ESL Worksheet – Reported Speech: Present and Past Simple
1. 🔍 What is Reported Speech?
When we tell someone what another person said, we use reported speech.
We often use it after verbs like say, tell, or ask.
Example:
Direct speech: “I like pizza,” she said.
Reported speech: She said (that) she liked pizza.
We usually move the verb one step back into the past.
2. 📚 Grammar Rules
Reporting from Present Simple to Past Simple:
Direct: “He works hard.”
Reported: He said (that) he worked hard.
Reporting from Past Simple to Past Perfect:
Direct: “I saw the movie.”
Reported: She said (that) she had seen the movie.
Negatives:
Direct: “I don’t like fish.”
Reported: He said (that) he didn’t like fish.
Direct: “I didn’t go to the party.”
Reported: She said (that) she hadn’t gone to the party.
3. 🧠 Think & Use – When Do We Use It?
We use reported speech to:
Tell someone what another person said earlier
Report past conversations or news
Share facts without quoting directly
Example Use in Life:
In a job interview: “My manager told me I was hardworking.”
In a conversation: “Lucy said she can’t come tomorrow.”
4. Practice – Rewrite each sentence as reported speech.
1. “I play tennis on Saturdays,” he said.
2. “She doesn’t speak Spanish,” Tom said.
3. “We visited Rome last summer,” they said.
4. “I didn’t finish the homework,” Jane said.
5. Read each sentence and rewrite it as reported [Link] to
past simple
1. “I read every day,” Anna said.
2. “He doesn’t eat meat,” Sarah said.
3. “They like watching movies,” Mark said.
4. “She doesn’t go to school on Fridays,” Paul said.
5. “We live in Madrid,” they said.
6. Change These to Reported Speech – Past to Past Perfect
1. “I finished the project,” John said.
2. “They didn’t clean the room,” Emma said.
3. “We watched that film,” he said.
4. “I didn’t call him,” Lucy said.
5. “She visited Paris,” David said.
7. Mixed Practice – Use reported speech to rewrite.
1. “I don’t like cold weather,” she said.
2. “We stayed at a hotel,” they said.
3. “I drink coffee,” Tom said.
4. “She didn’t arrive on time,” they said.
5. “He plays guitar,” Maria said.
Time Shifts in Reported Speech
When we report what someone said, we usually move the tense of the verb back, but we also need to change
certain time expressions to reflect the change in time and perspective.
Common Time Shifts:
Here are some examples of how expressions change:
today → that day
tomorrow → the next day or the following day
yesterday → the day before or the previous day
now → then or at that time
last week → the week before
next week → the week after
this → that
here → there
🧪 Practice Time! – Read each sentence and write it in reported
speech. Remember to change the verb and the time expression.
1. “I have a test today,” she said.
2. “He visited us yesterday,” they said.
3. “We’ll go camping tomorrow,” Sarah said.
4. “I met him last week,” David said.
5. “We’re leaving now,” they said.
Extra Challenge Complete each reported speech sentence by
changing the verb and time expression.
[Link] said, “I will call you tomorrow.”
→ Anna said that she ___________ __________.
[Link] said, “I saw the doctor yesterday.”
→ Paul said that he ___________ __________.
[Link] said, “We are playing football now.”
→ Mark said that they ___________ __________.
[Link] said, “I’m going to the dentist today.”
→ She said that she ___________ __________.
[Link] said, “We had an exam last week.”
→ They said that they ___________ __________.
✍️Reflect & Write
Write two direct speech sentences that include time expressions, then write their reported versions.
Example:
Direct: “I’m finishing my project today.”
Reported: He said (that) he was finishing his project that day.