ESL Worksheet

The reported speech.

1. Complete the tables bellow with the changes that occur on the reported speech.
Direct Speech

Reported Speech

Present Simple

Present Continuous

Present Perfect

Present Perfect Continuous

Past Simple

Future

Imperative

Direct Speech

Reported Speech

I / me / my

We / us / our

Direct Speech

Reported Speech

Now

Today

Tonight

Yesterday

Tomorrow

Next week / month / year

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Direct Speech

Reported Speech

Here

This

These

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2. Rewrite each sentence as indirect speech, beginning as shown.

a) You can't learn a language from one day to the next.
The teacher told Jack
______________________________________________________________________
b) Will you succeed?
The father asked the boy
___________________________________________________________________
c) I will succeed!
Peter told Helen
__________________________________________________________________________
d) I'm studying very for the exams.
Hannah said
_____________________________________________________________________________
e) I was nervous about the exam, but it went really well!
Paul told his friend
________________________________________________________________________
f) When is your next exam?
Her friend asked him
______________________________________________________________________
g) I have been practising very hard.
Susan told them
__________________________________________________________________________
h) Go ahead!
She told him
_____________________________________________________________________________

3. Change the following into the reported speech.

a) He is so smart!
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
b) Could you help me study?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
c) I am thinking about traveling abroad.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
d) She has been studying English for ten years.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
e) She will be very fluent soon.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
f) He went to England last year.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______

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g) His English improved a lot.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
h) Never give up!
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______

4. Change the following to the direct speech.

a) Kate asked her friend what she liked to do on her days off.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
b) Mary wondered if Jane would be busy the next day.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
c) The teacher told him not to worry and go home.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
d) They said they had studied all afternoon.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
e) They were feeling confident about their grades
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
f) Her mother told me she has been celebrating since yesterday.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
g) My friend asked me for help.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
h) He said he could not understand the reported speech.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______

5. These sentences have mistakes in them. Read them carefully and correct them.
a) She said she is very tired.
b) Mark said he was going to help we.
c) They said they were going to work on the project tomorrow.
d) Unfortunately, the doctor said there was nothing him could do.
e) She said she is going out tonight.
f) She told him to left her alone.
g) The teacher said is feeling proud.
h) All the students said they love the theater play.

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6.

Look

at

the

following

image

and

report

what

the

characters

are

saying.

__________________________________________________________________________________
_____
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____

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7. Without looking at what you have already done, try and complete the summary to see if you
memorized the structure of the reported speech.
When changing from the active for the passive voice, the:
simple present becomes
_________________________________________________________________
future tenses becomes
__________________________________________________________________
present continuous becomes
_____________________________________________________________
present perfect becomes
________________________________________________________________
commands become
_____________________________________________________________________
Pronouns change:
I becomes
____________________________________________________________________________
me becomes
__________________________________________________________________________
my becomes
__________________________________________________________________________
we becomes
__________________________________________________________________________
us becomes
___________________________________________________________________________
our becomes
__________________________________________________________________________
Time expressions change as well:
now becomes
_________________________________________________________________________
yesterday becomes
_____________________________________________________________________
tomorrow becomes
_____________________________________________________________________
next day / week / year becomes
___________________________________________________________
last day / week / year becomes
___________________________________________________________
And so do place expressions:
here becomes
_________________________________________________________________________
this becomes
__________________________________________________________________________
these becomes
________________________________________________________________________

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