Mastering Reported Speech: Direct to Indirect Transformations

Posted on Jun 6, 2025 in English

Reported Questions Without Tense Change

  1. Do you know if I can park here?
  2. Can you tell me how long the film lasts?
  3. Do you know how often the buses run?
  4. Do you know if we are allowed to smoke?
  5. Could you tell me what time the flight is?
  6. Can you tell me how much a ticket costs?
  7. Could you tell me where the toilets are?

Reported Questions With Tense Change

Present Simple

Reported Question: She asked where I lived at that moment.

Present Continuous

Reported Question: He asked what I was doing that day.

Present Perfect

Reported Question: They asked if I had finished my homework that week.

Past Simple

Reported Question: She asked when…

Past Continuous

Reported Question: He asked me if I had been watching TV at 8:00 PM the day before.

Future Simple

Reported Question: They asked me if I would come to the party the following day.

Future Continuous

Reported Question: She asked me if I would be traveling at that time the next week.

Future Perfect

Reported Question: He asked me if I would have completed the project by the following month.

Reported Speech – Change to Indirect Speech

Simple Present Indirect Speech

She said she wanted chocolate that day.

Present Continuous Indirect Speech

He said he was eating dinner then.

Present Perfect Indirect Speech

They said they had finished their work that day.

Present Perfect Continuous Indirect Speech

She said she had been studying for two hours.

Simple Past Indirect Speech

He said he had visited his grandparents the day before.

Past Continuous Indirect Speech

She said she had been reading a book at 5 PM the day before.

Past Perfect Indirect Speech

They said they had already left by 3 PM.

Past Perfect Continuous Indirect Speech

He said he had been working all night before the power went out.

Simple Future Indirect Speech

She said she would go to the store the next day.

Future Continuous Indirect Speech

He said he would be traveling at that time the next day.

Future Perfect Indirect Speech

They said they would have finished by noon the following day.

Future Perfect Continuous Indirect Speech

She said she would have been working there for five years next month.

Simple Present Indirect Speech

He said that the train left at 6 PM the previous night.

Present Continuous Indirect Speech

She said she was meeting him then.

Going to Indirect Speech

They said they were going to move next month.

Modal Verbs Indirect Speech

He said he could help me the next day.

Modal Verbs Indirect Speech

She said she should have studied more for the previous day’s exam.

Examples of Reported Questions

  1. He asked me where I had been.
  2. The teacher wanted to know who had discovered America.
  3. The referee asked how many players I wanted to substitute.
  4. He asked me what I would do if I were a celebrity.
  5. She wondered how much pay she could expect.
  6. The captain asked the guide when we would get to the coast.
  7. The gardener inquired why I had not bought a new shovel.
  8. They wanted to know who that woman was.
  9. The zoo keeper asked how much food the lions had eaten the previous week.
  10. The rock asked me if I would sing the song with him.
  11. He wanted to know how long Peter had had his sport car.
  12. The coach asked me what he was doing then.
  13. The teacher asked me who they were traveling with the previous days.
  14. The helper asked at what time I was going to finish the next day.
  15. The people asked where he would go if he had the money.
  16. The hired workers asked when they would be paid.

More Examples of Reported Speech

  1. She said that the previous day she woke up.
  2. He said two weeks previously he had visited Paris.
  3. He said the day before when you had called she had been cooking dinner.
  4. She said that morning she had finished her work.
  5. He said the previous month they had been working there for 5 years.
  6. He said the Monday before that he would call you the next day.
  7. He said the afternoon before she would be arriving at 5:00 PM.
  8. She said the month before she would have completed her project by the next week.
  9. He said the previous summer he would have been living there for 10 years by 2026.
  10. She said two days before she could swim very well.
  11. She said that afternoon he might come later.
  12. The teacher said that morning that I had to finish the project that day.
  13. She asked the week before if she should bring some snacks.
  14. He said a moment before he had to leave then.
  15. He said in 2010 he could run faster when he was younger.
  16. He said that morning that it might rain the following day.
  17. He said the previous night that she would help if she could.

Additional Examples

  1. The fireman asked when the fire engine was going to be ready.
  2. The player wondered how many goals they would score that week.
  3. Jane’s brother asked her who she was going out with.
  4. They wanted to know why they hadn’t been allowed to park there the previous month.