How the task looks
You get five pairs. The first line (in italics) is the original; the second line is the transformation. You must choose all correctly transformed pairs — there may be two, three or four of them.
“I am going to visit my aunt this weekend,” Lena said.
Lena said that she was going to visit her aunt that weekend. ✓
Sometimes the direction is reversed: the original is reported speech, and the transformation is direct speech. The same rules work backwards.
A pair is correct only if everything is correct: grammar and meaning. One wrong pronoun or one unchanged tomorrow makes the whole pair wrong.
Step-by-step check
- What kind of sentence is the original? A statement, a yes/no question, a WH-question, a command, a request, an offer, a suggestion?
- Who speaks to whom? Write down the speaker and the listener. You will need them for the pronouns.
- What is the reporting verb and its tense? Says (present) or said (past)? Has the transformation kept the same tense of the reporting verb?
- Tenses: after a past reporting verb, has every verb moved one step back (unless there is a good reason not to)?
- Pronouns and possessives: do I, you, my, your, me now refer to the right people?
- Time and place words: today, tomorrow, here, this, ago — changed correctly?
- Word order in questions: statement order, no do/does/did, if/whether for yes/no questions?
- The verb pattern: tell someone, say to someone, ask someone to do, suggest doing…
- The meaning: has anything been added, lost or changed (a reason, a negative, some/any, a name)?
Symbols used below
V1 = base form (go); V2 = past simple (went); V3 = past participle (gone); V-ing = -ing form (going).
Backshift: tenses after a past reporting verb
When the reporting verb is in the past (said, asked, told, explained), the tenses in the reported part usually move one step back into the past:
| Direct speech | Reported speech | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | Past Simple | “I like it.” → She said she liked it. |
| Present Continuous | Past Continuous | “I am working.” → He said he was working. |
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect | “I have finished.” → She said she had finished. |
| Present Perfect Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | “I have been waiting.” → He said he had been waiting. |
| Past Simple | Past Perfect | “I saw him.” → She said she had seen him. |
| Past Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | “I was sleeping.” → He said he had been sleeping. |
| Past Perfect | Past Perfect (no change) | “I had left.” → She said she had left. |
| will | would | “I will help.” → He said he would help. |
| am/is/are going to | was/were going to | “I am going to call.” → She said she was going to call. |
| can | could | “I can swim.” → He said he could swim. |
| may | might | “It may rain.” → She said it might rain. |
| must (obligation) | had to (or must) | “You must go.” → He said I had to go. |
| would, could, might, should, ought to | no change | “You should rest.” → She said I should rest. |
When the tense does not change
1. The reporting verb is in the present (says, asks, tells). Then there is no backshift, and the reporting verb also stays in the present:
“I have a lot of homework today,” says Karen. → Karen says she has a lot of homework today. ✓
Ann asks, “Did you see the film?” → Ann asked whether I had seen the film. ✗ — the reporting verb changed from asks to asked.
2. A general truth or a fact that is still true:
“The Earth goes round the Sun,” the teacher said. → The teacher said that the Earth goes round the Sun. ✓ (went is also accepted)
- Past Perfect, would, could, might, should never change.
In an ordinary exam pair with said / asked, expect backshift. If a pair keeps the tense after said, check whether the situation is a general truth; if not, the pair is usually wrong.
Pronouns and possessives
Change pronouns according to who is speaking now and who is being talked about. Do not change them automatically.
“I will send you my notes,” Nora said to Ben. → Nora told Ben that she would send him her notes.
I = Nora → she; you = Ben → him; my = Nora’s → her.
“Are you ready?” Mum asked me. → Mum asked me if I was ready. (you = me → I)
Who is the listener? If the original addresses someone by name, that person must become the listener:
“Sam, what are you reading?” I asked. → I asked Sam what he was reading. ✓
→ I asked what Sam was reading. ✗ — now it looks as if I asked someone else about Sam.
Time and place words
If the report is made later or in a different place, these words change:
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| now | then, at that moment |
| today | that day |
| tonight | that night |
| yesterday | the day before, the previous day |
| tomorrow | the next day, the following day |
| last week / month / year | the week before, the previous week |
| next week / month / year | the following week, the week after |
| two days ago | two days before, two days earlier |
| this (morning, week) | that (morning, week) |
| these | those |
| here | there |
✗ on the day before — no on: ✓ the day before.
With a present reporting verb (says), time words usually do not change: “I’m busy today,” she says. → She says she is busy today.
Reported questions
Three changes at once:
- Word order becomes statement order: subject + verb. No question mark.
- No do / does / did — the tense moves into the main verb.
- Yes/no questions use if or whether. WH-questions keep the question word.
| Direct question | Reported question |
|---|---|
| “Do you like tea?” she asked. | She asked if I liked tea. |
| “Has anybody seen my keys?” he asked. | He asked whether anybody had seen his keys. |
| “Where are you going?” he asked me. | He asked me where I was going. |
| “Why didn’t you call?” she asked. | She asked why I hadn’t called. |
| “Who broke the window?” he asked. | He asked who had broken the window. (who = subject, so the order is the same) |
✗ He asked me where was I going. ✗ She asked why hadn’t I called. ✗ She asked did I like tea.
Reporting verbs for questions: ask, wonder, want to know, inquire. Wonder is fine: The old man wondered if anybody had seen his dog.
Commands, requests and advice
Use verb + person + (not) to + V1. Choose the verb that matches the meaning:
| Original | Reporting verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| an order | tell, order | “Sit down!” → He told me to sit down. |
| a polite request | ask | “Please wait outside.” → She asked us to wait outside. |
| a negative command | tell / ask + not to | “Don’t touch it!” → He told me not to touch it. |
| a warning | warn | “Don’t go near the edge, it’s dangerous!” → She warned us not to go near the edge as it was dangerous. |
| a reminder | remind | “Don’t forget to feed the cat.” → She reminded me to feed the cat. |
| advice | advise | “You should see a doctor.” → He advised me to see a doctor. |
✗ He told me don’t touch it. ✗ He said me to sit down. ✗ She asked us wait.
A polite question can be a request: “Could you open the window?” → She asked me to open the window. ✓ — This is not a yes/no question about ability.
Reporting verbs with special patterns
| Verb | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| say | (that) + clause; say to someone | She said (to me) that she was tired. |
| tell | someone + (that) + clause | She told me that she was tired. |
| suggest | V-ing / that + S + (should) V1 | She suggested taking a taxi. ✗ suggested us to take |
| offer | to + V1 | He offered to help. |
| promise | to + V1 / that + clause | She promised to call. |
| agree / refuse | to + V1 | They refused to pay. |
| deny | V-ing / that + clause | He denied taking the money. ✗ denied to take |
| admit | V-ing / that + clause | She admitted breaking the vase. |
| apologize | (to someone) for + V-ing | He apologized for being late. |
| thank | someone for + V-ing | She thanked me for helping. |
| accuse | someone of + V-ing | They accused him of lying. |
| congratulate | someone on + V-ing | We congratulated her on winning. |
| insist | on + V-ing | He insisted on paying. |
| invite | someone to + V1 | She invited us to stay. |
“Let’s take a taxi,” she said. → She suggested taking a taxi. ✓
“No, I didn’t break the window,” said the boy. → The boy denied breaking the window. ✓
“I’ll carry your bag,” he said. → He offered to carry my bag. ✓ (not promised — an offer of help)
Two sentences in one report
If the original has two sentences, the report may join them with and, but, as, because, so. The linking word must show the real relation between the sentences.
“Please close the window. It’s cold,” Grandma says to Ani. → Grandma asks Ani to close the window as it is cold. ✓ — the cold is really the reason
“Our team won the cup. I’m so proud,” the coach said. → The coach said their team had won the cup as he was so proud. ✗ — his pride did not make the team win; the cause is reversed
Reverse transformations: reported → direct
When the pair goes from reported speech back to direct speech, undo each change:
- Past Simple → Present Simple, Past Perfect → Past Simple or Present Perfect, would → will, could → can.
- that day → today, the next day → tomorrow, there → here, that → this.
- Pronouns go back to the speaker’s point of view: she said she → “I…”.
- Reported questions become real questions again, with inversion and do/does/did.
The guide told us he was going to show us the old town. → The guide said to us, “I’m going to show you the old town.” ✓
Mia asked Tom where he had put the keys. → Mia asked, “Where has Tom put the keys?” ✗ — Mia was speaking to Tom, so it must be “Where have you put the keys, Tom?”
The doctor said I would feel better soon. → The doctor said, “You would feel better soon.” ✗ — would must go back to will: “You will feel better soon.”
The most common traps
| Trap | ✗ Wrong | ✓ Correct |
|---|---|---|
| question word order | He asked where was I going. | He asked where I was going. |
| do/did left in | She asked did I like it. | She asked if I liked it. |
| no backshift | He said he is tired. | He said he was tired. |
| reporting verb tense changed | Ann asks → Ann asked whether… | Ann asks whether… |
| time word not changed | She said she would come tomorrow. | She said she would come the next day. |
| on the day before | He said he had left on the day before. | He said he had left the day before. |
| wrong pronoun | Tom said, “I’m tired.” → Tom said I was tired. | Tom said he was tired. |
| listener lost | “Sam, what…?” → I asked what Sam was reading. | I asked Sam what he was reading. |
| say / tell | He said me that… | He told me that… / He said to me that… |
| command pattern | He told me don’t go. | He told me not to go. |
| suggest pattern | She suggested me to go. | She suggested going / that I (should) go. |
| deny pattern | He denied to take it. | He denied taking it. |
| wrong linking word | … as he was so proud (not a cause) | … and he was very proud |
Worked example: five pairs
1. “I have lost my passport,” Mark said.
Mark said that he had lost his passport. — ✓ Present Perfect → Past Perfect; I → he; my → his.
2. “Where do you live?” the officer asked me.
The officer asked me where did I live. — ✗ question order and did are left; correct: where I lived.
3. “Don’t be late tomorrow,” the coach said to the players.
The coach told the players not to be late the next day. — ✓ negative command → told + not to; tomorrow → the next day.
4. “Let’s go to the cinema,” said Lucy.
Lucy suggested going to the cinema. — ✓ Let’s → suggest + V-ing.
5. “I’m very busy today,” says my sister.
My sister said she was very busy that day. — ✗ the original reporting verb is says (present), so it must stay says, and there is no backshift: My sister says she is very busy today.
Correct pairs: 1, 3, 4.
Final checklist
- Type of sentence: statement, question, command, request, suggestion, offer?
- Speaker and listener — are all pronouns and possessives right? Is the listener kept?
- Reporting verb: is its tense the same as in the original? Is it the right verb (tell / say / ask / suggest / deny…)?
- Tenses: backshift after a past reporting verb, no backshift after a present one?
- Time and place words changed (and no on the day before)?
- Questions: statement order, no do/did, if/whether for yes/no?
- Commands: (not) to + V1?
- Is the meaning exactly the same, including linking words?