Grammar Rules · Reported speech

Reported speech.

"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 → right

Common mistake Corrected
He said me he was tired. He told me he was tired.
She told that she was busy. She said that she was busy.
He asked me what time was it. He asked me what time it was.
She asked me did I finish the report. She asked me if I had finished the report.
He said me to wait outside. He told me to wait outside.

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