below covers backshift, reported questions and say versus tell.