Reported Speech: 8 Rules Taiwan Pros Master (2026) | 間接問句完整指南

Every time you tell your boss what a coworker said in yesterday’s meeting, you are using reported speech — and in English, the rules are nothing like Chinese. A Taiwan office worker who can quote a client perfectly in Chinese will often produce sentences like “He said me he will come tomorrow” the second the conversation switches to English. The grammar is small, the consequences are large, and once you see the eight rules laid out, the mistakes mostly disappear.

This guide covers reported speech (間接引述) the way Taiwan professionals actually need it — for emails, meeting recaps, phone calls, and TOEIC Part 5. Indirect questions (間接問句), reporting verbs (報告動詞), and the tense backshift that everyone gets wrong all live inside this single grammar topic.

Writing down what someone said is the everyday job of reported speech. | 間接引述就是把別人說過的話再轉述出來。

What Is Reported Speech? 什麼是間接引述？

Reported speech (also called indirect speech) is how you tell someone what another person said, without quoting them word-for-word. Direct speech uses quotation marks; reported speech does not. Compare:

• Direct: Mei said, “I am tired.”
• Reported: Mei said (that) she was tired.

Two things happened. The pronoun changed (I → she). The verb moved one step back in time (am → was). That second move is called the tense backshift, and it is the single most missed feature when Mandarin speakers switch to English. Chinese has no tense, so the verb just sits there. English forces you to step back. Skip that step and the sentence sounds wrong — even when every other word is correct.

Rule 1: Tense Backshift — Move Each Tense One Step Back | 動詞時態後退一格

When the reporting verb is in the past (said, told, asked), every tense in the quoted part moves one step back. The pattern is mechanical. Memorise the column and 80% of reported-speech errors vanish overnight.

The truth is, most Taiwan learners try to skip this rule because Chinese verbs do not move. They produce sentences like “He said he is busy” when the boss asked yesterday. Native ears hear that immediately. Move the verb back. Always.

Meeting recaps live or die on the tense backshift. | 會議重點全靠時態後退一格。

Rule 2: Pronouns and Time Words Shift With the Speaker | 代名詞與時間詞跟著轉換

When you report someone’s words, the world flips around your position, not theirs. I becomes he/she. You often becomes I または 自分. 今 becomes then, today becomes that day, tomorrow becomes the next day, yesterday becomes the day before.

• Direct: “I will email you tomorrow,” she said.
• Reported: She said she would email me the next day.

The reason this slips: in Chinese, “明天” can stay as “明天” in either form. In English, the moment the reporting verb is past, every time anchor moves with it.

Rule 3: Say vs Tell — Pick the Right One Every Time | say 與 tell 的差別

This is the single most common Taiwan office mistake in reported speech. Say never takes an indirect object without “to.” Tell always takes a person directly after it. There is no overlap.

• Correct: 彼女 言った (that) she was late.
• Correct: 彼女 told me (that) she was late.
• 間違っている： 彼女 said me she was late.
• 間違っている： 彼女 told she was late.

A clean memory hook: tell needs an audience, say stands alone. If you ever want to mention the listener, switch to tell or add “to” — She said to me…

“She told me…” not “She said me…” — the office difference that cuts both ways. | 「She told me…」才對。

Rule 4: Reported Questions Drop the Inversion | 間接問句不倒裝

This is where indirect questions (間接問句) trip up almost every Taiwan learner. In a direct question, the auxiliary verb jumps in front of the subject. In a reported question, it goes back behind. The word order returns to a normal statement.

• Direct: “Where do you live?” he asked.
• Reported: He asked where I lived. (NOT “where did I live”)
• Direct: “What time is the meeting?” she asked.
• Reported: She asked what time the meeting was. (NOT “what time was the meeting”)

Drop the question mark. Drop the inversion. Drop the auxiliary do/does/did if it was only there to form the question. The subject sits in front of the verb again, like an ordinary statement. This rule alone is worth 30 points on the TOEIC reading section.

On the phone, almost every reported question becomes an indirect question. | 電話上幾乎每個問題都是間接問句。

Rule 5: Yes/No Reported Questions Use “If” or “Whether” | Yes/No 間接問句用 if/whether

A Yes/No question has no wh- word, so reported speech needs a connector. Use if in casual contexts and whether in formal contexts. Whether sounds cleaner with “or not” attached.

• Direct: “Are you coming?” he asked.
• Reported: He asked if I was coming. / He asked whether I was coming.
• Direct: “Did the client confirm?” she asked.
• Reported: She asked whether the client had confirmed (or not).

In emails, whether is the safer choice. Business writing prefers it for the same reason: it forces the reader to consider both sides. Closely linked is the question tags rule set that Taiwan professionals also need for confirmations.

Rule 6: Reported Commands and Requests Use Infinitives | 命令句和請求句用不定詞

When you report an order, a request, advice, or a warning, the structure changes completely. You drop the original verb and use to + base verb after the listener.

• Direct: “Send the report by Friday,” the manager said.
• Reported: The manager told me to send the report by Friday.
• Direct: “Don’t open that email,” she warned.
• Reported: She warned me not to open that email.
• Direct: “Please review the slides,” he asked.
• Reported: He asked me to review the slides.

Negative commands take not before に, never after it. “He told me to not go” sounds wrong; “He told me not to go” is correct. The same infinitive pattern works with advise, warn, order, beg, remind, encourage, invite, instruct, urge — a long list of useful office verbs.

Rule 7: Reporting Verbs Carry Tone — Pick the Right One | 報告動詞傳達語氣

“Said” and “told” are safe and neutral. But English has dozens of reporting verbs that show how something was said. Picking the right one upgrades your writing from textbook to professional.

• Neutral: say, tell, state, mention
• Confident: claim, insist, maintain, argue, assert
• Tentative: suggest, propose, hint, imply
• ネガティブ： complain, deny, refuse, accuse, threaten, warn
• Agreement: agree, admit, confirm, acknowledge, promise

Compare the difference: “He said the deadline was unrealistic” 対 “He insisted the deadline was unrealistic” 対 “He complained the deadline was unrealistic.” Same sentence, three different colours of meaning. In professional emails, reporting verbs are how you signal tone without sounding rude. The modal verbs guide works well alongside this — modals soften, reporting verbs colour.

The right reporting verb makes your meaning sharper. | 選對報告動詞，語意更精準。

Rule 8: When NOT to Backshift the Tense | 什麼時候不需要時態後退

The textbook rule is “always backshift after a past reporting verb.” Real English breaks that rule in three useful situations:

• Universal truths and current facts: “She said water boils at 100°C.” (Backshifting would imply it stopped being true.)
• The reported information is still happening or still true: “He told me he lives in Taipei.” (He still lives there.)
• The reporting verb is present: “"彼女 says she is busy.” (No shift needed because the report itself is now.)

This is the move that separates B1 from B2 learners. Apply the backshift mechanically and your English sounds like a textbook. Decide when to keep the present tense and your English sounds alive. The passive voice rules follow a similar logic — when meaning trumps mechanics, real English breaks its own rules.

Common Mistakes Taiwan Learners Make | 台灣學生常犯錯誤

After teaching reported speech to office workers, cram school students, and TOEIC candidates for two decades, the same six mistakes show up in nearly every class. Watch your own writing for these:

1. Forgetting the backshift — “She said she は coming” → should be “she was coming.”
2. Saying “said me” — copy the Chinese 「他跟我說」 directly. Use told me または said to me.
3. Keeping inversion in indirect questions — “He asked where did I work” → “He asked where I worked.。」”
4. Translating 「他問我說」 word-for-word — “He asked me said…” The English just says “He asked me…” or “He asked me whether…”
5. Mixing up if and whether in formal writing — emails prefer whether, especially with “or not.”
6. Reporting commands with “that” — “He told me that send the report” → “He told me に send the report.”

Most reported speech errors disappear after a focused week of practice. | 集中練習一週，大多數錯誤就消失。

Reported Speech in Real Work Situations | 職場實際應用

The grammar rules are only half the job. Reported speech shows up constantly in Taiwan offices, and the contexts shape how natural the sentence sounds:

Meeting recap emails. “「“Karen confirmed that the launch date had been pushed to August, and Tom asked whether we could prepare a revised budget by Friday.” — two reported clauses in one sentence, both backshifted, both with the right reporting verb.

Forwarding client requests. “「“The client asked if we could lower the price by 10% and warned that they would consider other suppliers if we couldn’t.” — notice warned carries more weight than 言った.

Phone message follow-ups. “「“Hi Vivian, Mr. Chen called this morning and asked when the shipment would arrive. He also mentioned that he had emailed you the new PO.” — reporting two pieces of information cleanly.

Performance reviews. “「“You mentioned last quarter that you wanted more leadership exposure — let’s talk about projects where you could lead.” — reported speech makes feedback specific and traceable.

Watch: Master Reported Speech in 15 Minutes

English with Greg breaks the three core steps down with quick examples — a useful second pass after reading this guide.

Quick Reference: Reported Speech Cheat Sheet | 間接引述速查表

Print the cheat sheet, keep it in your desk drawer, and watch your writing change in a week. | 印出來放抽屜，一週後寫作就不一樣。

The Next Step

Pick one email you wrote last week. Find every sentence that reports what someone else said. Rewrite each one with the rules above — backshift the verb, fix the say/tell split, drop the question inversion. That one exercise will teach you more than any textbook drill, because the sentences come from your own desk. Reported speech is not a grammar topic — it is the daily fabric of professional English in Taiwan.

情報源

1. British Council LearnEnglish — Reported speech: statements — the official LearnEnglish reference for backshift and pronoun rules.
2. British Council LearnEnglish — Reported speech: questions — covers indirect questions and if/whether.
3. Cambridge Dictionary Grammar — Reported speech — full reference with British and American usage notes.
4. Perfect English Grammar — Reported Speech — exercises and printable worksheets.
5. British Council Taiwan — 英語中的「reported speech (間接引語)」是什麼 — bilingual explanation for Taiwan learners.