Reported Speech
- Not: Report statements, questions, and commands with correct backshift.
- Not: Choose say vs tell correctly and shift time expressions.
- TR: Baskasinin sozunu aktarmak (dedi ki, sordu, emretti).
Start the 8-question quizAdapts to your answers · every miss links back to the rule
Rule in 60 secondsThe one pattern to memorise.
- Not: Reporting verb in past → shift tenses one step back (present → past, past → past perfect).
- Not: Questions lose question word order; commands become to-infinitive.
- TR: Aktarma fiili past ise zaman bir adim geriye kayar.
FormsHow it looks in sentences.
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| "I am tired." | He said (that) he was tired. |
| "We saw it." | They said they had seen it. |
| "I will call." | She said she would call. |
| "Can you help?" | He asked me to help. / He asked if I could help. |
| "Open the door." | She told me to open the door. |
| "Don't be late." | He told us not to be late. |
say+ (no person): He said he was busy.tell+ person: He told me he was busy.- TR: tell'den sonra mutlaka kisi gelir (told me/him/us).
- Yes/no questions: asked if/whether + statement order ("He asked if I was ready").
- Wh-questions keep the wh-word: "She asked where I lived."
- Time shifts: today → that day, yesterday → the day before, tomorrow → the next day, now → then.
- Örnek:
STATEMENT: "I LIVE here." → He said he LIVED there. - Örnek:
QUESTION: "WHERE do you LIVE?" → She asked where I LIVED. - Örnek:
COMMAND: "SIT down." → He told me TO SIT down.
3 classic trapsWhere Turkish speakers slip.
- Tuzak 1 — Keeping question word order in reported questions: ❌
She asked where did I live.→ ✅She asked where I lived. - TR: Aktarilan soruda duz cumle dizilimi kullan.
- Tuzak 2 — Tell without a person: ❌
He told that he was ill.→ ✅He said that he was ill. / He told me that he was ill. - TR: told + kisi, said + kisi yok.
- Tuzak 3 — Forgetting backshift after past reporting verb: ❌
She said she is ready. (she spoke yesterday)→ ✅She said she was ready. - TR: Aktarma gecmiste ise zamani geriye kaydir.
10 example sentencesRead aloud, twice.
- He said he was tired. — Yorgun oldugunu soyledi.
- She told me she would call later. — Bana sonra arayacagini soyledi.
- They said they had finished the project. — Projeyi bitirdiklerini soylediler.
- She asked me where I lived. — Nerede yasadigimi sordu.
- He asked if I needed help. — Yardima ihtiyacim olup olmadigini sordu.
- The teacher told us to open our books. — Ogretmen kitaplarimizi acmamizi soyledi.
- She told him not to be late. — Gec kalmamasini soyledi.
- He said he had seen the film before. — Filmi daha once izledigini soyledi.
- They asked what time the train left. — Trenin saat kacta kalktigini sordular.
- My mum said I had to tidy my room. — Annem odami toplamam gerektigini soyledi.
Quick checkCover the answers, say yours first.
- Soru 1: "I am busy." → He said he ___ busy. → was.
- Soru 2: Fix: "He told that he was ill." → He said... / He told me...
- Soru 3: "Where do you live?" → She asked where I ___. → lived.
- Soru 4: "Close the door." → He told me ___ close the door. → to.
- Soru 5: "Don't shout." → She told us ___ shout. → not to.
- Soru 6: "Are you ready?" → He asked ___ I was ready. → if.
- Soru 7: "I saw it yesterday." → She said she had seen it ___ . → the day before.
- Soru 8: say or tell? "She ___ me the truth." → told.