Change of Speech

What you need to understand

The tense steps back one: present becomes past, present perfect becomes past perfect, will becomes would, and can becomes could.

The first person pronouns change to fit the speaker. What was I becomes he or she, and what was we becomes they.

The tense does not step back if the reporting verb is in the present, or if what was said is still true. He says that he is busy is correct.

Words of time and place shift with the tense: now becomes then, today becomes that day, here becomes there, and tomorrow becomes the next day.

The inverted commas and the comma before them disappear, and that is used to join the report.

A question is reported with if or whether for a yes-or-no question, and with the question word for the others.

A command is reported with to: he told me to wait, not he told me wait.

How to work through these questions

Find the reporting verb and the person who spoke.

Work out the pronoun that replaces the first person in the report.

Step the tense back one place.

Shift any word of time or place that belonged to the moment of speaking.

Remove the inverted commas and join the report with that.

Make the verb agree with its new subject, which is the pronoun of the speaker.

Read the report back and check that all three changes have been made, not just two of them.

Mistakes that cost marks

Leaving the tense where it was, which is the commonest error and gives a report that reads as though the speaker were still talking.
Changing the tense but leaving the first person pronoun alone, so that I still appears in a report about somebody else.
Forgetting the time and place words, which shift for the same reason the tense does.
Making the verb agree with the old subject rather than the new one, as in she have fixed.
Backshifting a tense that should not move, when the reporting verb is in the present.
Reporting a question as though it were a statement, and losing the question word or the if.

Worked example

The woman said, "I am repairing the lamps here." Change this into indirect speech.

The speaker is the woman, so the first person I becomes she.
The verb is am repairing, which is the present continuous, so it steps back to was repairing.
Here belonged to the moment of speaking, so it shifts to there.
The inverted commas and the comma go, and that joins the report.
The verb agrees with its new subject: she was repairing.
The result is: The woman said that she was repairing the lamps there.
All three changes have been made, and the sentence reads as a report rather than a quotation.

Answer: The woman said that she was repairing the lamps there.

Practice questions with answers

A few Change of Speech questions with the full solution shown, so you can see how the method is applied before you attempt the timed set.

Question 1

Which of these is the indirect form of: The villagers said, "We have tested the reports here."

A The villagers said that we had tested the reports there.
B The villagers said that they had tested the reports there.
C The villagers said that they have tested the reports there.
D The villagers said, "We have tested the reports here."

Answer: Option B — with explanation

When words are reported the tense steps back one, the first person becomes the pronoun of the speaker, and a time word shifts with the tense.\nThat gives: The villagers said that they had tested the reports there.\nEach of the other options leaves one of those steps undone. Common mistakes - the words are left in direct speech and not reported at all: The villagers said, "We have tested the reports here." - the first person is kept, so the report reads as though the speaker were still speaking: The villagers said that we had tested the reports there. - the tense is left where it was rather than stepping back one: The villagers said that they have tested the reports there.

Question 2

Change the following into indirect speech: The students said, "We will sell the engines today."

A The students said that they would sell the engines that day.
B The students said that they will sell the engines that day.
C The students said, "We will sell the engines today."
D The students said that we would sell the engines that day.

Answer: Option A — with explanation

When words are reported the tense steps back one, the first person becomes the pronoun of the speaker, and a time word shifts with the tense.\nThat gives: The students said that they would sell the engines that day.\nEach of the other options leaves one of those steps undone. Common mistakes - the words are left in direct speech and not reported at all: The students said, "We will sell the engines today." - the tense is left where it was rather than stepping back one: The students said that they will sell the engines that day. - the first person is kept, so the report reads as though the speaker were still speaking: The students said that we would sell the engines that day.

Question 3

Which of these is the indirect form of: The students said, "We are bringing the models here."

A The students said that they are bringing the models there.
B The students said, "We are bringing the models here."
C The students said that they were bringing the models there.
D The students said that we were bringing the models there.

Answer: Option C — with explanation

When words are reported the tense steps back one, the first person becomes the pronoun of the speaker, and a time word shifts with the tense.\nThat gives: The students said that they were bringing the models there.\nEach of the other options leaves one of those steps undone. Common mistakes - the first person is kept, so the report reads as though the speaker were still speaking: The students said that we were bringing the models there. - the words are left in direct speech and not reported at all: The students said, "We are bringing the models here." - the tense is left where it was rather than stepping back one: The students said that they are bringing the models there.

Question 4

Rewrite in reported speech: The students said, "We will clean the machines."

A The students said that they will clean the machines.
B The students said that they would clean the machines.
C The students said, "We will clean the machines."
D The students said that we would clean the machines.

Answer: Option B — with explanation

When words are reported the tense steps back one, the first person becomes the pronoun of the speaker, and a time word shifts with the tense.\nThat gives: The students said that they would clean the machines.\nEach of the other options leaves one of those steps undone. Common mistakes - the first person is kept, so the report reads as though the speaker were still speaking: The students said that we would clean the machines. - the words are left in direct speech and not reported at all: The students said, "We will clean the machines." - the tense is left where it was rather than stepping back one: The students said that they will clean the machines.

Question 5

Which of these is the indirect form of: The boy said, "I am testing the letters this morning."

A The boy said that I was testing the letters that morning.
B The boy said, "I am testing the letters this morning."
C The boy said that he was testing the letters that morning.
D The boy said that he is testing the letters that morning.

Answer: Option C — with explanation

When words are reported the tense steps back one, the first person becomes the pronoun of the speaker, and a time word shifts with the tense.\nThat gives: The boy said that he was testing the letters that morning.\nEach of the other options leaves one of those steps undone. Common mistakes - the first person is kept, so the report reads as though the speaker were still speaking: The boy said that I was testing the letters that morning. - the words are left in direct speech and not reported at all: The boy said, "I am testing the letters this morning." - the tense is left where it was rather than stepping back one: The boy said that he is testing the letters that morning.

Frequently asked questions

Does the tense always step back?

No. If the reporting verb is in the present, or if what was said is still true, the tense stays as it was. He says he is busy is correct, and so is saying that the earth goes round the sun.

Why do the time words change?

For the same reason the tense does. The report is made at a different moment from the speech, so now has become then and here has become there.

What happens to must and should?

They usually stay as they are, because they have no separate past form. Must can become had to when the sense is one of obligation, but the change is not forced, and a question that offered both would have no single answer.

How is a question reported?

A yes-or-no question is joined with if or whether, and the words go back into statement order. A question with a question word keeps it, and again takes statement order.

How is a command reported?

With to and the base form: he told me to wait. A negative command uses not to: he told me not to wait.