Reported speech: questions & commands

Reporting a question or a command works differently from reporting a statement — you're not just backshifting the verb, you're also reshaping the whole sentence. A question loses its question word order and its question mark; a command loses its imperative form entirely and becomes an infinitive. Once you see the pattern for each, both become easy to produce on the spot.

The quick version: reported yes/no questions use if or whether + normal statement word order (no do/does/did, no question mark). Reported wh-questions keep the wh-word but also switch to statement word order. Reported commands and requests use tell or ask + person + to-infinitive (or not to + infinitive for a negative).

This article builds on reported speech: statements — the same backshift patterns (present → past, will → would, can → could, and so on) usually apply here too, especially when the reporting verb is in the past, so they aren't repeated in full below. As with statements, backshift can be optional if the situation reported is still true or current. What's new here is what happens to the word order of the question, and the special structure used for commands.

Pronouns also shift to match the new speaker and listener, exactly as they do for reported statements: "Do you like coffee?" → she asked if I liked coffee; "Sit down," she said to us → she told us to sit down.

Reporting yes/no questions

A yes/no question ("Do you...?", "Are you...?", "Have you...?") has no question word to hold onto, so reported speech adds if or whether to signal that a question was asked:

• "Do you like coffee?" she asked. → She asked if I liked coffee.
• "Are you coming?" he asked. → He asked whether I was coming.
• "Have you finished?" they asked. → They asked if I had finished.

Notice three changes happening together: the question-form auxiliary do/does/did disappears (it was only there to build the direct question in the first place — a main-verb did, as in "Did you do your homework?" → she asked if I had done my homework, is a different word and stays), the subject and verb swap back into statement order (✅ if I liked, never ❌ if did I like), and the reported question itself is no longer punctuated as a question — the whole sentence only ends in a question mark if the reporting sentence is itself a question (Did she ask if I liked coffee?). If and whether are usually interchangeable in a simple reported yes/no question like these — whether is slightly more formal, and it's the only choice directly before or not (she asked whether or not I liked coffee) or before a to-infinitive (she asked whether to go).

Reporting wh-questions

Wh-questions and wh-phrases (what, where, when, why, who, which, whose, how) keep their question word, but — just like yes/no questions — they switch to normal statement word order and lose the question-form auxiliary do/does/did:

The wh-word introduces the reported question in the same slot if/whether fills for yes/no questions, followed straight away by the subject: ✅ she asked where I lived. In an ordinary neutral report, avoid ❌ she asked where did I live or ❌ she asked where I did live.

One special case: when who or what is the subject of the question rather than the object, the word order barely changes at all, because it was already statement-like: "Who called you?" → She asked who had called me. (compare "Who did you call?" → she asked who I had called, where who is the object and do-support has to be removed.)

Reporting commands and requests

The everyday pattern for reporting commands and requests doesn't use that or a wh-word — it turns the command into an infinitive after the reporting verb, with tell for orders/instructions and ask for requests:

• "Sit down!" the teacher said. → The teacher told us to sit down.
• "Please close the door," she said. → She asked me to close the door.
• "Don't be late!" he said. → He told me not to be late.

The pattern is: tell/ask + person + (not) to + base verb. The most neutral order puts the negative right before to: ✅ told me not to worry is the form to use by default — you may occasionally hear told me to not worry, but it's less standard, so stick with not to for your own writing.

Say isn't used with a listener in this pattern — just as with statements — so it can't report a command or request this way: ❌ she said me to sit down. Use tell (with a listener) or ask (for a request) instead.

More formal English can also report a command or request with that, especially with verbs like ask, order, and insist (She asked that I close the door), but the infinitive pattern above is the one to use by default.

Other reporting verbs work the same way for stronger or more specific commands: order, warn, advise, remind, beg all take the same (not) to-infinitive pattern — "Don't forget your passport," she said → She reminded me not to forget my passport.

Common mistakes

• ❌ She asked did I like coffee. → ✅ She asked if I liked coffee. (statement word order, no did)
• ❌ He asked where did I live. → ✅ He asked where I lived. (the wh-word doesn't bring question word order with it)
• ❌ She asked that I liked coffee. → ✅ She asked if/whether I liked coffee. (that introduces reported statements, not reported questions — use if/whether or a wh-word instead)
• Less standard: He told me to not be late. → More usual: He told me not to be late. (put the negative before to by default)
• ❌ She said me to wait. → ✅ She told me to wait. / She asked me to wait. (say has no listener slot; use tell or ask)
• ❌ He asked me that I close the door. → ✅ He asked me to close the door. (the everyday request pattern uses the infinitive, not a that-clause after a listener)

Quick check

Try turning each direct question or command into reported speech.

1. "Do you speak Italian?" she asked.
2. "Where are you going?" he asked me.
3. "Open your books," the teacher said.
4. "Please don't touch that," she said.

Key takeaways

• Reported yes/no questions add if or whether and switch to statement word order — the question-form do/does/did disappears, and the reported question itself isn't punctuated as a question.
• Reported wh-questions keep the wh-word but also switch to statement word order (where I lived, not where did I live).
• The same backshift patterns (present → past, will → would, and so on) usually apply to reported questions too, especially when the reporting verb is past — and, as with statements, backshift can be optional if the situation is still true now.
• Pronouns shift to match the new speaker and listener here too, just as they do in reported statements.
• Reported commands and requests use tell or ask + person + to-infinitive by default; the negative usually goes before to (told me not to worry).
• Say can't be followed directly by a listener, so it isn't used for reporting commands or requests — use tell (orders/instructions) or ask (requests) instead.