Your Reported Speech Toolkit

Master reported speech with these practices:

• Backshift one step: move each tense one step into the past
• Tell + person, say + no person: "told me," not "said me"
• Change time and place words to match the reporting perspective
• Switch to statement word order in reported questions
• Use if or whether for reported yes/no questions

Reported speech is not about being grammatically perfect. It is about retelling someone's message clearly. If the listener understands what was originally said, you have succeeded.