Direct & Indirect Speech
🔒 Log in to trackReporting verbs and the mechanics of the shift
🔒 Log in to trackDirect speech quotes the speaker's words inside inverted commas; indirect (reported) speech folds them into the reporter's sentence. Three mechanical changes always apply:
- Comma and quotes vanish; a connective appears. Statements take that: He said, "I am tired" → He said that he was tired.
- The reporting verb fits the mood. said to → told (+ listener) or said (+ that); a question → asked (never 'asked that' for yes/no — use if/whether); a command → ordered/told/commanded; advice → advised; request → requested; suggestion → suggested/proposed; warning → warned.
- Word order in questions becomes statement order — auxiliary before subject dies: He said to her, "Where do you live?" → He asked her where she lived.
Tone-fitting table:
| Direct situation | Reporting verb | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Plain statement | said / told me | said that … / told me that … |
| Command | ordered, told, commanded | told/ordered + object + to + V1 |
| Advice | advised | advised + object + to + V1 |
| Request (please, kindly) | requested | requested + object + to + V1 |
| Negative command | forbade / told … not to | told + object + not to + V1 |
| Suggestion (Let us…) | suggested, proposed | suggested + V-ing / that … should |
| Exclamation (Hurrah!, Alas!) | exclaimed with joy/sorrow | exclaimed … that + statement |
| Wish (Good morning!) | wished | wished + object |
| Thanks | thanked | thanked + object (+ for …) |
'Said me' does not exist — said needs 'to' (said to me) or becomes told (told me). This one letter difference is the most planted distractor in the section.
Detailed notes
The reporting verb is the first word you write
Direct: She said to me, 'I am tired.' Indirect: She told me that she was tired. The comma and the inverted commas die; a connector takes their place; and the reporting verb itself often changes. Get the verb right and half the item is already done.
say vs tell
- tell needs a listener: told me, told us, told him. Exam English never accepts told that... with no object after told.
- say needs no listener: He said that...
- said to + listener becomes told + listener: He said to me → He told me. The giveaway: if the stem reads said to someone, the keyed option begins with told/asked/ordered-type verb plus that someone — never 'said to' kept as it is.
The tone of the quote picks the verb
| Quote tone | Reporting verb | Connector |
|---|---|---|
| Statement | told / said | that |
| Yes/No question | asked | if / whether |
| Wh-question | asked | the wh-word itself |
| Order | ordered / told + object | to + V1 |
| Request (please, kindly) | requested | to + V1 |
| Advice | advised | to + V1 |
| Suggestion (let us) | suggested / proposed | V-ing, or that...should |
| Exclamation of joy (Hurrah) | exclaimed with joy | that |
| Exclamation of grief (Alas) | exclaimed with sorrow | that |
| Wish / prayer | wished / prayed | that |
Match tone to verb: a please-sentence keyed with ordered is wrong even when every tense inside is perfect. Exams plant exactly this — the correct tenses wrapped around the wrong verb.
Present or future reporting verb: no backshift
If the reporting verb is present (says, asks, has said) or future (will say), the quote's tense does NOT move: He says, 'I am busy.' → He says that he is busy. An option offering was or would there is the planted fault. Papers also like the reporting verb swapped quietly: says keyed as said.
Connector discipline
- Statements → that.
- Yes/No questions → if or whether (never both, never that).
- Orders, requests, advice → to + base verb (never that, never that...to). Exactly one connector per sentence: asked that if and told that to come are impossible — each is a favourite wrong option.
Other mechanics
- The inverted commas, the comma after the reporting verb, the capital letter of the quote and the question mark all disappear; the reported sentence ends with a full stop.
- The listener stays in the object case: told me, asked him, requested her.
- A listener after told is compulsory: told the staff, never told to the staff.
- With say + universal sentence, that is still the connector: He said that honesty is the best policy.
Quick revision
- said to + person → told + person; tell always takes a listener, say never does.
- Tone map: statement → that; yes/no → if/whether; wh → the wh-word; order/request/advice → to + V1; Hurrah → exclaimed with joy; Alas → exclaimed with sorrow.
- Reporting verb in the present (says/asks/has said) → NO backshift inside.
- One connector only; that never pairs with if/whether/to.
- told takes its object directly: told the staff, not told to the staff.
Types of questions asked
Every way this subtopic shows up in exams — how to recognise it, the formula or logic to use, and a solved example.
Type 1: said to + listener becomes told + listenervery common3 practice Q
The stem reads 'X said to me/him/us, ...' with a statement; one option keeps 'said to', one drops the listener after told, and the keyed one reads told + listener + that.
- Spot said to + a person: that pair must become told + the person.
- Add the connector that and run the rest of the checks (tense ladder, pronouns, time words).
- Kill options that keep said to, or that use told with no listener, or told to + listener.
Why it works: say never carries a listener while tell must — the exam plants one option that forgets each half.
Example: Select the indirect form: She said to me, 'I am very busy today.'
She told me that she was very busy that day. — said to me → told me; am → was; today → that day. Keeping 'said to me that...' is the planted fault.
Type 2: Tone decides the reporting verbvery common3 practice Q
The stem carries please/kindly (request), an order, advice, or a suggestion; the options use different verbs (requested/ordered/advised/suggested) with identical tenses.
- Classify the tone before touching anything else: please → requested; command → ordered; advice → advised; let us → suggested.
- Attach the right frame: requested/ordered/advised + object + to + V1; suggested + V-ing.
- Reject options whose tense work is fine but whose verb mismatches the tone.
Why it works: tone-to-verb is a one-to-one map, so the verb alone can settle the item even before the tenses are compared.
Example: Select the indirect form: The doctor said to Father, 'Give up smoking.'
Advice tone → The doctor advised Father to give up smoking. 'Requested Father' softens a piece of advice into a favour; 'ordered Father' hardens it — both are planted.
Type 3: Present reporting verb: no backshiftcommon3 practice Q
The stem's frame is says / often says / has said / will say; one option backshifts the quote (is → was, will → would) and the keyed one leaves the tense untouched.
- Check the reporting verb's tense FIRST.
- Present or future frame → the quote's tense and time words stay exactly as spoken (only pronouns follow SONA).
- Also reject options that quietly swap says → said.
Why it works: backshift exists to mark remoteness in time; a present reporting verb has none, so the ladder is not climbed.
Example: Select the indirect form: Ravi says, 'I do not like loud music.'
Ravi says that he does not like loud music. — says keeps the quote in the present: does not like, NOT did not like. Only the pronoun moves (I → he).
Type 4: Connector discipline (one connector, right one)common3 practice Q
Options that pair connectors (asked that if, told that to) or keep the do/does/did of the quote inside a reported question.
- Statement → that; yes/no question → if/whether; wh-question → the wh-word alone; order/request/advice → to + V1.
- Count the connectors in each option — exactly one is allowed.
- In reported questions, do/does/did of the direct quote must vanish, with the tense landing on the main verb.
Why it works: English allows one subordinator per clause; stacking two (or keeping an auxiliary with nothing to carry) is always wrong.
Example: Select the indirect form: Priya asked me, 'Are you coming to the fair?'
Priya asked me if I was coming to the fair. — one connector (if), statement order after it. 'Asked me that if...' stacks two connectors; 'if was I coming' breaks the order.
Shortcut tricks
⚡ Verb-tone match
Read the quoted words first for TONE: order, advice, request, question, joy, sorrow. Then pick the reporting verb that carries that tone — the verb choice alone often eliminates two options.
⚡ said-to vs told
said + to + person; told + person. Any 'said me' or 'told to me' option is dead on arrival.
⚡ Connective test
Statement → that. Yes/no question → if/whether (never that). Wh-question → the wh-word itself (never if).
Where students lose marks
Writing 'He said me' — said never takes a direct listener.
Using 'asked that' for a yes/no question instead of 'asked if'.
Keeping inverted commas or a comma after the reporting verb.
Choosing 'ordered' where the sentence asks politely — tone mismatch.
Practice sets — 12 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Each answer comes with a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 12 questions
Suggested time 8 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.