Reported Speech: Statements — Why Your Brain Sabotages You
Grammar: Reported speech basics
Free ESL grammar exercise on reported speech: statements themed around why your brain sabotages you. Printable worksheet from classplan.ai.
What's on this worksheet
A Level 4 (upper intermediate) ESL grammar exercise on psychology, practising reported speech basics. The worksheet has a short reading excerpt, a grammar reference and graded practice items.
From the reading
Dr Cuddy found that first impressions form in under a second. She said the interviewer decided almost instantly whether they trusted you. Candidates who stand out, she explained, rarely had better qualifications than the rest.
Grammar
- Statement backshift
- She says, "I am nervous." → She said she was nervous. — present moves to past
- Pronoun shift
- He said, "I froze up." → He said he had frozen up. — I becomes he/she
Sample items
- "I am nervous," the candidate said. → The candidate said she ______ nervous.
- "I freeze up easily," he admitted. → He admitted he ______ up easily.
- "The panel judges fast," she said. → She said the panel ______ fast.
Subscribe to access the full exercise
View Plans