Meaning
Consider the difference between these two expressions of speech:
- Gustav said, “I hope to you tomorrow.” [Direct Speech]
- Gustav said that he hoped to see her the next day. [Reported Speech]
Direct Speech is common in narratives; it conveys the speech exactly as it is expressed it the moment.
Reported Speech, on the other hand, is more common in casual conversations in which the speaker relays speech that is not original to that moment, and often that originates from someone else.
- Reported Speech most often repeats a sentiment that was expressed earlier. Therefore, Reported Speech is usually in the past. However, it’s also possible to use Reported Speech for the present, the future, or a hypothetical situation.
- In Reported Speech, the current speaker repeats the sentiment of the original speaker. The original speaker may be a different person or the same person as the current speaker.
- Although it’s called ‘Reported Speech‘, the reported sentiment is not necessarily spoken aloud. In many cases it is, but it may also be written or even simply thought.
Reported Speech is not necessarily a word-for-word repetition of the original speech, but instead aims to convey the sentiment or the general meaning of the original speech.
At the same time, Reported Speech frames the meaning of the speech with context in which it was originally expressed.
Structure
- Reported Speech requires a speech verb — such as say or ask — as the main verb of the host clause.
- After the speech verb might come an indirect object which names the person that was addressed in the original speech. Whether such an indirect object is required depends on the particular speech verb.
- Next comes the reported content, which can come in the form of either a Content Clause, an Infinitive Phrase, or an Active Participial Phrase. The relative contextual references in this clause or phrase need to shift to account for the new context (see the relevant section below). In Content Clauses, the verbs also need to be backshifted.
- Any modifiers that reveal information about the original context should be included in the host clause. The host clause is typically structured as declarative, even when the reported content is imperative or interrogative.
Declarative Speech (a)
Most instances of Reported Speech are declarative. The most common speech verb is say, but other declarative speech verbs include (but are not limited to):
admit • announce • assure • boast • claim • comment • confess • confirm • declare • disclose • emphasize • exclaim • explain • express • hint • imply • indicate • insinuate • joke • mention • note • point out • pray • promise • recommend • remark • reply • report • reveal • share • shout • state • stipulate • suggest • utter • voice • whisper
Indirect objects are not required for most of these speech verbs. To include an optional indirect object, use ‘to’ before the addressee. For example, “Austin confessed to me that …”
The speech verb (and optional indirect object) is followed by a Content Clause that holds content of the original speech, adapted to fit the shift in context. That includes backshifted verbs. These Content Clauses typically start with ‘that’, but certain speech verbs allow the ‘that’ to be dropped and instead use a [null] linker. In rare instances, a different crux can be used.
Consider these examples in which the speech verbs are bold and the Content Clauses are underlined:
- “I said that I needed to leave early.”
- “Patrick explained that he had injured his wrist when I asked him why he wasn’t participating.”
- “Tomorrow, Layla will probably admit she made a mistake.”
Declarative Reported Speech that employs Content Clauses are best at conveying the speech fairly close to how it was originally spoken.
Declarative Speech (b)
An alternative to Content Clauses is Active Participle Phrases. Declarative Reported Speech that employs Participial Phrases tends to be less precise in repeating the original information, but instead only focuses on conveying the overall meaning of the original speech.
Declarative speech verbs that can be followed by Active Participles include (but are not limited to):
accuse (of) • admit (to) • apologize (for) • blame (for) • coax (into) • complain (about) • criticize (for) • debate • describe • explain • inform (of) • lecture (on) • praise (for) • propose • reinforce • report • reprimand (for) • scold (for) • thank (for) • underscore
Indirect objects are required for most of these speech verbs, and they should come before their prepositions. For example: “inform them of …”; “praise her apprentice for …”
The reported content then comes in the form of a Participial Phrase with an Active Participle as its head. This is actually a form of Verb Patterns. For example:
- “I must thank the sponsors for generously donating to our cause.”
- “She accused me of cheating.”
- “Fitzherbert described trekking across the Andes Mountains in great detail.”
Imperative Speech
Reporting imperatives differ from reporting declaratives in two ways. First, there are different speech verbs. Imperative speech verbs include (but are not limited to):
advise • beg • command • convince • encourage • forbid • implore • instruct • order • persuade • say • teach • tell • urge • warn
The second difference is that most forms of imperative Reported Speech features Full Infinitive Phrases instead of Content Clauses. Furthermore, there should be an indirect object — usually a specific person — between the speech verb and the Infinitive Phrase. These indirect objects indicate whom the original speaker was issuing their command to.
These Infinitive Phrases do not voice subjects, as their subjects are understood to be ‘you’ in the original context (meaning the direct recipient of the command). In the reporting context, the subject of the imperative is now the indirect object of the speech verb.
Infinitive Phrases start with ‘to’, then the infinitive form of the verb, then any complements (like direct and indirect objects). For negative instructions, negators like not or never come either immediately before or immediately after ‘to’.
Consider these examples in which the speech verbs are bold and the Infinitive Phrases are underlined (notice the indirect object between):
- “You told us to stay quiet in the library.”
- “Yang should warn the children not to watch that scary movie.”
- “I encouraged everyone to try the new recipe.”
While Infinitive Phrases are the most common way to convey reported content for imperative Reported Speech, certain imperative speech verbs should instead be followed by a Content Clause (as in “She demands that I call her immediately.”) or a Participial Phrase (as in “My cousin insisted on coming with us.”)
Interrogative Speech
Interrogative Reported Speech features interrogative speech verbs. The most common of these is ask, but other examples include inquire, question, and wonder.
Ask can be followed by an optional indirect object (no ‘to’ required), but otherwise indirect objects are not featured in Reported Questions.
The speech verb is followed by a Content Clause. But instead of using ‘that’ as the crux of the Content Clause, interrogatives call for ‘if’, ‘whether’, or ‘WH’ question words. Despite the possible inclusion of ‘WH’ Words and the interrogative nature of these clauses, Reported Questions do not undergo subject-auxiliary inversion (which means the word order should be the same as declarative clauses).
- “Siobhan asked the receptionist where the conference room was.”
- “Fahad wondered how the film’s special effects were done.”
- “I asked if the dressing could be served on the side.”
View the Indirect Questions page to learn more about Reported Questions.
Shifting Relative References
Some words or phrases — especially pronouns, determiners, and certain time expressions — refer to a situation or environment relative to the time, place, etc. of the spoken context. (For instance, referencing an object as either ‘this’ or ‘that’ depends on where the speaker is relative to that object.) These are called deixis terms. Since context changes with Reported Speech, relevant references also need to change in order to refer back to their original referents.
Personal Pronouns
Referencing the Speaker
Personal pronouns that reference the original speaker change when the reporting speaker is different from the original speaker. For instance:
- original speech, spoken by Robert: “I am thirsty.”
- Reported Speech, addressed to the original speaker: “You say that you are thirsty.”
- Reported Speech, addressed to a third party: “Robert says that he is thirsty.”
Whether it’s ‘I’, ‘you’, or ‘he’, the pronoun consistently refers to Robert. The pronoun only changes because the reporting speaker and the listener change (since personal pronouns are relative).
Notice that since the subject changes, its verb changes as well: from ‘am’, to ‘are’, to ‘is’. It’s important to maintain subject-verb agreement.
Referencing the Addressee
The addressee is whomever the original speaker is speaking to. Personal pronouns that reference the addressee may or may not change for Reported Speech. For instance:
- original speech, addressed to Susan: “You have beautiful handwriting.”
- Reported Speech, addressed to Susan: “Justin says that you have beautiful handwriting.”
- Reported Speech, addressed to someone else: “Justin says that she has beautiful handwriting.”
- alternatively: “Justin says that Susan has beautiful handwriting.”
- Reported Speech, spoken by Susan: “Justin says that I have beautiful handwriting.”
Again, the original addressee (Susan) never changes, but the pronoun changes depending on who’s talking and whom they’re talking to. And the verb changes accordingly (to maintain subject-verb agreement).
The examples shown here feature subject pronouns for the speaker and the addressee, but the same considerations must be made for object, reflexive, and possessive pronouns along with possessive determiners.
Proximals & Distals
Certain determiners, pronouns, and pro-adverbs come in pairs that carry the same meaning but differ on how close the speaker is to referent. These are sometimes called demonstratives. Each of these pairs has one proximal term and one distal term:
- Proximal terms (eg: this, here, now) indicate that the referent is close to the speaker, whether that’s in terms of time, space, understanding, or motivation.
-
Distal terms (eg: that, there, then) indicate that the referent is further away from the speaker, whether in terms of time, space, understanding, or motivation.
Here are some common proximal-distal pairs:
| THINGS | PLACE | TIME | EFFECT | |
| PROXIMAL |
‘this‘ |
‘here‘ | ‘now‘ |
‘hereby‘ |
| DISTAL |
‘that‘ |
‘there‘ | ‘then‘ |
‘thereby‘ |
Sometimes, Reported Speech needs to swap out a proximal pro-form with its distal counterpart. Sometimes an original distal term needs to be reported as proximal. And sometimes, no change is needed. There is no formula for adjusting these terms; one simply has to assess how to refer to the intended referents relative to the new (reporting) context.
Time References
Some of the most common time references are relative to the moment they are spoken. In addition to now and then, other terms include soon, today, tonight, tomorrow, yesterday, next, last, and ago.
A common adjustment for Reported Speech is to apply ‘that’, ‘the following’, ‘the previous’, ‘earlier’, or ‘later’ after reframing those time reference with more generic terms (for instance ‘today’ is also ‘this day’). Here are some examples:
- ‘today’ (‘this day’) ⇨ ‘that day’
- ‘tomorrow’ ⇨ ‘that following day’ or ‘a day later’
- ‘yesterday’ ⇨ ‘the previous day’ or ‘a day earlier’ or ‘a day before’
- ‘four months ago’ ⇨ ‘four months earlier/prior’
- ‘the next three weeks’ ⇨ ‘the following three weeks’
For instance, if the Direct Speech is “Juan said, ‘I’ve been applying for the job the last six months, and I was finally accepted yesterday!'”, then the Reported Speech variation of that might be “Juan said that he had applying for the job six months prior, and he was finally accepted the previous day.”
Directional Verbs
A few verbs that indicate a direction only make sense relative to physical location of the speaker:
- Go and come essentially mean the same thing, except that go moves away from the speaker while come moves toward the speaker.
- Bring usually means that something is carried toward the speaker. Its counterpart is take, which can mean to carry away from the speaker.
Depending on the position of the new speaker in Reported Speech (and whether it aligns with the original position), come may need to change to go, or vice-versa; bring and take may need to be swapped with one another.
Backshifting Tenses
Verb tenses also need to shift to maintain reference to the indicated context. Since it’s most common for tenses to shift backward (as the spoken-of event is further in the past when it’s reported later than it was when it was first spoken of), this process is called backshifting.
Generally, an originally present verb will shift back to a past verb in Reported Speech, and an originally past verb will shift back to Past Perfect when reported. However, these particular shifts are not always applicable; the speaker must consider how the intended context matches to the current moment.
- A PRESENT tense may backshift to past or may remain present.
- Use a past tense when the action or event has concluded by the time of the Reported Speech. eg: “You have only five minutes remaining in the exam.” ⇨ “We had only five minutes remaining in the exam.”
- Keep the present tense when a long-running action or event continues into the time of the Reported Speech. eg: “The Hendersons are remodeling their kitchen.” ⇨ “The Hendersons are (still) remodeling their kitchen.”
- When the present tense is used for permanent states, it’s usually acceptable to either make the tense past or to keep it present. eg: “Rochel is a mathematician.” ⇨ “Rochel was a mathematician.” or “Rochel is a mathematician.”
- A PAST tense typically backshifts to Past Perfect.
- Keep the past (non-perfect) tense as it was for states that were permanent within the context, but no longer applicable now. eg: “Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch of Great Britain.” ⇨ “Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch of Great Britain.”
- Otherwise, use the Past Perfect (or Past Perfect Continuous) for past actions or short-term states. eg: “It was already raining by sunrise.” ⇨ “It had already been raining by sunrise.”
- A FUTURE tense may backshift to the past, present, or Future-in-the-Past. Alternatively, it may not backshift, but instead remain a future tense.
- Keep the tense future if the indicated context is still in the future at the time of the Reported Speech. eg: “Flying cars will be ubiquitous by 2125.” ⇨ “Flying cars will be ubiquitous by 2125.”
- Backshift the tense to present if it is occurring at the time of the Reported Speech. The Present Continuous is usually best for in-progress actions. eg: “I‘m going to visit my cousin.” ⇨ “I‘m visiting my cousin.”
- Backshift the tense to past if the action or state has already happened and been completed between when it was planned/predicted and when the Reported Speech was made. eg: “The playoffs will begin next week.” ⇨ “The playoffs began last week.”
- Backshift the tense to Future-in-the-Past if the time of planned or predicted event should’ve happened already, but the event itself never actually occurred. eg: “He will fix the sink tomorrow.” ⇨ “He would have fixed the sink the next day (but he couldn’t because he had injured his wrist).”
Verbs with either a continuous aspect or a perfect aspect in their original context generally do not lose those aspects. There are exceptions to this (again, one must consider what makes the most sense to match the new context with the reported context), but unless there is a strong reason to drop the aspect, these aspects by default should be maintained through the backshift.
- A Present Perfect verb usually backshifts to Past Perfect.
- A Present Continuous verb usually backshifts to Past Continuous.
- A Past Continuous verb usually backshifts to Past Perfect Continuous.
The Past Perfect tense (or Past Perfect Continuous tense) is as far back as a verb can backshift.
Usage
Reporting
The most common application of Reported Speech is … well … reporting. This might be in a formal sense, as with journalism or research, but it’s often in a casual sense. Reported Speech is simply what we use in everyday conversations to relay information based on what was said or written at some earlier time (even if it was as little as two seconds ago).
Revealing the Unexpressed
Reporting means repeating that which was already expressed, usually aloud or through writing. However, we can also use the Reported Speech framework to reveal sentiments that hadn’t been expressed yet. This is common with thoughts, as in “I was just wondering when my package was going to be delivered.”
Advanced Concepts
Non-Speech Reporting Verbs
The examples of speech verbs shown in the Structure section above are primarily used for reporting on what was previously spoken aloud, or perhaps written down. But the Reported Speech framework can also be used for thoughts that are internalized, which may or may not be then voiced.
Declarative reporting verbs of cognition include (but are not limited to):
agree • assume • believe • conclude • expect • forget • hope • imagine • infer • know • recognize • remember • suppose • suspect • think • understand • wish
Interrogative reporting verbs of cognition include (but are not limited to):
assess • consider • deliberate • dispute • doubt • forget • guess • judge • ponder • question • remember • speculate • wonder
Here, interrogative doesn’t necessarily mean that the information is sought out as in a question. Instead, the crux might be a ‘WH’ Word instead of ‘that’ in order to convey certain details. Whereas ‘that’ Content Clauses indicate simply what is, ‘WH’ Content Clauses might tell us when, where, how, etc.
Generalizations
In English Language Teaching, Reported Speech is often used as an alternative to Direct Speech where most of the details from the original speech are repeated (with adjustments) in the Reported Speech. However, we often use generalized messaging through Reported Speech in casual conversations.
For instance, instead of “The suspect confessed that she had broken into the residence and stolen the hard drive,” we might simply say, “The suspect confessed to the crime,” or “The suspect admitted breaking in.”
Here, what follows the speech verb is a simpler noun phrase than a full Content Clause. Sometimes that noun phrase is a Gerund, and other times it’s a more basic noun with a determiner. Often, a preposition is needed between the speech verb and this direct object.
For example:
- “We thanked them for their service.”
- “My teacher scolded me for the careless work.”
- “The leader coaxes his followers into playing along.”
- “Allow me to justify my decision.”
If simple noun phrases like these are generalizations and Content Clauses are detailed reports, then Full Infinitive Phrases and Active Participial Phrases fall somewhere in the middle of that spectrum; they are capable of having a high, moderate, or low level of details per the reporting speaker’s discretion.
Teaching Tips
Steps from Direct to Reported
Some textbooks and other grammar references compare Reported Speech to Direct Speech. Even if not, teachers may want to show students how to take Direct Speech (perhaps in the style of a narrative) and convert it into Reported Speech.
For declaratives:
- Step One: Introduction — Make sure the speaker info (eg: “He said,”) is at the beginning of the sentence. Remove the quotation marks and any commas or semicolons, and add ‘that’ after the speech verb.
- Step Two: Reference Adjustments — Reconsider all of the reference terms that are relevant to the speaker’s point of view, including personal pronouns, determiners, time references, etc. Alter them where necessary to link the new reporting context to the original references.
- Step Three: Backshifting — Consider whether the tenses used still make sense in the current (reporting) context. If not, backshift those verbs to reflect the intended time period, duration, and/or completion status.
You can develop similar steps for imperative or interrogative speech.
Context Hopping
Making adjustments for the context might be the most cumbersome aspect of Reported Speech for new English speakers. For practice, provide a sentence in Direct Speech, then specify it’s context: who said it, where, when, and to whom. Next, provide three different examples of context that occur afterward with some details changing while others stay the same.
For example, if the original context is that Layla said something to Maitland at school at 3:15pm on Tuesday, here are some possible reporting contexts:
- Layla repeated it to Bobby at school at 3:20pm.
- Maitland repeated it to Geoffrey at school on Wednesday.
- Bobby repeated it to Susan at the park on Saturday.
Students need to form the Reported Speech of the same original sentence for all three reporting contexts. While the general sentiment should remain the same throughout, each iteration might change one or more of the pronouns, demonstrative adverbs, tenses, etc.
Insider Access
Visit our How to Teach Reported Speech page on www.insightstoEnglish.com for a demonstrational video, bonus notes, printouts, a slideshow for your class, practice activities, and more.
Further Reading
Encyclopedia Pages
- Indirect Questions – another type of Indirect Speech; includes Reported Questions
- Indirect Imperatives – another type of Indirect Speech
- Verb Patterns – another way to reiterate something previously expressed.
Insights Articles
Intermediate Topics
CEFR Levels B1-B2: Pre-Intermediate to Upper Intermediate courses
