Reported (Indirect) Speech in English

Reported speech (also called indirect speech) in English is used to retell what someone else has said, without directly quoting their exact words. When changing direct speech to reported speech, several systematic transformations must occur. The most important is 'backshifting' the verb tense: present simple becomes past simple ('He said he was tired'), present continuous becomes past continuous, present perfect becomes past perfect, and past simple also becomes past perfect. Modal verbs shift as well: 'can' becomes 'could', 'will' becomes 'would', and 'may' becomes 'might'.

In addition to tense changes, pronouns must be adjusted to reflect the perspective of the reporter, and time and place references must change accordingly ('today' becomes 'that day', 'here' becomes 'there', 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day'). For reported questions, the word order changes from question order to statement order, and question marks are dropped. 'Yes/No' questions use 'if' or 'whether' as a conjunction. Understanding reported speech is essential for retelling conversations, writing narratives, and summarizing meetings or interviews in professional settings.