Reported speech

- We use reported speech when we are saying what other people say, think or believe.

In reported speech we give the meaning of what was said rather than the exact words.

•  Direct Speech: “I've been to London three times.”

•  Reported Speech: She said she’d been to London three times.

We often use “reported speech” when talking about a conversation that happened in the past. There are some changes to the verbs with reported speech; read the table to find out how each verb tense changes:

 Another table:

Other verb forms also sometimes change:

Things are slightly more complicated with imperatives.

*  Adverbs and adverbial phrases of time change as follows:

 Ex: “I  saw  her  the  day  before  yesterday”,  he  said.  

=>  He  said  he’d  seen  her  two  days before.

“I’ll do it tomorrow”, he promised. 

=>  He promised that he would do it the next day.

She  said,  “My  father died a  year  ago”.  

=>  She  said  that  her father had  died  a  year before/the previous year.

Reported Speech: Requests, Orders, Questions

“Asked me to” is used for requests.
“Told me to” is stronger; it is used for orders/commands.
The main verb stays in the infinitive:

- She asked me to make copies.

- He told me to go to the bank.

Video:

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