Study the rules, look at the examples, then do the exercises.
Every day we repeat other people's words: "My boss said the meeting was cancelled," "She told me she was tired." This is called reported speech (or indirect speech). Instead of quoting the exact words with quotation marks, we report the idea inside a longer sentence.
Compare the two ways of saying the same thing. Direct speech gives the exact words: Anna said, "I am busy." Reported speech tells us the message without quotation marks: Anna said that she was busy. Notice that the verb has moved back in time — this backward movement is the key skill of the whole unit.
When the reporting verb is in the past (said, told), the verb in the message usually moves one step back in time. Learn this table well — it is the engine of reported speech.
| Direct speech | Reported speech | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple (work) | Past Simple (worked) | "I work here." → He said he worked there. |
| Present Continuous (am working) | Past Continuous (was working) | "I am working." → She said she was working. |
| Past Simple (worked) | Past Perfect (had worked) | "I worked late." → He said he had worked late. |
| Present Perfect (have worked) | Past Perfect (had worked) | "I have finished." → She said she had finished. |
The little helping verbs change too. These three are the most common in exams, so make them automatic.
| Direct | Reported | Example |
|---|---|---|
| will | would | "I will call." → He said he would call. |
| can | could | "I can swim." → She said she could swim. |
| may | might | "I may be late." → He said he might be late. |
| must | had to | "I must go." → She said she had to go. |
Both verbs introduce reported speech, but they follow different patterns. This is one of the most common B1 mistakes, so learn the difference by heart.
| Verb | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tell | always needs a person (an object) after it | She told me that she was busy. |
| say | no person directly after it (or use "say to me") | She said that she was busy. |
Because we usually report words later and in a different place, the little words of time and place must move too.
| Direct | Reported | Example |
|---|---|---|
| now | then | "I am busy now." → ... busy then. |
| today | that day | "I saw it today." → ... that day. |
| here | there | "I live here." → ... lived there. |
| this | that | "I want this one." → ... that one. |
| yesterday | the day before | "I came yesterday." → ... the day before. |
| tomorrow | the next day | "I'll go tomorrow." → ... the next day. |
These are the errors B1 students make most often with reported statements. Check your own writing against this list.
| Wrong ✗ | Right ✓ | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| He told that he was late. | He told me that he was late. | "tell" always needs a person. |
| She said me she was tired. | She said she was tired. | no person directly after "say". |
| He said he will help. | He said he would help. | "will" must become "would". |
| She said she is happy. | She said she was happy. | the present moves back to the past. |
| He said he can drive. | He said he could drive. | "can" becomes "could" in reported speech. |
Read this short exchange, then read how a third person reports it. Notice every backshift, every say/tell choice, and every time word that changes.
Choose the correct answer. — 10 questions, each one is marked instantly. Questions get harder as you go.
Learn the reporting words, then use them to tell your own stories.
Write 8 sentences reporting what different people have said to you. Use at least 8 of the words above.
Sentence starters (you can begin with these):
Değerlendirme öğretmenin tarafından yapılacak. (Your teacher will review your task.)
Read the text, then answer the questions.
Good readers prepare before they start. Before you read, think about these three questions (you do not need to write the answers):
Words to spot (from the Speaking section): report · mention · explain · admit · announce · rumour · reply · according to
I work for a medium-sized company in the city centre, and most of my days follow the same quiet pattern. I arrive around nine o'clock, make a cup of coffee in the small kitchen, and then sit down at my desk near the window. On an ordinary morning, the only sounds are keyboards, printers, and the occasional phone call. That is why I still remember one particular week so clearly: it was the week when a single rumour turned our calm office into a place full of whispers, guesses, and nervous laughter.
Last Monday, something strange happened at our office, and by lunchtime everyone was talking about it. My colleague Selin told me that the company was going to open a new branch in London. She said that the manager had announced it in a private meeting, and she seemed very excited.
The rumour spread faster than I could have imagined. During the morning, I noticed small groups of people standing near the coffee machine, speaking in low voices. Some of them looked worried, while others looked hopeful. A young man from the sales team told his friend that half of the staff would move to another country. A woman from human resources said that the salaries would probably change too. Nobody knew exactly what was true, but everybody had an opinion, and each new version of the story sounded a little more dramatic than the last one.
At first I did not believe her, because Selin often repeats stories without checking them. However, later that day another colleague, Mert, also mentioned the same news. He said that he had heard it from someone in the finance team. He told me that the company would need volunteers to move abroad, so I started to feel curious.
Mert is usually a careful person, so his words made me stop and think. During lunch, he explained more details to me. He said that the finance team had been preparing new budgets for weeks, and that they had discussed the cost of renting an office in another city. He also told me that his friend in that team had seen some documents written in English. To Mert, all of this was strong evidence. I still was not completely sure, but I had to admit that the story now seemed more serious than a simple piece of gossip.
After lunch, I decided that I should not repeat anything until I knew the truth. I have learned that repeating a rumour can be dangerous, because you never know who is listening or how your words will be understood. So, instead of asking my colleagues again, I chose to look for someone who really knew what was happening. I walked slowly through the corridor, past the meeting rooms, hoping that I might see one of the senior managers and ask a direct question.
When I met our manager, Mr. Kaya, in the corridor, I decided to ask him directly. He smiled and said that the rumour was only half true. He explained that the company was indeed planning something new, but he added that no final decision had been made yet. He also asked us not to worry, because nobody would lose their job.
Then he told me something that I found very interesting. He said that managers often hear the same rumours as everyone else, and that they are sometimes surprised by how much the story has changed. He explained that a plan which is still only an idea can suddenly sound like a final decision once it travels from desk to desk. He asked me, in a friendly way, to help him keep people calm, and to remind my colleagues that official news would always come by email, not through whispers in the corridor.
While I was walking back to my desk, I thought about how quickly information travels. One person says something, another person reports it, and soon the whole office believes a story that may not be completely accurate. Although rumours can be exciting, they are often wrong.
I remembered other examples from the past. Once, a colleague was absent for two days, and by the end of the week people said that she had resigned and moved to another company. In fact, she had simply been ill with a bad cold. Another time, someone saw the director carrying boxes out of his office, and a rumour started that the whole department would close. The truth was much less exciting: he was only moving to a bigger room on the same floor. In every case, a small, ordinary event had grown into a big, frightening story, simply because people repeated it without asking questions. Each person who told the story added one more detail, and after a few hours the final version was almost impossible to recognise. I realised that a rumour is a little like a game we used to play as children, where a sentence is whispered from ear to ear until it becomes something completely different at the end of the line.
That evening, on my way home, I promised myself that I would try to be a more careful listener. I decided that when I heard surprising news, I would ask two simple questions: "Who told you this?" and "How do they know?" These questions are short, but they can stop a false story before it spreads. I also thought about how easy it is, especially in a busy office, to enjoy a dramatic rumour instead of waiting patiently for the facts.
The next morning, Mr. Kaya sent an email. He announced that the company had decided to open a small office in London, but he said that the move was still months away. Everyone was relieved, and this time the news was real.
Looking back on that week, I think the whole experience taught the office a useful lesson. Rumours will always exist, because people are naturally curious and they love to share news. Yet a clear message from a reliable source can calm a hundred nervous conversations in a single moment. Since that Monday, whenever someone rushes towards me with an exciting story, I smile, listen politely, and then quietly wait for the official email before I decide what to believe.
Choose the correct answer.
Are these sentences true or false, according to the text?
Complete each sentence with ONE word from the text. Mind the backshift (reported speech).
Write your answer in your own words. These questions are not marked automatically.
1. Why did the narrator not believe Selin at first?
2. What did Mr. Kaya say about the rumour when the narrator met him in the corridor?
3. What is the main lesson of the story about how news spreads?
Find these connectors in the text — each one appears at least once: and, but, so, because, when, while, however, although, also. (You will use these same connectors in the Writing section.) Note them down, then check.
Report a real conversation, then drill the grammar in the Practice Lab.
In real life we constantly turn conversations into reports: someone speaks, and later we tell a third person what they said. Study this short dialogue and the report below it.
Write a short conversation (6-8 lines) between two people about a plan, a piece of news, or a problem. Then report at least 5 of the lines in reported speech underneath.
Example structure (you can follow this):
Değerlendirme öğretmenin tarafından yapılacak. (Your teacher will review your task.)
Turn each direct sentence into reported speech. 10 questions, each one is marked instantly. They get harder as you go.
Write and submit your paragraph; your teacher will review it.
A list of short, separate sentences is not real writing. What connects your ideas is linking words. At A2 you used and, but, so, because. At B1 you add four more powerful connectors: also, when, while, although and however. These are especially useful when you report a conversation, because they join what different people said.
| Connector | Use it to... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| and | add information | She said she was tired, and she added that she wanted to rest. |
| but | show a small contrast | He said he was busy, but he promised to call later. |
| so | show a result | She said the shop was closed, so we went home. |
| because | give a reason | He explained he was late because the bus had broken down. |
| also | add an extra point | She said she was moving. She also mentioned a new job. |
| when | say at what past time | When I asked her, she said she did not know. |
| while | two things at the same time | While we were talking, he told me the news. |
| although | show a strong contrast | Although he denied it, I did not believe him. |
| however | contrast between two sentences | She promised to help. However, she never replied. |
See the difference — the same facts, written two ways:
| Separate sentences ✗ | Connected, fluent writing ✓ |
|---|---|
| I met Ali. He told me the news. He said the office was moving. I was surprised. He said nobody would lose their job. | When I met Ali, he told me the news. He said that the office was moving, but he added that nobody would lose their job, so I felt relieved. |
A "reporting" paragraph has three parts. The skeleton stays the same every time — you change the content, not the structure:
| Part | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Opening | Say who you spoke to and when | Last week I had an interesting conversation with my friend. |
| 2. Body | Report what each person said. Use the backshift, mix say/tell, and link with connectors. | She told me that she had changed her job, and she explained that she was much happier. |
| 3. Closing | A final comment about how you felt or what you decided | After our talk, I felt more positive about my own plans. |
Write about a real or imaginary conversation you had recently, or some news you heard. Report what people said using reported speech.
Değerlendirme öğretmenin tarafından yapılacak. (Your teacher will evaluate your writing.)
Mixed questions from the whole unit, then check what you can do.
14 questions: grammar + vocabulary + reading + practice. Each question is marked instantly.
Tick what you can do now. Honest answers help your teacher.
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