Original EZT grammar practice
Reported speech for Class 8: keep the meaning, change the form
Before changing a verb, ask who spoke, who heard the words and when the report is being made. Those details explain why the same direct sentence can have more than one sensible report.
Reported speech tells someone what was said. Direct speech quotes the words; indirect speech reports their meaning without quotation marks. In a later report, tense often shifts back, pronouns follow the people involved, and time or place words change only when their reference changes. Reported questions use statement word order.
These 20 sentences and explanations are original EZT practice with fictional speakers and situations, not official board questions or a claimed current exam pattern. The answer key gives a suitable answer for each stated context and notes useful alternatives. Follow your teacher's instructions for an assessed exercise.
A short method that works beyond the table
- Identify the kind of speech. A statement, a question and an instruction do not use the same pattern.
- Match the people. Work out who I, we, you, my and your refer to. A reporter who was part of the original group may still say we.
- Choose the reporting pattern. Use said that or told someone that for a statement. Use asked if/whether for a yes/no question, or asked plus the question word. Use told/asked someone to for many instructions and requests.
- Check time and meaning. Ordinary backshift is common after a past reporting verb, but a still-true or still-relevant statement can keep its tense. Today, here and this change only if they no longer point to the intended time, place or thing.
- Read the result as a sentence. Remove direct-speech quotation marks. In a reported question, use subject before verb rather than copying question inversion.
Common backshift patterns
This table shows common changes for a later report after a past reporting verb. It is not an instruction to change every verb in every context. Past perfect stays past perfect; a still-current statement may keep its tense.
On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways. Focus the table area and use the arrow keys if you use a keyboard.
| Direct form | Reported form | Direct phrase | Reported phrase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present simple | Past simple | am / is / are; work | was / were; worked |
| Present continuous | Past continuous | is preparing | was preparing |
| Present perfect | Past perfect | has finished | had finished |
| Present perfect continuous | Past perfect continuous | has been practising | had been practising |
| Past simple | Past perfect | finished | had finished |
| Past continuous | Past perfect continuous | was waiting | had been waiting |
| Past perfect | No further backshift | had checked | had checked |
| will / can / may (possibility) | would / could / might | will help | would help |
| could / would / should / might | Usually unchanged | could help | could help |
Modal meaning matters. May expressing possibility often becomes might; permission can use a different report. Must for an obligation often becomes had to, but must for a deduction can remain must. Do not apply one replacement to every meaning.
20 reported-speech practice sentences with answers
Read the context before writing. Try the sentence without opening its answer. These are not one-word substitutions: preserve the speaker, listener, time reference and tone. In statement answers, that can often be omitted.
1. Statement: present simple
Context: Nina reports Aarav's words later. Use ordinary backshift after said.
Aarav said, "I keep my sketchbook in this drawer."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Aarav said that he kept his sketchbook in that drawer.
Why: I and my refer to Aarav, so they become he and his. Keep becomes kept. The report points back to the drawer he indicated, so this becomes that.
Also note: That may be omitted after said. If the reporter is still pointing to the same nearby drawer, this drawer can remain appropriate.
2. Statement: present continuous
Context: Report Meera's words later, after the task has ended.
Meera said, "I am arranging the display."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Meera said that she was arranging the display.
Why: Am arranging shifts to was arranging. I refers to Meera, not the person reporting her words.
3. Statement: present perfect
Context: Report the team's words later using ordinary backshift.
The team members said, "We have checked the labels."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: The team members said that they had checked the labels.
Why: Have checked becomes had checked. We becomes they because the reporter is not part of the team.
4. Statement: past simple and time reference
Context: Report Rohan's words several days later, when yesterday no longer names the same day.
Rohan said, "I repaired the model yesterday."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Rohan said that he had repaired the model the day before.
Why: Repaired usually backshifts to had repaired in this later report. The day before preserves the original time reference.
Also note: The previous day is another suitable phrase. Past simple can remain natural in some reports when the sequence is already clear; this exercise practises backshift.
5. Statement: will and tomorrow
Context: Mina said this to Neel. A different narrator reports it several days later.
Mina said to Neel, "I will bring your folder tomorrow."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Mina told Neel that she would bring his folder the next day.
Why: Said to Neel can become told Neel. Will becomes would, your refers to Neel, and tomorrow becomes the next day.
Also note: Mina said to Neel that she would bring his folder the following day is also suitable.
6. Statement: can and pronouns
Context: A narrator outside the pair reports this later using ordinary backshift.
Dev said to Tara, "I can help you with your chart."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Dev told Tara that he could help her with her chart.
Why: Can becomes could. I refers to Dev; you and your refer to Tara. Tell needs the person addressed: told Tara.
7. Statement: possibility
Context: Report Leena's possible plan after that afternoon has passed.
Leena said, "I may join the practice this afternoon."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Leena said that she might join the practice that afternoon.
Why: May expresses possibility and becomes might in this backshifted report. This afternoon changes because the report is made later.
8. Statement: past perfect stays past perfect
Context: Report Kabir's words later.
Kabir said, "I had saved the file before the screen went dark."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Kabir said that he had saved the file before the screen went dark.
Why: Had saved is already past perfect and does not move to another earlier tense. The before-clause already fixes the order of events.
9. Question: yes/no
Context: A narrator reports the teacher's question to Riya later using ordinary backshift.
The teacher asked Riya, "Are you ready for the demonstration?"
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: The teacher asked Riya if she was ready for the demonstration.
Why: A yes/no question uses if or whether. The reported clause has statement order, she was, not was she.
Also note: Whether she was ready is equally suitable. There is no question mark at the end of this reported statement.
10. Question: did disappears
Context: Report Nisha's question to Arjun later using ordinary backshift.
Nisha asked Arjun, "Did you return the library card?"
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Nisha asked Arjun whether he had returned the library card.
Why: The reported question uses whether or if. Did is not carried over; had returned expresses the earlier action with statement word order.
Also note: If he had returned the library card is also suitable.
11. Question: where
Context: Report the coach's question to the players later. The narrator is not a player.
The coach asked the players, "Where are you waiting?"
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: The coach asked the players where they were waiting.
Why: Keep where, but use they were waiting rather than were they waiting. Are becomes were in this later report.
12. Question: why
Context: Report Sana's question to Ishan later using ordinary backshift.
Sana asked Ishan, "Why did you move the chairs?"
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Sana asked Ishan why he had moved the chairs.
Why: The question word stays. Did you move becomes he had moved; the reported clause does not keep direct-question word order.
13. Instruction: object + to
Context: Report this instruction without turning it into a statement about the teacher's own action.
The teacher said to the monitors, "Place the spare books on the front desk."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: The teacher told the monitors to place the spare books on the front desk.
Why: An instruction can use told + person + to + base verb. The monitors, not the teacher, are to place the books.
14. Instruction: not to
Context: Report the librarian's instruction to the students.
The librarian said to the students, "Do not fold the pages."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: The librarian told the students not to fold the pages.
Why: A negative instruction uses not to + base verb. Do not is not copied into the infinitive pattern.
15. Request: asked + object + to
Context: Report Asha's request to Dev as a request.
Asha said to Dev, "Please close the window."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Asha asked Dev to close the window.
Why: Asked Dev to close reports the request. Please is expressed through the polite request meaning rather than kept as a separate word.
16. Request: asked + object + not to
Context: Report Neel's request to his friends.
Neel said to his friends, "Please do not share my unfinished draft."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Neel asked his friends not to share his unfinished draft.
Why: Asked + friends + not to reports the negative request. My refers to Neel, so it becomes his.
17. Exception: a fact that is still true
Context: The fact remains true when it is reported. Keep its present tense in this answer.
The teacher said, "A triangle has three sides."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: The teacher said that a triangle has three sides.
Why: A still-true fact need not backshift. The past reporting verb does not force every verb into a past form.
Also note: Had three sides can occur in a backshifted report; it need not mean the fact stopped being true. This item explicitly asks for the present-tense version.
18. Context: today can stay today
Context: Nina reports Tara's words on the same day, shortly after Tara spoke. The plan still applies. Keep the present tense and today.
Tara said, "I am using the art room today."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: Tara said that she is using the art room today.
Why: The time reference is still today, and the arrangement remains current. Neither today nor the present continuous has to change just because said is past.
Also note: She was using the art room today is also possible with backshift. The context here asks for a report that keeps the current plan explicit.
19. Modal: should
Context: Report the adviser's recommendation to the group.
The adviser said to the group, "You should compare both plans."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: The adviser told the group that they should compare both plans.
Why: Should normally stays should. You refers to the group; told includes the person or group addressed.
20. Statement: present perfect continuous
Context: Report the volunteers' words later using ordinary backshift. The narrator is not one of them.
The volunteers said, "We have been sorting the cards."
Check answer and reasoning
Answer: The volunteers said that they had been sorting the cards.
Why: Have been sorting shifts to had been sorting. We becomes they because of who is reporting, not because we always changes to they.
Common errors to catch
Keeping question order: In an indirect question, write where she was, not where was she. The reported clause is not a new direct question.
Using tell without its listener: For a reported statement, told normally needs an object: told the class that. Said does not take that same object pattern: use said that or said to the class that.
Changing pronouns by a fixed chart: I does not always become he, and we does not always become they. Identify who is reporting before choosing.
Changing every time word automatically: A same-day report may still use today. A report from the same place may still use here.
Turning every statement into past perfect: Backshift follows the original tense and the context. Past perfect does not move back again, and still-true statements may stay present.
Losing the tone of a request: Please close the window is a request. Asked someone to close it usually preserves that meaning better than ordered someone to close it.
Can you explain why the answer changes?
Bring your attempt and its context. A tutor can help you trace the speaker and listener, choose a reporting pattern and explain an alternative answer.
Reported-speech questions students ask
- What is reported speech?
- Reported speech tells someone what was said. Direct speech quotes the words; indirect speech reports their meaning without quotation marks. The reporter may need to change pronouns, tense and time or place words to keep the meaning accurate.
- Must every verb change after a past reporting verb?
- No. Backshift is common, but a still-true or still-relevant statement can keep its tense. Past perfect does not backshift again. For a classroom exercise, read the context and follow the instruction rather than changing every verb mechanically.
- How do I report a question?
- Use asked with if or whether for a yes/no question, or keep the question word for a wh-question. Use statement word order in the reported clause: where she was, not where was she. Tense and pronoun changes depend on the reporting context.
- How do I report a command or request?
- A common pattern is told or asked + person + to + base verb. For a negative instruction, use not to. For example, a request to close a door can be reported as asked the listener to close it. Choose the reporting verb that preserves the tone.
- Does tomorrow always become the next day?
- Only when the time reference changes. A later report may use the next day or the following day. If the report is made on the same day and tomorrow still names the intended day, tomorrow may remain correct. Keep the original meaning clear.
Grammar sources and scope
The explanations follow the British Council statement guide, its reported-question guide and Cambridge Grammar on indirect speech. These sources support the grammar, not a claim about a current Class 8 examination. All worksheet sentences and explanations here are original EZT practice.