Reported Speech ESL Games, Activities & Worksheets
But he told me...
ESL Reported Speech Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Forming Sentences, True or False, Guessing - Group Work
In this entertaining reported speech speaking activity, students interview each other giving true or false answers and then use reported speech to compare what...
Double Trouble
ESL Direct and Indirect Speech Game - Grammar and Speaking: Pelmanism, Reforming Sentences, Controlled Practice - Group Work
In this free direct and indirect speech game, students change direct speech into reported speech. Players take turns turning over a direct speech card and...
Oh Really?
ESL Reported Speech Game - Grammar and Speaking: Reading and Responding to Statements, Forming Sentences, Controlled Practice
In this fun reported speech game, students have to try to remember what their classmates said. Students begin by reviewing expressions to show interest and surprise...
You said...
ESL Reported Speech Game - Grammar and Speaking: Miming, Guessing, Forming Sentences - Group and Pair Work
Here is an amusing reported speech game to play in class. In the activity, students play a miming game where they guess what their classmates were told to do using reported speech. One student begins...
Report This
ESL Reported Speech Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Forming Sentences - Pair Work
In this productive reported speech speaking activity, students interview a partner and then report the questions and answers from the interview to a new partner. In pairs, students take turns asking their...
Reporting Modal Verbs
ESL Reporting Modal Verbs Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Identifying, Matching, Gap-fill, Rewriting Sentences, Writing a Paragraph
In this useful reported speech worksheet, students learn the indirect form of four modal verbs (could, might, would and had to) and practice using them in...
Run and Report
ESL Reported Speech Activity - Reading, Speaking and Grammar: Running Dictation, Rewriting Sentences - Pair Work
Here is a lively reported speech running dictation activity in which students change two phone dialogues into reported speech. One student is the reader and the other is the writer. The readers run to...
Somebody told me that...
ESL Reported Speech Activities - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions - Grammar Game: Forming Sentences, Guessing - Group Work
In this creative set of reported speech activities, students ask and answer yes/no questions in a 'Find Someone Who' activity and then play a guessing game...
Telephone Messages
ESL Reported Speech Game - Grammar and Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice - Group Work
In this free reported speech game, students relay telephone messages to each other using reported speech. In groups, each student is given five question cards and five telephone message cards. Students...
Trip Around the World
ESL Reported Speech Activity - Grammar, Speaking and Writing: Writing Questions and Answers, Role-play, Interview, Writing a Short Article - Group and Pair Work
In this engaging reported speech activity, students role-play an interview between a traveller and a journalist and then write a short magazine article about...
What did they say?
ESL Reported Speech Game - Grammar and Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Writing Sentences, Controlled and Freer Practice - Group Work
In this rewarding reported speech game, students report back answers to questions and race to complete sentences about what people said. First, students...
What did you ask me?
ESL Reported Speech Activity - Grammar, Speaking and Writing: Asking and Answering Questions, Writing Sentences - Pair Work
In this enjoyable reported speech speaking activity, students practice reporting questions they were asked and answers they received. First, students go around...
I asked you not to...
ESL Reported Speech Game - Grammar: Forming Sentences - Group Work
In this compelling reported speech game, students practice reporting negative requests using 'not to'. In groups, students take turns swapping one card with another player. Next, the student tries to form a sentence that reports a negative request...
Infinitive Clauses Practice
ESL Infinitive Clauses Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Binary Choice, Gap-fill, Matching, Unscrambling, Rewriting Sentences
Here is a comprehensive infinitive clauses worksheet to help students practice using infinitive clauses with reporting verbs. First, students read about the use of reporting verbs in infinitive clause sentences...
Listening In
ESL Reported Speech Game - Grammar: Sentence Completion, Guessing - Group and Pair Work
In this imaginative reported speech game, students use reporting verbs to write statements about what was said in different situations and then read them to a partner, who guesses each situation...
Understanding Reported Speech
Reported speech is the way English speakers pass on what someone else said without repeating their exact words, typically shifting the verb tense back one step so that 'I am tired' becomes 'She said she was tired.' Students who skip the tense shift produce sentences that sound wrong to any fluent reader, and in job applications, academic writing, or any formal context, that error signals a clear gap in language control.
This page covers reported speech across Pre-intermediate (A2), Intermediate (B1), and Upper-intermediate (B2) levels, with 15 activities, games, and worksheets including running dictations, role-plays, card games, and writing tasks, with two free downloads.
The table below shows how verb tenses shift when moving from direct speech to reported speech; note that pronouns and time expressions such as 'now' and 'today' also change to match the reporting context.
| Direct Speech Tense | Reported Speech Tense | Direct Example | Reported Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | Past Simple | 'I like pizza.' | 'She said she liked pizza.' |
| Present Continuous | Past Continuous | 'I am working.' | 'He said he was working.' |
| Past Simple | Past Perfect | 'I finished it.' | 'She said she had finished it.' |
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect | 'I have seen it.' | 'He said he had seen it.' |
| Future (will) | Conditional (would) | 'I will call you.' | 'She said she would call me.' |
| Can | Could | 'I can help.' | 'He said he could help.' |
| May | Might | 'I may be late.' | 'She said she might be late.' |
| Must | Had to | 'I must leave.' | 'He said he had to leave.' |
When to Use Reported Speech
Passing on second-hand information: A speaker uses reported speech when passing on what someone else said to a person who was not present, which is the natural structure for updating a colleague after a meeting, as in 'The manager said that the deadline had been moved to Friday.'
Quoting written sources: Writers use reported speech to summarise what a document, report, or message said without reproducing it word for word, keeping academic and professional writing concise, as in 'The report stated that sales had increased by twelve percent.'
Relaying instructions: A speaker uses reported speech to pass on a request or instruction from someone in authority to someone who needs to act on it, as in 'The doctor told me to take two tablets twice a day.'
3-Step Framework for Teaching Reported Speech
1. Nail the Tense Shift with a Card Game: Start with a card-matching game that turns the tense shift into a hands-on challenge from the first minute. One player turns over a direct speech card and reads the sentence aloud, for example 'I like pizza', she said, then converts it into reported speech before flipping a card to find the matching reported speech version. Getting the tense right is the only way to keep the pair of cards, so accuracy has an immediate payoff and errors are self-correcting.
2. Build Speed with a Running Dictation: Add physical energy to the practice with a running dictation that forces students to hold a direct speech sentence in their head long enough to report it back. One student runs to a posted phone dialogue, reads a line, memorises it, runs back, and tells their partner, who writes it down. Once the pair works halfway through, they swap roles, then race to convert both phone dialogues into reported speech.
3. Make It Real with a Role-Play and Writing Task: Push students to use reported speech for a genuine communicative purpose by having them take the roles of travellers and journalists. The traveller prepares answers about their trip, the journalist prepares and conducts a live interview, and then the two work together to write a short magazine article in reported speech based on what the traveller said in the interview. When there is a real audience and a real text to produce, reported speech stops feeling like a grammar exercise.
Common Mistakes with Reported Speech
Confusing 'said' and 'told': Students often use 'said' where 'told' is needed, not realising that 'told' must be followed by a person while 'said' stands alone or is followed by 'that.' Wrong: 'She said me that she was tired.' Correct: 'She told me that she was tired.'
Keeping the original pronoun unchanged: Students often copy the pronoun from the direct speech without adjusting it for the new speaker's perspective, producing a sentence that refers to the wrong person. Wrong: 'He said that I was going to be late.' Correct: 'He said that he was going to be late.'
Common Questions About Teaching Reported Speech
What is a free reported speech game for intermediate students?
The free game Telephone Messages at B1 level gives each student five question cards and five message cards. Students ask group members if they have a particular message and receive it only if the group member delivers it correctly in reported speech. The first student to collect all their message cards wins.
What intermediate worksheet covers modal verbs in reported speech?
The worksheet Reporting Modal Verbs at B1 level covers the indirect forms of four modal verbs: could, might, would, and had to. Students read a short dialogue, match each modal to its reported form, and convert direct speech sentences. The final task asks them to write a paragraph about a time someone influenced them to do something new.
What activity can I use to practice reported speech at intermediate level?
Reported speech becomes memorable when students have a real reason to report accurately. The activity Somebody told me that... at B1 level has students report back what classmates said without naming them, using the phrase 'Somebody told me that...' The rest of the group score a point for each correct guess about who said each thing.
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