Lesson 1: Reported Statements & Questions

Welcome to Grammar B1! In professional settings, such as the tourism and hospitality industry, you often need to report back to your manager what a guest asked for.

For example, if a guest says "I want a quiet room," you report it as "The guest said that he wanted a quiet room." Mastering reported speech helps you communicate requests, feedback, and schedules accurately to your team.

warning Professional Tip

A common error is forgetting the 'be' verb or incorrectly changing tenses. When using Reported Speech, remember to shift your tenses one step into the past—if the original speaker used present simple, you use past simple.

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Reported Speech Patterns

Statement

Statements

Reported speech for statements often uses 'said' or 'told'. You must backshift the tense.

Direct: "I love the hotel."

Reported: The guest said (that) he loved the hotel.

Question

Questions

Reported questions use statement word order, not question order.

Direct: "Where is the tour bus?"

Reported: The guest asked me where the tour bus was.

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Knowledge Check

chat Hotel Feedback

The guest said, "My room is very quiet." How do you report this?

(Hint: Shift the present tense "is" back to the past tense.)

question_mark Tour Inquiry

The guest asked, "What time does the tour start?" How do you report this?

(Hint: Change the question word order into statement word order.)

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Study Resources

Lesson Summary & Review

Let's review the key concepts covered in the interactive module above to ensure you are ready to report speech accurately.

Backshifting Tenses

When you report what someone said, you usually need to change the tense of the verb "back" one step into the past.

• Present Simple → Past Simple: "I like the tour." → He said he liked the tour.
• Present Continuous → Past Continuous: "I am eating." → She said she was eating.

Reporting Questions

When reporting a question, you must change the word order from a question format (Verb + Subject) to a statement format (Subject + Verb).

• Wh- Questions: "Where is the bus?" → He asked where the bus was.
• Yes/No Questions: Use "if" or "whether". "Are you ready?" → She asked if I was ready.