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Last week I taught Reported Speech to my Pre-Intermediate class. (Reported Speech is also called Indirect Speech. However, not all Indirect Speech is Reported Speech.)

For example, if you want to ask about the price of something in a shop, you could say, “Excuse me, could you tell me how much this costs?” This is Indirect Speech, because you are asking, “Could you tell me …?” (Direct Speech is, “How much does this cost?”) You are not reporting what someone said, so it is not Reported Speech.

Some of my students asked me for some practice exercises, so I have had a good look at what’s on the Internet. As usual, esl.about.com has a lot of helpful information as well as exercises:

• For a quick explanation of Reported Speech, click here.
• For ways to use Reported Speech, click here.
• For differences between SAY and TELL, click here.
• For a quiz/exercise, click here.
• If you would like to extend your vocabulary and the quality of your spoken and written language, click here for information on Reporting Verbs.

Esl.about.com provides several links to English Grammar explanations and exercises. The above links which I’ve  provided are just to get you started with Reported Speech. Why not explore some links which I have not provided? Go on! You might have some fun with English! If you have any comments or questions, leave a reply below.