Reported statements: tense changes and say or tell

Direct words or an indirect message?

Direct speech presents the words a person used, or the words as you remember them. Indirect speech reports their message as part of your own sentence. It does not put quotation marks around the reported message.

In the indirect report, Rosa said is the reporting part. She needed a larger desk is the reported part: it tells you what Rosa said. You can report your own earlier words too. Reported speech is not restricted to a different person's speech.

Statements, questions and requests need different patterns. This page deals with statements. See Reported questions and requests for questions and instructions, such as asking where something is or telling someone to wait.

Say and tell: the basic patterns

The past forms are said and told. When you report a statement with tell, include the person who received the message. With say, do not put that person straight after the verb. Use to if you name the listener.

Me in told me names the listener; he names the person who needed the key. They are different roles. Do not replace told me with said me, or remove me and leave told he needed in this statement-reporting pattern.

That is optional here

After say or tell in these patterns, you can include that or leave it out. It introduces the message; it does not mean the demonstrative that in that book.

• The organiser said that the hall was ready. The organiser said the hall was ready.

Both report the same message. If that is absent, keep the subject and verb of the reported clause. The organiser said the hall ready is not a complete statement report: the reported part is missing was.

The person rule belongs to tell + reported statement. It is not a rule for every use of tell. You can tell a story, tell a joke or tell the truth without naming a listener. Do not change those expressions to say a story or say the truth.

Backshift: what it is and what it is not

With a past reporting verb, you can move the reported verb to a past form. This is called backshift. For example, present simple owns can become past simple owned. You view the message from the time when it was spoken.

• "My sister owns a bakery," Noor said. Noor said her sister owned a bakery.

Owned does not by itself mean that her sister has sold the bakery. This report tells you about what Noor said then, without settling whether the situation continues now. Backshift is not proof that the original message was false or is no longer true.

Do not treat the following table as a command to change every tense in every report. It shows the forms to use when you choose a backshifted report. The next section explains when you can keep a present or future form.

Keep the rest of the verb pattern. Was checking needs the -ing form; would replace needs the base form, not replaced. For negatives, keep the negative meaning: won't replace becomes wouldn't replace in this report.

Reports with the past perfect

A past perfect report uses had + past participle. The continuous form uses had been + -ing. These patterns let you report completed or continuing situations from an earlier point of view. See The past perfect simple for forming the past perfect.

Past simple and past continuous can shift back in these ways, but they do not have to do so in every context. A past simple can remain when you report a past event. Do not mark a report wrong only because you can imagine a past perfect alternative.

• The speaker described a completed past event: "The van arrived at noon." He said the van arrived at noon. You can also report: He said the van had arrived at noon.

The past perfect itself does not shift further back. If the original already contains had packed, the report can keep had packed. Do not invent had had packed as a new tense.

• "I'd packed the samples before the taxi came." She said she had packed the samples before the taxi came.

Different originals can lead to the same report. Had locked may report have locked or locked. An indirect report is not a code from which you can always reconstruct the exact original sentence.

When you can keep the tense

If the message is still true or relevant, or refers to something that has not happened yet, a present or future form can remain after said or told. You do not have to change it just because the reporting verb is past.

• The arrangement still holds: "The workshop starts at ten." He said the workshop starts at ten.
• The work is still in progress: "I'm repairing the roof this week." She said she is repairing the roof this week.
• The result still matters: "I've misplaced my glasses." He said he has misplaced his glasses, so he cannot read the label.
• The offer still applies: "I'll collect the chairs." She said she will collect the chairs.

A backshifted version can also be appropriate. He said the workshop started at ten reports the earlier message; it does not prove that the start time has changed. Choose the tense for the meaning and current context, rather than treating either present or past as an automatic error.

A present reporting verb

You can use says or tells when you report something as current, relevant or repeated. You do not backshift a verb simply because it follows a reporting verb.

• "I work upstairs." Amir says he works upstairs.

A present reporting verb does not force every reported event into the present. If the original describes a past event, keep that past meaning: Amir says he lost his badge. The tense in the message depends on the event, not on a rule that says must always be followed by a present tense.

Modals: check the meaning

Some modal verbs have different forms in a backshifted report. Others stay the same. Will can become would. May meaning possibility can become might. Keep the meaning of the original modal, not just its spelling.

• "The path may flood." The ranger said the path might flood.

Can and could

Can can become could in a backshifted report of ability or possibility. An unchanged can is also possible when the message remains current.

• "I can repair the radio." The technician said she could repair the radio.

Could, should, would and might do not need a further backshift when they are already in the original. Used to and ought to can also stay as they are.

• "You should save a copy." He said I should save a copy.
• "I used to own a scooter." She said she used to own a scooter.

Further modal distinctions

Must expressing an obligation can become had to. Must expressing a conclusion based on evidence can remain must. These are different meanings, so do not replace every must with had to.

Must may also stay when the obligation still applies. May giving permission can be reported with could; may expressing possibility uses might in a backshifted report. In a statement, shall about the future can become would. Questions beginning Shall I have other patterns; see Reported questions and requests.

Do not turn must not into did not have to as a mechanical tense change. Not having to do something means there is no obligation to do it; being told not to do it forbids the action. Report the intended meaning. More complex modal reports, including perfect forms after modals, belong with Advanced patterns with reporting verbs.

Pronouns: identify the people

I, you, we and possessive words such as my or our depend on who is speaking. Work out the person each word names before you change it. There is no fixed rule that I always becomes he or that you always becomes me.

The grammar changes to fit the new subject too. I am can become she is or she was. Do not keep am after she just because it appeared in the direct speech.

Time and place: keep the reference accurate

Change these words when the original word would now point to the wrong time, place or object. Keep them when they still fit. A past reporting verb does not automatically move here to there or tomorrow to the next day.

For example, someone says, "I'll bring the ladder tomorrow." If you report this on the same day, tomorrow can still refer to the intended day. In a report made much later, the following day refers to the day after the original speech, not the day after your report.

Here can remain here while you are still in the place mentioned. This can remain this when you are still pointing to the same nearby thing. These choices are about the reference, not a mandatory list of word replacements.

Punctuation and word order

In an ordinary indirect statement, put the subject before the verb in the reported clause. With the reporting part first, do not insert a comma before that or the reported clause. Do not put quotation marks around the indirect message.

• The supervisor said that the delivery was late. The reported subject is the delivery; the verb is was.

In direct speech, quotation marks enclose the speaker's words. A comma can separate the words from said: "The delivery is late," the supervisor said. Do not mix the direct punctuation with the indirect form without a reason. Mixed quotations need their own careful editing; they are not the basic pattern taught here.

What comes next

Use Reported questions and requests for questions, requests and commands; Reporting verbs and the patterns after them for other reporting verbs; Advanced patterns with reporting verbs for more complex patterns; and The past perfect simple for past perfect forms. The rules here help you report a message accurately, not guess its truth or reconstruct every original word.