Reported Speech: Statements
Reporting what someone said in past time triggers backshift: every tense in the original utterance shifts back one step. Present Simple → Past Simple (“I work from home.” → She said she worked from home). Present Continuous → Past Continuous. Past Simple → Past Perfect. Will → would. Can → could. Must → had to. Pronouns shift (I → he/she), time and place words shift (today → that day, here → there), and the say/tell distinction matters: say takes no object (She said she would call); tell requires one (She told me she would call).
This worksheet drills B1 reported speech with statements — the backshift table, pronoun shifts, and the say/tell split.
Worksheet preview
What’s inside:
- Grammar Box with the full backshift table (eight tense/modal shifts), the time/place shifts, and say vs tell
- Transformation: convert direct statements into reported speech, including modal shifts
- Gap-fill: complete reported sentences with the correct shifted tense
- Say or tell? discrimination items in workplace scenarios
- Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes on the still-true exception (when backshift is optional)
Common mistakes addressed: missing backshift (She said she is busy), say with an object (She said me she was tired), tell without an object (She told that she was tired), and missing pronoun shift (She said I am tired when reporting another speaker).
For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1, in intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. Reported speech is a recurring transformation in Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET) and B2 First (FCE) Reading-Use of English. Part of the Reported Speech collection — the natural next step is Reported Speech: Questions and Commands, which extends the system to interrogative and imperative forms.
