Reported Speech
Cours · anglais (2 Bac, Maroc), chapitre 6 · Maroc, 2e année du Bac · le début du chapitre, la suite sur Adloun
When we tell someone what another person said, we often use reported speech (also called indirect speech) instead of repeating the exact words. This unit shows how to report statements, questions and commands, with the tense changes and the changes of time and place words you need for the Bac.
6.1 Direct and Reported Speech
Direct speech gives the exact words inside quotation marks: She said, "I am tired." Reported speech tells the message without quotation marks, usually with a reporting verb (say, tell, ask) and often the word that: She said that she was tired.
- Direct: He said, "I work in Casablanca."
- Reported: He said that he worked in Casablanca.
After tell we name the listener; after say we do not. We say She told me that... but She said that... (not she said me).
6.2 The Backshift of Tenses
When the reporting verb is in the past (said, told, asked), the verb in the reported clause usually moves one step back into the past. This is called the backshift.
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| Present Simple (work) | Past Simple (worked) |
| Present Continuous (am working) | Past Continuous (was working) |
| Past Simple (worked) | Past Perfect (had worked) |
| Present Perfect (have worked) | Past Perfect (had worked) |
| will | would |
| can | could |
| may | might |
| must | had to |
- "I am busy." → She said she was busy.
- "We will help you." → They said they would help us.
- "I can swim." → He said he could swim.
- "I have finished." → She said she had finished.
The backshift is not needed when we report a general truth or something still true: The teacher said the Earth goes round the Sun. Also, would, could, might, should and had usually do not change.
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