Reported Speech (Relaying Messages)

Athabasca University Write Site Direct and Indirect Speech is a page of the English Grammar Handbook, in its Concise ESL Support section, published by Athabasca University. The page explains how verb tenses change in indirect speech, with charts of direct and indirect forms for statements, questions, imperatives and modal verbs, and shows the cases in which the tenses stay the same.

100% Free (unlimited): The whole page, with all of its charts and examples, is open to every learner on the Athabasca University website, with no account and no payment. You can read it online whenever you need to check a rule.

BusinessEnglish.com Indirect Speech provides a grammar lesson and practice for intermediate learners on reporting what someone else said. The page explains tense changes, pronoun changes, changes to time and place words, the difference between say and tell, and reported orders and requests, with workplace examples such as being late for work and reporting to a manager, followed by three sets of exercises.

Limits of the Free Tier Plan: The explanation and the exercises on this page are free, and a free Getting Started account saves your results. The Pro account adds further indirect speech practice, such as additional grammar questions, scenario-based exercises and dictation.

EnglishClub Reported Speech introduces reported speech, the structure used to say what another person said, in a lesson by EnglishClub founder Josef Essberger. The page explains the difference between direct speech and reported speech, mentions indirect speech, and links to separate lessons on reported statements, backshift, time and place, questions, requests and orders, and to a reported speech quiz.

100% Free (unlimited): This introduction is open to every learner on EnglishClub, with no account and no payment. The linked lessons on reported statements, backshift, time and place, questions, requests and orders, and the quiz are on the same website.

ESL Teachers Reporting Verbs presents an article on choosing and using reporting verbs such as say, tell, ask, suggest, advise and promise. The article groups the verbs by meaning, gives the grammar pattern for each group, explains backshift and pronoun changes, and shows which verbs suit academic writing, journalism and business communication. A short practice quiz closes the lesson.

100% Free (unlimited): The whole article, with its verb lists, grammar patterns and short practice quiz, is open to every learner, with no account and no payment. You can read it through once or return to the lists whenever you need a verb.

Espresso English Reporting Verbs is a lesson that lists the verbs used to report what people said, such as say, tell, ask, recommend, suggest, warn and advise. Each verb is shown with the sentence structure that follows it, example sentences and, where useful, a common error to avoid. The lesson continues earlier Espresso English lessons on reported speech and on reported questions and commands.

100% Free (unlimited): The complete lesson, with every verb, pattern and example, is open to every learner on the page, with no account and no payment. A free PDF version of the lesson is also offered for download.

Grammarism Reported Speech PDF Worksheets is a collection of 70 printable worksheets on reported speech, published by Grammarism. The worksheets are grouped by level, from intermediate B1 to upper-advanced C2, and each one contains 20 fill-in-the-blank exercises. Every worksheet has its own answers PDF, and a preview of the exercises is available online before the PDF is downloaded.

100% Free (unlimited): You can download every worksheet PDF and its answers PDF directly from the page, with no account and no payment. All 70 worksheets and their answer keys are open to you, and you can print them as often as you need.

Grammarly Direct and Reported Speech is a guide published on the Grammarly blog that explains the difference between direct speech and reported speech. The guide covers when to use each form, rules for backshifting tenses and changing pronouns and time and place words, reporting questions and commands, alternative reporting verbs, common mistakes and a set of frequently asked questions.

100% Free (unlimited): The complete guide, with its examples, rules and frequently asked questions, is open to every reader on the Grammarly blog, with no account and no payment. You can read it online whenever you need to check a rule.

Insights to English Reported Speech in 3 Steps is a video lesson of about six minutes on the Insights to English YouTube channel. The video shows how to change direct speech into reported speech, also called indirect speech, for statements, in three steps: removing the quotation marks and adding that, backshifting the verbs, and changing the point-of-view words. The video description links to companion printouts and tips.

100% Free (unlimited): The complete video, with its chapter markers for each step, plays on YouTube for every learner, with no account and no payment. The video description also points to companion resources on the Insights to English website.

My English Pages Reported Speech Exercises offers a page of practice on direct and indirect speech for ESL and EFL learners. The page contains a multiple-choice exercise, a sentence transformation exercise and an error correction exercise, followed by a short recap of the rules for backshifting tenses, changing time expressions and reporting questions and commands. Sample answers are provided.

100% Free (unlimited): The three exercises, the sample answers and the recap of the rules are open to every learner on the page, with no account and no payment. You can work through the page from top to bottom at your own pace.

Perfect English Grammar Reported Speech Exercises lists the free reported speech exercises published by Perfect English Grammar. The list covers reported statements in several tenses, the verbs say and tell, reported yes and no questions, reported wh questions, reported requests and orders, and two mixed exercises, each marked by difficulty and also available as a PDF.

100% Free (unlimited): Every exercise in the list opens for every learner, with no account and no payment. Each exercise has a Check button for your answers, and a PDF version can be downloaded for printing.