“Introduction to Reported Speech” is an ESL lesson plan download aimed at students with advanced proficiency levels. To fully grasp the material, students must be very comfortable with changing verbs between various tenses including the perfect, simple and continuous tenses. If you want additional lesson plans and support, including teachers’ notes, be sure to register for a free Off2Class account.

1. RS1.1 – Introduction to reported
speech - 1
Lesson 1/7
Thomas said, 'I will
call you tomorrow.'
He said that he would
call me the next day.
ESL Lesson Plan

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3. Direct speech
Hi! It is nice to meet
you. I am going to
teach you about
reported speech!

4. Introduction!
Oh no! I couldn’t
hear him. What
did he say?

5. We use reported, or indirect, speech when we
want to repeat what someone said previously.
Reported speech
He said that it was nice to meet me and that he was going to
teach me about reported speech.

6. Reported speech
Speech reports consist of two parts:
the reporting clause and the reported clause.
John said that he was tired.
The woman mentioned that she would be late.
that is often omitted, especially in everyday English
John said he was tired.
The woman mentioned she would be late.
reported clause
reporting verb

7. direct speech > reported speech
direct
speech
indirect
speech
Thomas said,
'I will call you
tomorrow.'
He said that he
would call me
the next day.
Many things change in reported speech!
pronouns I changes to he
tense
will changes to
would
time
tomorrow
changes to the
next day
We use quotation
marks in direct
speech, but not in
reported speech.
1
2
3
4

8. Backshifting
direct speech reported speech
Lisa said, 'I am hungry.'
Lisa said that she was
hungry.
This is the present simple tense. Go back a tense, to the
past simple tense.
When we change direct speech to reported speech,
we ‘go back’ a tense. This is called backshifting.

9. Possessive adjectives in reported speech
The possessive adjectives are
my, your, his, her, its, our, and their
direct reported
Jenny said, 'My mom
is working.'
Jenny said that her
mom was working.
Notice how my changes to her.

10. Complete with the possessive adjective
1. Andrew has a daughter. He said that _____ daughter was
going to the university.
2. Jane and Robert have three children. Jane said that _____
children are generally well-behaved.
3. I have a dog. I said that _____ dog is a Beagle.
4. Sophie and Roger have three children. Roger said that _____
son is in Grade 6. Roger said that his son doesn’t like _____
English teacher very much. Roger said that _____ daughters
like _____ science teacher.
Careful! More than one answer may be possible.

11. Complete with the possessive adjective
5. Noah owns many books. He said that _____ book collection
has more than 1,000 titles.
6. You need to hurry. We are going to be late! I said before that
_____ train leaves in an hour…
7. Dylan went to Leyla and John’s wedding. Dylan said that _____
wedding was wonderful and that _____ wedding dress was
incredibly beautiful.
8. Ariana lives in New York. She said that _____ city is the largest
in the United States.
Careful! More than one answer may be possible.

12. present simple changes to past simple
Change the direct speech to reported speech
direct speech:
James said, 'I am angry.'
indirect speech:
_____________
Remember, when we move to
reported speech, we go back a
tense from the original words.
We call this backshifting.

13. Change from direct to reported speech
9. Simon said, ‘I like to swim in the sea.’ Simon said
that he liked to swim in the sea.
10. Alexander said ‘My daughters play the piano.’
11. Ethan and Mia said, ‘We go to the cinema every weekend.’
12. Grace said, ‘I don’t want to stay in that hotel.’
13. David said, ‘James and I like to go to parties.’
14. Benjamin said, ‘We don’t agree on this.’
Remember to change the present simple to the past simple

14. present continuous > past continuous
The present continuous changes to the past continuous
direct reported
Frank said, 'I am
sitting by the pool.'
Frank said that he
was sitting by the
pool.
Nicole
What did Nicole
say?
I am
cooking
dinner.

15. Change from direct to reported speech
15. Emily said, ‘I am going to the theater.’
16. Lucas and Graham said, ‘We aren’t going to the office.’
17. Matthew said, ‘Sally’s going to Spain.’
18. Isaac said, ‘Mehmet and Zak aren’t speaking to each other.’
19. Carter said, ‘Hannah isn’t planning to go on holiday.’
20. Jayden said, ‘I am not watching television.’
Remember to change present continuous to past continuous

16. If we report something that is still true…
…it is not necessary to change the tense of the verb.
direct reported
The teacher told the
students, 'The earth
is round.'
The teacher told the
students that the
earth is round.
James said, 'I am a
lawyer.'
James said he is a
lawyer.
This is a scientific fact, which is still true, so we don’t need to
change the tense.
James is still a lawyer at this moment, so the tense doesn’t need to
change!

17. Provide the reported speech
Change Henry’s direct speech into reported speech.
Assume that his statements are still true now.
I am an accountant
I am 22 years old
I speak German
I study at a
university
I am single
I live in Ireland
I work part-time
Remember! If we
report something that
is still true, it is not
necessary to change
the tense of the verb.

18. Provide the reported speech
Report the weather reporter’s direct speech.
It is raining in
London
There is a heatwave
in Australia
It is snowing in
Toronto
It’s sunny in Rome
It is humid in
Singapore
It’s windy in
Istanbul
It is 43 degrees in
Dubai
Use backshifting for all
of these examples.