Reported speech: advanced

When you use it

At B1 you learned to report with say and tell and to move the tense one step back. At B2 the goal is to report more precisely and more briefly. Instead of she said that she was sorry that she was late, you say she apologised for being late. A reporting verb names the kind of speech act, and each verb has its own grammar pattern. You also need to report questions, handle modal verbs, and know when the backshift is unnecessary.

How it is formed

Reported questions use ask, want to know or wonder. A yes/no question becomes if or whether plus a statement. A wh-question keeps its question word, and the words after it use normal statement order without do or did.

Modal verbs shift too: will becomes would, can becomes could, may becomes might, and must for obligation usually becomes had to. Would, could, should, might and ought to stay as they are. Time and place words move with the speaker: today becomes that day, tomorrow becomes the next day, here becomes there.

The backshift is optional when the statement is still true or still relevant (Anna said she lives in Kyiv), and it does not apply when the reporting verb is in the present (Tom says he is busy).

Examples

• Tom admitted breaking the window.
• Anna suggested going to the lake on Saturday.
• The doctor advised Tom to drink more water.
• Anna asked whether I had seen her keys.
• Tom wanted to know where the meeting was.
• Anna said she would call the next day.
• Tom refused to lend me his car.
• Anna apologised for being late.

Common mistakes

• ✗ She asked me where was the station.
  ✓ She asked me where the station was.
  Russian and Ukrainian keep the word order of the original question in a report (она спросила, где вокзал; вона спитала, де вокзал). English uses statement order after the question word: subject first, then verb.
• ✗ He asked me did I like the film.
  ✓ He asked me if I liked the film.
  The auxiliary did belongs only to direct questions. In a reported yes/no question you need if or whether, and the verb shifts back with no auxiliary.
• ✗ Tom said that he will come tomorrow. (reported a week later)
  ✓ Tom said that he would come the next day.
  In Slavic languages the reported clause keeps the original tense (он сказал, что придёт завтра). English shifts the verb back and adjusts the time expression, unless the event is still in the future for both speaker and listener.
• ✗ Anna told that she was tired.
  ✓ Anna told me that she was tired. / ✓ Anna said that she was tired.
  Сказала, что is one verb for every situation. English tell always needs the listener as an object; say never takes the listener directly.
• ✗ He suggested me to go home.
  ✓ He suggested that I go home. / ✓ He suggested going home.
  Suggest and recommend never take an object plus infinitive, whatever the Russian предложил мне пойти looks like. Use an -ing form or a that-clause. If you want the person + to-infinitive pattern, choose advise or tell.

Try it