Direct and Indirect Speech: Rules, Tense Changes and Examples

Direct speech repeats someone's exact words, inside quotation marks: Maria said, "I'm leaving tomorrow." Indirect speech — also called reported speech — reports the meaning in your own sentence, without quotation marks: Maria said (that) she was leaving the next day.

We use reported speech all the time: passing on a message, telling a story, summarising a meeting. Turning direct speech into indirect speech means changing a few things — usually the tense, the pronouns and the time and place words. This guide takes them one at a time, then covers questions and commands, which follow their own patterns.

Direct speech: how to write it

In direct speech, the exact words go inside quotation marks, with a comma separating them from the reporting clause:

Commas, question marks and exclamation marks belong inside the closing quotation mark. British English often uses single quotation marks ('…'), American English double ("…"); both are correct if you're consistent.

Said or told?

The two most common reporting verbs work differently:

• say (something) — no person after it: He said (that) he was busy. If you mention the person, use to: He said to me that…
• tell + person (+ something) — the person is needed: He told me (that) he was busy.

He said me he was busy and He told that he was busy are both common mistakes. That is optional after both verbs, and very often left out in speech.

Rule 1: move the tense back

When the reporting verb is in the past (said, told, asked), the verb in the reported part usually moves one step back in time. This is called backshift.

The past perfect, and the modals would, could, might, should and ought to, don't change — there's no further step back. The past simple → past perfect change is often skipped in conversation when the order of events is clear: He said he saw the film is fine. If you need the past perfect itself, see how the past perfect works.

When you don't need to change the tense

Backshift isn't automatic. You can keep the original tense when:

• The reporting verb is in the present (says, tells, has said): "I'm hungry." → She says she's hungry.
• The statement is still true now: "The museum opens at 9." → He said the museum opens at 9. (It still does.)
• It's a general fact: The teacher said water boils at 100°C.

Both versions are correct in these cases — backshifting is also fine, it just sounds more distant: He said the museum opened at 9.

Rule 2: change the pronouns

Pronouns change to match who is speaking now. If Anna tells you, "I love my job," you report it as Anna said she loved her job.

Rule 3: change time and place words

When you report something later or somewhere else, words that point to "here and now" usually change:

Use common sense: if you report it on the same day, today is still today. She said she would see me tomorrow is perfectly correct if "tomorrow" hasn't come yet.

Reporting questions

Reported questions are not questions any more, so they use normal statement word order — no do / does / did, and no question mark.

Yes / no questions: if or whether

Wh- questions: keep the question word

The most common mistake here is keeping question word order: She asked where did I live. → She asked where I lived.

Reporting commands, requests and advice

Use a reporting verb + person + to + infinitive (or not to for negatives):

Other reporting verbs

Said and told are fine, but other verbs say more about how or why something was said — and each has its own pattern:

Note: suggest never takes a person + to-infinitive. She suggested me to go → She suggested (that) I go / She suggested going.

Common mistakes

• Said + person: He said me that… → He told me that… / He said that…
• Question word order: She asked what was my name. → She asked what my name was.
• Keeping do / did: He asked if did I know. → He asked if I knew.
• Question mark at the end: She asked where I was going? → She asked where I was going.
• Forgetting not to: He told me don't worry. → He told me not to worry.
• Time words left unchanged: on Friday, reporting a Monday conversation — She said she was leaving tomorrow. → She said she was leaving the next day.

Where it fits in your learning

Basic reported statements with said and told usually come at B1; reported questions, commands and the wider range of reporting verbs at B1–B2 — see CEFR levels explained. Reported speech also depends on knowing your tenses well, so the English tenses chart is a useful companion. The modal changes (will → would, can → could) are covered in more depth in modal verbs explained.

Exercise: direct to indirect speech

Report each sentence. Imagine you're telling a friend about it a week later. Answers are below.

1. Sara: "I'm learning to drive."
2. Ben: "I've lost my wallet."
3. My boss: "You can leave early today."
4. Lina: "Do you want to come to the party?"
5. The guide: "Where are you from?"
6. My mum: "Don't forget your keys."
7. Omar: "I'll send you the photos tomorrow."
8. The doctor: "You should drink more water."