Reported speech (or indirect)

Reported sentences:

Direct speech: I love you.
Reported speech: He said (that) he loved her.
Direct speech: I want to see you again.
Reported speech: He told her (that) he wanted to see her again.
Direct speech: I can help you.
Reported speech: He said (that) he could help me.
Direct speech: I`ll phone you.
Reported speech: He told me (that) he would phone me.
Direct speech: I met a boy.
Reported speech: She told me (that) she had met a boy.
Direct speech: I've broken my arm.
Reported speech: He said (that) he had broken his arm.
Use reported speech to say what another person said.

Said for nobody specifically. Told for somebody specifically.

That is optional after say and tell.

Pronouns also change in reported speech, for example I - he/she.


Reported questions:

Direct speech: Do you want to dance?
Reported speech: He asked her if she wanted to dance.
Direct speech: Where do you live?
Reported speech: He asked her where she lived.

In reported questions the sentences change in exactly the same way as in sentences, ex. present to past, etc.

We don't use do/did. What do you want? He asked me what I wanted.

If the question begins with do, can, etc. add IF. Can you swim? She asked him if he could swim.

The word order is subject+verb. Are you a student? He asked her if she was a student.