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Reported Speech

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Susanna said (that) she was very happy that day.

I am very happy today.

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We use reported speech to talk about what someone said.

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When we report a statement, we have to:

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take away the quotation marks

e.g ‘Some students are talking,’ said the teacher.

The teacher said (that) some students were talking.

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change the tense

e.g ‘I am very happy today,’ said Susanna.

Susanna said (that) she was very happy that day.

simple present

present continuous

simple past

past continuous

The teacher said (that) some students were talking.

e.g ‘Some students are talking,’ said the teacher.

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change the pronouns

I/you we/you

me/you us/you

my/your our/your

mine/yours ours/yours

he/she they

him/her them

his/her their

his/hers theirs

e.g ‘I am very happy today,’ said Susanna. Susanna said (that) she was very happy that day.

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change the time words today that day

yesterday the day before

tomorrow the following day

e.g. ‘I am very happy today,’ said Susanna. Susanna said (that) she was very happy that day.

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How many people are there in your

family?

Tony asked Ray how many people there were in his family.

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When we report a question, we have to:

change the tense

change the pronouns

change the time words

take away the quotation marks

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We also have to:

change the question mark to a full stop

e.g. ‘How many people are there in your family?’ Tony asked Ray. Tony asked Ray how many people there were in his family.

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change the order of words

e.g. ‘How many people are there in your family?’ Tony asked Ray.

Tony asked Ray how many people there were in his family.