Reported speech · CEFR B2 · Confident
Reported speech — English reported speech
Telling somebody what was said. The tense usually steps back.
The shape
He said (that) + one tense back
Tell somebody what another person said.
In Hindi
किसी की कही बात बताना। काल आम तौर पर एक क़दम पीछे चला जाता है।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The mistake to fix first
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
He said he is busy. | He said he was busy. Reporting later pushes "is" back to "was". |
Reported speech examples
Easiest first. Every sentence is authored, with the Hindi it comes from.
He said he was busy.
उसने कहा कि वह व्यस्त था।
He said he was tired.
उसने कहा कि वह थका था।
He said he was ready.
उसने कहा कि वह तैयार था।
She told me she would call later.
उसने बताया कि वह बाद में फ़ोन करेगी।
He said he was at home.
उसने कहा कि वह घर पर था।
He said he was on the way.
उसने कहा कि वह रास्ते में था।
She told me she would send the file.
उसने बताया कि वह फ़ाइल भेजेगी।
She told me she would come tomorrow.
उसने बताया कि वह कल आएगी।
She told me she would speak to him.
उसने बताया कि वह उससे बात करेगी।
She told me she would finish by six.
उसने बताया कि वह छह बजे तक ख़त्म करेगी।
Easy to confuse with
Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.
- Reported questionsB2Report a question without leaving it looking like one
- Reported orders and requestsB2Report an instruction somebody gave you
- When the tense steps backB2Move every tense back by one, and know when not to
Questions people ask
- What is the reported speech used for?
- Telling somebody what was said. The tense usually steps back. In practice: tell somebody what another person said.
- How do you form the reported speech?
- He said (that) + one tense back.
- What is the most common mistake with the reported speech?
- Saying “He said he is busy.” instead of “He said he was busy.”. Reporting later pushes "is" back to "was".
Where reported speech fits
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
Reported speech is a CEFR B2 structure — the confident band — and it belongs to reported speech. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
Reading it is not the same as saying it.
CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.
Practise the reported speech →