How to teach reported speech at B1: statements, questions and commands

Reported speech is easier to teach as passing on messages than as a table of tense changes. Here is what to teach at B1, in what order, with a lesson plan, activities and the mistakes students make.

November 6, 2026 · 8 min read

We use reported speech all the time: to pass on a message, to tell a friend what the doctor said, to complain about what the boss asked. Students usually meet it as a table of tense changes, so it looks like a transformation exercise. Teach it as what it is, a way to pass on what someone said, and the rules make more sense.

What to teach, and in what order

At B1, most coursebooks cover three parts, and each one is enough for a lesson:

  1. reported statements, with say and tell;
  2. reported questions;
  3. reported commands and requests.

Reporting verbs with their own patterns (promise to, suggest -ing, accuse someone of) usually come at B2.

Reported statements

Use a reporting verb in the past, and move the tense one step back:

  • "I'm tired." → She said (that) she was tired.

That is optional, and in speech people usually leave it out. Pronouns change to fit the person who reports: "I like your idea" becomes He said he liked my idea.

Backshift

The usual changes:

  • present simple → past simple: "I work from home." → He said he worked from home.
  • present continuous → past continuous: "We're moving." → They said they were moving.
  • present perfect → past perfect: "I've finished." → She said she had finished.
  • past simple → past perfect: "I lost my keys." → He said he had lost his keys.
  • will → would: "I'll call you." → She said she would call me.
  • can → could, may → might, must → had to (or stays must): "You must wear a helmet." → He said I had to wear a helmet.

Would, could, should, might and the past perfect don't change.

When backshift is optional

Students are often not told this part. Backshift is the safe choice, but it isn't always needed:

  • The fact is still true. "I live in Boston." → She said she lives in Boston (if she still does) or She said she lived in Boston. Both are correct.
  • The reporting verb is in the present. When you pass on a message right away, you often use says, and the tense stays the same: Tom says he's running late.
  • Past simple to past perfect is often skipped in speech when the order of events is clear: He said he lost his keys.

Tell students: when in doubt, move the tense back.

Say or tell?

  • say + what was said: She said (that) she was busy. If you add the person, use to: She said to me that she was busy, though most people would say She told me.
  • tell + person + what was said: She told me (that) she was busy.

So She said me… and She told that… are both wrong. The short version for students: tell needs a person. The exceptions are a few fixed phrases: tell the truth, tell a lie, tell a story, tell a joke.

Time and place words

When the time or place has changed, words like today change too:

  • today → that day
  • tomorrow → the next day / the following day
  • yesterday → the day before / the previous day
  • next week → the following week
  • last week → the week before
  • now → then, ago → before
  • here → there, this → that

Change them only when the time really has changed. If a coworker said this morning, "I'll send it tomorrow," you report it today as She said she'd send it tomorrow. Students who learn the list as automatic rules say the next day about something that is still tomorrow.

Reported questions

There are two patterns. Both use statement word order, with no do, does or did and no question mark:

  • Yes/no questions take if or whether: "Are you coming?" → He asked if I was coming.
  • Wh- questions keep the question word: "Where do you live?" → She asked where I lived. "What time does the store open?" → He asked what time the store opened.

The word order is the hard part. Have the student say the direct question, then the statement order, then the reported question, until the order feels normal: Where do you live? → where I live → She asked where I lived.

Reported commands and requests

  • tell + person + (not) to + verb for orders and instructions: "Sit down." → She told me to sit down. "Don't be late." → He told us not to be late.
  • ask + person + (not) to + verb for requests: "Could you close the window?" → She asked me to close the window.

There's no tense to change, which makes this the easiest of the three. The usual mistake is copying the imperative: He told me don't be late.

A 60-minute lesson on reported statements

Stage 1: Warm-up (5 minutes). Ask who the student talked to yesterday and one thing that person said. Don't correct yet; write down what they say.

Stage 2: A message (10 minutes). Show a short message from a friend:

"I'm at the station. My train is late. I'll be there at eight. I've already eaten."

Ask "What did Sam say?" Then show the same message reported: Sam said he was at the station. He said his train was late and he'd be there at eight. He said he'd already eaten.

Stage 3: Noticing (10 minutes). Put the direct and reported sentences side by side. The student finds what changed: the tenses and the pronouns. Build the backshift list together on the whiteboard.

Stage 4: Say or tell (5 minutes). Point to said and told me and ask what's different. Then a quick gap-fill: She ___ me she was tired. He ___ he was sorry. They ___ us the news. (told, said, told)

Stage 5: Controlled practice (10 minutes). Tell the student these were said a week ago, then ask them to report each one:

  1. "I'm working late tonight." (She said she was working late that night.)
  2. "We've never been to Mexico." (They said they had never been to Mexico.)
  3. "I can't come to the party." (He said he couldn't come to the party.)
  4. "I'll call you tomorrow." (She said she would call me the next day.)
  5. "The meeting starts at nine." (He said the meeting started at nine.)
  6. "I saw your brother yesterday." (She said she had seen my brother the day before.)

Stage 6: Pass on the messages (15 minutes). You play a coworker who leaves three short voicemails for the student's manager: the meeting is on Thursday now, a client called, the printer isn't working. The student then calls the manager, also played by you, and passes them on: Anna called. She said the meeting was on Thursday now. Then swap roles.

Stage 7: Feedback and homework (5 minutes). Correct two or three mistakes from the role-play. For homework, the student writes down three things people said to them this week and reports each one.

More activities

  • Interview report. Ask the student eight questions about their life. Then ask them to remember what you asked: You asked me where I grew up. You asked if I had any brothers.
  • The doctor's visit. The student plays a patient and then tells a family member about the visit: She asked how long I'd had the cough. She told me to drink a lot of water. This practices questions and commands together.
  • Who said it? The student writes five things that people in their life often say, then reports them (She always says I work too much), and you guess who it is. With always says, the tense doesn't change, which shows students that backshift depends on the reporting verb.

Common mistakes

  • She said me that she was busy. → She told me (that) she was busy.
  • He told that he was sorry. → He said (that) he was sorry.
  • She asked me where did I live. → She asked me where I lived.
  • He asked me do I like coffee. → He asked me if I liked coffee.
  • He asked me if was I OK. → He asked me if I was OK.
  • She told me don't touch it. → She told me not to touch it.
  • He said me to wait. → He told me to wait.

Ready-made lessons on reported speech

These lessons from the SnappySchool library are ready to teach, and each downloads as a PDF. The three grammar lessons follow the order above:

Questions

Do you always have to change the tense in reported speech?

No. Backshift is the usual choice when the reporting verb is in the past, but you can keep the tense when the fact is still true: She said she lives in Boston. After a present reporting verb, such as He says…, the tense stays the same.

What's the difference between say and tell?

Tell needs a person after it: She told me she was busy. Say doesn't: She said she was busy. If you add a person after say, use to: She said to me…

Why is there no "do" in reported questions?

Because a reported question isn't a question anymore. It's part of a statement, so it takes statement word order: She asked where I lived, not She asked where did I live.

At what level is reported speech taught?

Usually at B1: statements first, then questions and commands. Reporting verbs such as promise, refuse and advise, each with its own pattern, usually come at B2.

Build a lesson on any topic in about a minute, then teach it live.

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