QuickenBrain

Reported speech

SentencesRule 4 of 6

The rule

"Say" takes no person; "tell" needs one: "He told me he was tired", not "He said me". When you report a question, use statement word order and drop do/did: "She asked where I lived." With a past reporting verb, you usually shift the tense back: "He said he was busy." If the statement is still true, keeping the original tense is also fine: "He said he is busy."

Wrong and right

  1. Wrong He said me he was tired.

    Right He told me he was tired.

  2. Wrong She told that she was busy.

    Right She said that she was busy.

  3. Wrong He asked me what time was it.

    Right He asked me what time it was.

  4. Wrong She asked me did I finish the report.

    Right She asked me if I had finished the report.

  5. Wrong He said me to wait outside.

    Right He told me to wait outside.