do your homework reported speech

100 Reported Speech Examples: How To Change Direct Speech Into Indirect Speech

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is a way of communicating what someone else has said without quoting their exact words. For example, if your friend said, “ I am going to the store ,” in reported speech, you might convey this as, “ My friend said he was going to the store. ” Reported speech is common in both spoken and written language, especially in storytelling, news reporting, and everyday conversations.

Reported speech can be quite challenging for English language learners because in order to change direct speech into reported speech, one must change the perspective and tense of what was said by the original speaker or writer. In this guide, we will explain in detail how to change direct speech into indirect speech and provide lots of examples of reported speech to help you understand. Here are the key aspects of converting direct speech into reported speech.

Reported Speech: Changing Pronouns

Pronouns are usually changed to match the perspective of the person reporting the speech. For example, “I” in direct speech may become “he” or “she” in reported speech, depending on the context. Here are some example sentences:

• Direct : “I am going to the park.” Reported : He said he was going to the park .
• Direct : “You should try the new restaurant.” Reported : She said that I should try the new restaurant.
• Direct : “We will win the game.” Reported : They said that they would win the game.
• Direct : “She loves her new job.” Reported : He said that she loves her new job.
• Direct : “He can’t come to the party.” Reported : She said that he couldn’t come to the party.
• Direct : “It belongs to me.” Reported : He said that it belonged to him .
• Direct : “They are moving to a new city.” Reported : She said that they were moving to a new city.
• Direct : “You are doing a great job.” Reported : He told me that I was doing a great job.
• Direct : “I don’t like this movie.” Reported : She said that she didn’t like that movie.
• Direct : “We have finished our work.” Reported : They said that they had finished their work.
• Direct : “You will need to sign here.” Reported : He said that I would need to sign there.
• Direct : “She can solve the problem.” Reported : He said that she could solve the problem.
• Direct : “He was not at home yesterday.” Reported : She said that he had not been at home the day before.
• Direct : “It is my responsibility.” Reported : He said that it was his responsibility.
• Direct : “We are planning a surprise.” Reported : They said that they were planning a surprise.

Reported Speech: Reporting Verbs

In reported speech, various reporting verbs are used depending on the nature of the statement or the intention behind the communication. These verbs are essential for conveying the original tone, intent, or action of the speaker. Here are some examples demonstrating the use of different reporting verbs in reported speech:

• Direct: “I will help you,” she promised . Reported: She promised that she would help me.
• Direct: “You should study harder,” he advised . Reported: He advised that I should study harder.
• Direct: “I didn’t take your book,” he denied . Reported: He denied taking my book .
• Direct: “Let’s go to the cinema,” she suggested . Reported: She suggested going to the cinema .
• Direct: “I love this song,” he confessed . Reported: He confessed that he loved that song.
• Direct: “I haven’t seen her today,” she claimed . Reported: She claimed that she hadn’t seen her that day.
• Direct: “I will finish the project,” he assured . Reported: He assured me that he would finish the project.
• Direct: “I’m not feeling well,” she complained . Reported: She complained of not feeling well.
• Direct: “This is how you do it,” he explained . Reported: He explained how to do it.
• Direct: “I saw him yesterday,” she stated . Reported: She stated that she had seen him the day before.
• Direct: “Please open the window,” he requested . Reported: He requested that I open the window.
• Direct: “I can win this race,” he boasted . Reported: He boasted that he could win the race.
• Direct: “I’m moving to London,” she announced . Reported: She announced that she was moving to London.
• Direct: “I didn’t understand the instructions,” he admitted . Reported: He admitted that he didn’t understand the instructions.
• Direct: “I’ll call you tonight,” she promised . Reported: She promised to call me that night.

Reported Speech: Tense Shifts

When converting direct speech into reported speech, the verb tense is often shifted back one step in time. This is known as the “backshift” of tenses. It’s essential to adjust the tense to reflect the time elapsed between the original speech and the reporting. Here are some examples to illustrate how different tenses in direct speech are transformed in reported speech:

• Direct: “I am eating.” Reported: He said he was eating.
• Direct: “They will go to the park.” Reported: She mentioned they would go to the park.
• Direct: “We have finished our homework.” Reported: They told me they had finished their homework.
• Direct: “I do my exercises every morning.” Reported: He explained that he did his exercises every morning.
• Direct: “She is going to start a new job.” Reported: He heard she was going to start a new job.
• Direct: “I can solve this problem.” Reported: She said she could solve that problem.
• Direct: “We are visiting Paris next week.” Reported: They said they were visiting Paris the following week.
• Direct: “I will be waiting outside.” Reported: He stated he would be waiting outside.
• Direct: “They have been studying for hours.” Reported: She mentioned they had been studying for hours.
• Direct: “I can’t understand this chapter.” Reported: He complained that he couldn’t understand that chapter.
• Direct: “We were planning a surprise.” Reported: They told me they had been planning a surprise.
• Direct: “She has to complete her assignment.” Reported: He said she had to complete her assignment.
• Direct: “I will have finished the project by Monday.” Reported: She stated she would have finished the project by Monday.
• Direct: “They are going to hold a meeting.” Reported: She heard they were going to hold a meeting.
• Direct: “I must leave.” Reported: He said he had to leave.

Reported Speech: Changing Time and Place References

When converting direct speech into reported speech, references to time and place often need to be adjusted to fit the context of the reported speech. This is because the time and place relative to the speaker may have changed from the original statement to the time of reporting. Here are some examples to illustrate how time and place references change:

• Direct: “I will see you tomorrow .” Reported: He said he would see me the next day .
• Direct: “We went to the park yesterday .” Reported: They said they went to the park the day before .
• Direct: “I have been working here since Monday .” Reported: She mentioned she had been working there since Monday .
• Direct: “Let’s meet here at noon.” Reported: He suggested meeting there at noon.
• Direct: “I bought this last week .” Reported: She said she had bought it the previous week .
• Direct: “I will finish this by tomorrow .” Reported: He stated he would finish it by the next day .
• Direct: “She will move to New York next month .” Reported: He heard she would move to New York the following month .
• Direct: “They were at the festival this morning .” Reported: She said they were at the festival that morning .
• Direct: “I saw him here yesterday.” Reported: She mentioned she saw him there the day before.
• Direct: “We will return in a week .” Reported: They said they would return in a week .
• Direct: “I have an appointment today .” Reported: He said he had an appointment that day .
• Direct: “The event starts next Friday .” Reported: She mentioned the event starts the following Friday .
• Direct: “I lived in Berlin two years ago .” Reported: He stated he had lived in Berlin two years before .
• Direct: “I will call you tonight .” Reported: She said she would call me that night .
• Direct: “I was at the office yesterday .” Reported: He mentioned he was at the office the day before .

Reported Speech: Question Format

When converting questions from direct speech into reported speech, the format changes significantly. Unlike statements, questions require rephrasing into a statement format and often involve the use of introductory verbs like ‘asked’ or ‘inquired’. Here are some examples to demonstrate how questions in direct speech are converted into statements in reported speech:

• Direct: “Are you coming to the party?” Reported: She asked if I was coming to the party.
• Direct: “What time is the meeting?” Reported: He inquired what time the meeting was.
• Direct: “Why did you leave early?” Reported: They wanted to know why I had left early.
• Direct: “Can you help me with this?” Reported: She asked if I could help her with that.
• Direct: “Where did you buy this?” Reported: He wondered where I had bought that.
• Direct: “Who is going to the concert?” Reported: They asked who was going to the concert.
• Direct: “How do you solve this problem?” Reported: She questioned how to solve that problem.
• Direct: “Is this the right way to the station?” Reported: He inquired whether it was the right way to the station.
• Direct: “Do you know her name?” Reported: They asked if I knew her name.
• Direct: “Why are they moving out?” Reported: She wondered why they were moving out.
• Direct: “Have you seen my keys?” Reported: He asked if I had seen his keys.
• Direct: “What were they talking about?” Reported: She wanted to know what they had been talking about.
• Direct: “When will you return?” Reported: He asked when I would return.
• Direct: “Can she drive a manual car?” Reported: They inquired if she could drive a manual car.
• Direct: “How long have you been waiting?” Reported: She asked how long I had been waiting.

Reported Speech: Omitting Quotation Marks

In reported speech, quotation marks are not used, differentiating it from direct speech which requires them to enclose the spoken words. Reported speech summarizes or paraphrases what someone said without the need for exact wording. Here are examples showing how direct speech with quotation marks is transformed into reported speech without them:

• Direct: “I am feeling tired,” she said. Reported: She said she was feeling tired.
• Direct: “We will win the game,” he exclaimed. Reported: He exclaimed that they would win the game.
• Direct: “I don’t like apples,” the boy declared. Reported: The boy declared that he didn’t like apples.
• Direct: “You should visit Paris,” she suggested. Reported: She suggested that I should visit Paris.
• Direct: “I will be late,” he warned. Reported: He warned that he would be late.
• Direct: “I can’t believe you did that,” she expressed in surprise. Reported: She expressed her surprise that I had done that.
• Direct: “I need help with this task,” he admitted. Reported: He admitted that he needed help with the task.
• Direct: “I have never been to Italy,” she confessed. Reported: She confessed that she had never been to Italy.
• Direct: “We saw a movie last night,” they mentioned. Reported: They mentioned that they saw a movie the night before.
• Direct: “I am learning to play the piano,” he revealed. Reported: He revealed that he was learning to play the piano.
• Direct: “You must finish your homework,” she instructed. Reported: She instructed that I must finish my homework.
• Direct: “I will call you tomorrow,” he promised. Reported: He promised that he would call me the next day.
• Direct: “I have finished my assignment,” she announced. Reported: She announced that she had finished her assignment.
• Direct: “I cannot attend the meeting,” he apologized. Reported: He apologized for not being able to attend the meeting.
• Direct: “I don’t remember where I put it,” she confessed. Reported: She confessed that she didn’t remember where she put it.

Reported Speech Quiz

Thanks for reading! I hope you found these reported speech examples useful. Before you go, why not try this Reported Speech Quiz and see if you can change indirect speech into reported speech?

Homework: Reported Speech

Tom said that he was bored, I asked him where he lived...

Intermediate

Just when students think they’ve mastered all the English tenses, along comes Reported Speech, putting their logic and grammatical knowledge to the ultimate test. And while some may find it straightforward, many learners do not. This handy homework sheet helps students to practise Reported Speech in a number of different ways.

After downloading your PDF: print it immediately or save and print later. Answers are provided for teachers on the second page.

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• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Reported speech: indirect speech

Indirect speech focuses more on the content of what someone said rather than their exact words. In indirect speech , the structure of the reported clause depends on whether the speaker is reporting a statement, a question or a command.

Indirect speech: reporting statements

Indirect reports of statements consist of a reporting clause and a that -clause. We often omit that , especially in informal situations:

The pilot commented that the weather had been extremely bad as the plane came in to land. (The pilot’s words were: ‘The weather was extremely bad as the plane came in to land.’ )

I told my wife I didn’t want a party on my 50th birthday. ( that -clause without that ) (or I told my wife that I didn’t want a party on my 50th birthday .)

Indirect speech: reporting questions

Reporting yes-no questions and alternative questions.

Indirect reports of yes-no questions and questions with or consist of a reporting clause and a reported clause introduced by if or whether . If is more common than whether . The reported clause is in statement form (subject + verb), not question form:

She asked if [S] [V] I was Scottish. (original yes-no question: ‘Are you Scottish?’ )

The waiter asked whether [S] we [V] wanted a table near the window. (original yes-no question: ‘Do you want a table near the window? )

He asked me if [S] [V] I had come by train or by bus. (original alternative question: ‘Did you come by train or by bus?’ )

Questions: yes-no questions ( Are you feeling cold? )

Reporting wh -questions

Indirect reports of wh -questions consist of a reporting clause, and a reported clause beginning with a wh -word ( who, what, when, where, why, how ). We don’t use a question mark:

He asked me what I wanted.

Not: He asked me what I wanted?

The reported clause is in statement form (subject + verb), not question form:

She wanted to know who [S] we [V] had invited to the party.

Not: … who had we invited …

Who , whom and what

In indirect questions with who, whom and what , the wh- word may be the subject or the object of the reported clause:

I asked them who came to meet them at the airport. ( who is the subject of came ; original question: ‘Who came to meet you at the airport?’ )

He wondered what the repairs would cost. ( what is the object of cost ; original question: ‘What will the repairs cost?’ )

She asked us what [S] we [V] were doing . (original question: ‘What are you doing?’ )

Not: She asked us what were we doing?

When , where , why and how

We also use statement word order (subject + verb) with when , where, why and how :

I asked her when [S] it [V] had happened (original question: ‘When did it happen?’ ).

Not: I asked her when had it happened?

I asked her where [S] the bus station [V] was . (original question: ‘Where is the bus station?’ )

Not: I asked her where was the bus station?

The teacher asked them how [S] they [V] wanted to do the activity . (original question: ‘How do you want to do the activity?’ )

Not: The teacher asked them how did they want to do the activity?

Questions: wh- questions

Indirect speech: reporting commands

Indirect reports of commands consist of a reporting clause, and a reported clause beginning with a to -infinitive:

The General ordered the troops to advance . (original command: ‘Advance!’ )

The chairperson told him to sit down and to stop interrupting . (original command: ‘Sit down and stop interrupting!’ )

We also use a to -infinitive clause in indirect reports with other verbs that mean wanting or getting people to do something, for example, advise, encourage, warn :

They advised me to wait till the following day. (original statement: ‘You should wait till the following day.’ )

The guard warned us not to enter the area. (original statement: ‘You must not enter the area.’ )

Verbs followed by a to -infinitive

Indirect speech: present simple reporting verb

We can use the reporting verb in the present simple in indirect speech if the original words are still true or relevant at the time of reporting, or if the report is of something someone often says or repeats:

Sheila says they’re closing the motorway tomorrow for repairs.

Henry tells me he’s thinking of getting married next year.

Rupert says dogs shouldn’t be allowed on the beach. (Rupert probably often repeats this statement.)

Newspaper headlines

We often use the present simple in newspaper headlines. It makes the reported speech more dramatic:

JUDGE TELLS REPORTER TO LEAVE COURTROOM

PRIME MINISTER SAYS FAMILIES ARE TOP PRIORITY IN TAX REFORM

Present simple ( I work )

Reported speech

Reported speech: direct speech

Indirect speech: past continuous reporting verb

In indirect speech, we can use the past continuous form of the reporting verb (usually say or tell ). This happens mostly in conversation, when the speaker wants to focus on the content of the report, usually because it is interesting news or important information, or because it is a new topic in the conversation:

Rory was telling me the big cinema in James Street is going to close down. Is that true?

Alex was saying that book sales have gone up a lot this year thanks to the Internet.

‘Backshift’ refers to the changes we make to the original verbs in indirect speech because time has passed between the moment of speaking and the time of the report.

In these examples, the present ( am ) has become the past ( was ), the future ( will ) has become the future-in-the-past ( would ) and the past ( happened ) has become the past perfect ( had happened ). The tenses have ‘shifted’ or ‘moved back’ in time.

The past perfect does not shift back; it stays the same:

Modal verbs

Some, but not all, modal verbs ‘shift back’ in time and change in indirect speech.

We can use a perfect form with have + - ed form after modal verbs, especially where the report looks back to a hypothetical event in the past:

He said the noise might have been the postman delivering letters. (original statement: ‘The noise might be the postman delivering letters.’ )

He said he would have helped us if we’d needed a volunteer. (original statement: ‘I’ll help you if you need a volunteer’ or ‘I’d help you if you needed a volunteer.’ )

Used to and ought to do not change in indirect speech:

She said she used to live in Oxford. (original statement: ‘I used to live in Oxford.’ )

The guard warned us that we ought to leave immediately. (original statement: ‘You ought to leave immediately.’ )

No backshift

We don’t need to change the tense in indirect speech if what a person said is still true or relevant or has not happened yet. This often happens when someone talks about the future, or when someone uses the present simple, present continuous or present perfect in their original words:

He told me his brother works for an Italian company. (It is still true that his brother works for an Italian company.)

She said she ’s getting married next year. (For the speakers, the time at the moment of speaking is ‘this year’.)

He said he ’s finished painting the door. (He probably said it just a short time ago.)

She promised she ’ll help us. (The promise applies to the future.)

Indirect speech: changes to pronouns

Changes to personal pronouns in indirect reports depend on whether the person reporting the speech and the person(s) who said the original words are the same or different.

Indirect speech: changes to adverbs and demonstratives

We often change demonstratives ( this, that ) and adverbs of time and place ( now, here, today , etc.) because indirect speech happens at a later time than the original speech, and perhaps in a different place.

Typical changes to demonstratives, adverbs and adverbial expressions

Indirect speech: typical errors.

The word order in indirect reports of wh- questions is the same as statement word order (subject + verb), not question word order:

She always asks me where [S] [V] I am going .

Not: She always asks me where am I going .

We don’t use a question mark when reporting wh- questions:

I asked him what he was doing.

Not: I asked him what he was doing?

Word of the Day

have your head in the clouds

to not know the facts of a situation

Apples and oranges (Talking about differences, Part 2)

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Reported Speech: Rules, Examples, Exceptions

👉 Quiz 1 / Quiz 2

Advanced Grammar Course

What is reported speech?

“Reported speech” is when we talk about what somebody else said – for example:

• Direct Speech: “I’ve been to London three times.”
• Reported Speech: She said she’d been to London three times.

There are a lot of tricky little details to remember, but don’t worry, I’ll explain them and we’ll see lots of examples. The lesson will have three parts – we’ll start by looking at statements in reported speech, and then we’ll learn about some exceptions to the rules, and finally we’ll cover reported questions, requests, and commands.

So much of English grammar – like this topic, reported speech – can be confusing, hard to understand, and even harder to use correctly. I can help you learn grammar easily and use it confidently inside my Advanced English Grammar Course.

In this course, I will make even the most difficult parts of English grammar clear to you – and there are lots of opportunities for you to practice!

Backshift of Verb Tenses in Reported Speech

When we use reported speech, we often change the verb tense backwards in time. This can be called “backshift.”

Here are some examples in different verb tenses:

Reported Speech (Part 1) Quiz

Exceptions to backshift in reported speech.

Now that you know some of the reported speech rules about backshift, let’s learn some exceptions.

There are two situations in which we do NOT need to change the verb tense.

No backshift needed when the situation is still true

For example, if someone says “I have three children” (direct speech) then we would say “He said he has three children” because the situation continues to be true.

If I tell you “I live in the United States” (direct speech) then you could tell someone else “She said she lives in the United States” (that’s reported speech) because it is still true.

When the situation is still true, then we don’t need to backshift the verb.

He said he HAS three children

But when the situation is NOT still true, then we DO need to backshift the verb.

Imagine your friend says, “I have a headache.”

• If you immediately go and talk to another friend, you could say, “She said she has a headache,” because the situation is still true
• If you’re talking about that conversation a month after it happened, then you would say, “She said she had a headache,” because it’s no longer true.

No backshift needed when the situation is still in the future

We also don’t need to backshift to the verb when somebody said something about the future, and the event is still in the future.

Here’s an example:

• On Monday, my friend said, “I ‘ll call you on Friday .”
• “She said she ‘ll call me on Friday”, because Friday is still in the future from now.
• It is also possible to say, “She said she ‘d (she would) call me on Friday.”
• Both of them are correct, so the backshift in this case is optional.

Let’s look at a different situation:

• On Monday, my friend said, “I ‘ll call you on Tuesday .”
• “She said she ‘d  call me on Tuesday.” I must backshift because the event is NOT still in the future.

Review: Reported Speech, Backshift, & Exceptions

Quick review:

• Normally in reported speech we backshift the verb, we put it in a verb tense that’s a little bit further in the past.
• when the situation is still true
• when the situation is still in the future

Reported Requests, Orders, and Questions

Those were the rules for reported statements, just regular sentences.

What about reported speech for questions, requests, and orders?

For reported requests, we use “asked (someone) to do something”:

• “Please make a copy of this report.” (direct speech)
• She asked me to make a copy of the report. (reported speech)

For reported orders, we use “told (someone) to do something:”

• “Go to the bank.” (direct speech)
• “He told me to go to the bank.” (reported speech)

The main verb stays in the infinitive with “to”:

• She asked me to make a copy of the report. She asked me  make  a copy of the report.
• He told me to go to the bank. He told me  go  to the bank.

For yes/no questions, we use “asked if” and “wanted to know if” in reported speech.

• “Are you coming to the party?” (direct)
• He asked if I was coming to the party. (reported)
• “Did you turn off the TV?” (direct)
• She wanted to know if I had turned off the TV.” (reported)

The main verb changes and back shifts according to the rules and exceptions we learned earlier.

Notice that we don’t use do/does/did in the reported question:

• She wanted to know did I turn off the TV.
• She wanted to know if I had turned off the TV.

For other questions that are not yes/no questions, we use asked/wanted to know (without “if”):

• “When was the company founded?” (direct)
• She asked when the company was founded.” (reported)
• “What kind of car do you drive?” (direct)
• He wanted to know what kind of car I drive. (reported)

Again, notice that we don’t use do/does/did in reported questions:

• “Where does he work?”
• She wanted to know  where does he work.
• She wanted to know where he works.

Also, in questions with the verb “to be,” the word order changes in the reported question:

• “Where were you born?” ([to be] + subject)
• He asked where I was born. (subject + [to be])
• He asked where was I born.

Reported Speech (Part 2) Quiz

Learn more about reported speech:

• Reported speech: Perfect English Grammar
• Reported speech: BJYU’s

If you want to take your English grammar to the next level, then my Advanced English Grammar Course is for you! It will help you master the details of the English language, with clear explanations of essential grammar topics, and lots of practice. I hope to see you inside!

I’ve got one last little exercise for you, and that is to write sentences using reported speech. Think about a conversation you’ve had in the past, and write about it – let’s see you put this into practice right away.

Master the details of English grammar:

More Espresso English Lessons:

About the author.

Shayna Oliveira

Shayna Oliveira is the founder of Espresso English, where you can improve your English fast - even if you don’t have much time to study. Millions of students are learning English from her clear, friendly, and practical lessons! Shayna is a CELTA-certified teacher with 10+ years of experience helping English learners become more fluent in her English courses.

Direct Speech and Indirect Speech (Reported Speech)

• August 30, 2023

Direct speech is when you repeat someone’s exact words, like  “I’m going to the store.”

Indirect speech is when you say what someone said in your own words, like  “She said she’s going to the store.”

So, direct speech uses the exact words, while indirect speech rephrases what was said. Remember, in indirect speech, things like tenses, pronouns, and time expressions might change to fit the new sentence.

A. Changes in Tenses and Passive Voice in Reported Speech

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, requires us to convey the words spoken by someone else while adapting them to a new context. This often involves changes in tenses and passive voice to accurately represent the original message. Let’s explore how different tenses and passive voice transform in reported speech, along with examples for each:

• Direct Speech:  “I eat an apple.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that he ate an apple.
• Direct Speech:  “She is reading a book.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she was reading a book.
• Direct Speech:  “They visited the museum.”
• Reported Speech:  They said that they visited the museum.
• Direct Speech:  “I was playing tennis.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that he had been playing tennis.
• Direct Speech:  “She had finished her work.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she had finished her work.
• Direct Speech:  “They had been studying for hours.”
• Reported Speech:  They said that they had been studying for hours.
• Direct Speech:  “I have seen that movie.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she had seen that movie.
• Direct Speech:  “He has been working all day.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that he had been working all day.
• Direct Speech:  “I will come tomorrow.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she would come the next day.
• Direct Speech:  “They will have finished by then.”
• Reported Speech:  They said that they would have finished by then.
• Direct Speech:  “The book is read by her.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that the book was read by her.
• Direct Speech:  “The cake is being baked.”
• Reported Speech:  They said that the cake was being baked.

Remember that when transforming tenses and passive voice in reported speech, the changes depend on the context and the tense of the original statement. Adapting these changes correctly ensures that the essence of the original message is conveyed accurately in the reported speech.

B. Changes in Pronouns in Reported Speech

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, involves relaying someone else’s words while adapting them to a new context. Pronouns play a crucial role in this transformation, as they need adjustments to match the perspective of the reporting speaker. Here’s a brief overview of how pronouns change in reported speech:

Changing Pronouns:

Pronouns in reported speech often change to reflect the perspective of the reporting speaker or the listener.

• Direct Speech:  “I am reading a book.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she is reading a book.

First Person to Third Person:

Pronouns shift from the first person to the third person in reported speech.

• Reported Speech:  He said that he would come the next day.

Second Person to Third Person:

Pronouns shift from the second person to the third person in reported speech.

• Direct Speech:  “You should call your parents.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that I should call my parents.

Third Person to Third Person:

When the original and reported speeches are both in the third person, there’s often no change in pronouns.

• Direct Speech:  “She mentioned visiting the museum.”
• Reported Speech:  She mentioned visiting the museum.

Possessive Pronouns:

Possessive pronouns also shift according to the reporting speaker’s perspective.

• Direct Speech:  “This is my book.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that it was his book.

Maintaining Consistency:

Pronouns maintain consistency throughout the reported speech.

• Direct Speech:  “He called and said, ‘I will be there.'”
• Reported Speech:  He called and said that he would be there.

Adapting Demonstrative Pronouns:

Demonstrative pronouns may change based on the context of the reported speech.

• Direct Speech:  “Take this one.”
• Reported Speech:  She told me to take that one.

Changing Reflexive Pronouns:

Reflexive pronouns shift as needed to align with the new subject.

• Direct Speech:  “She washed herself.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that she washed herself.

Adjusting Indirect Object Pronouns:

Indirect object pronouns may require changes based on the reporting context.

• Direct Speech:  “He gave me a gift.”
• Reported Speech:  She mentioned that he had given her a gift.

C. Changes in Modals in Reported Speech

• In reported speech, ‘can’ generally changes to ‘could.’
• Direct Speech:  “I can swim.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she could swim.
• The modal ‘may’ typically changes to ‘might’ in reported speech.
• Direct Speech:  “I may go to the party.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that he might go to the party.
• ‘Must’ remains ‘must’ in reported speech, but the context of necessity may change.
• Direct Speech:  “I must finish the assignment.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she must finish the assignment.
• ‘Should’ can either remain ‘should’ or change to ‘ought to’ in reported speech.
• Direct Speech:  “You should exercise regularly.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that I should/ought to exercise regularly.
• ‘Will’ often changes to ‘would’ in reported speech to indicate future possibilities.
• Direct Speech:  “I will help you.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she would help me.
• ‘Shall’ can change to ‘should’ or ‘would’ in reported speech, depending on the context.
• Direct Speech:  “Shall I open the window?”
• Reported Speech:  She asked if she should open the window.
• In reported speech, ‘can’ changes to ‘could’ to maintain politeness.
• Direct Speech:  “Can you please pass the salt?”
• Reported Speech:  He asked if I could pass the salt.
• ‘Must’ can change to ‘had to’ in reported speech to reflect necessity.
• Direct Speech:  “You must attend the meeting.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that I had to attend the meeting.
• ‘Will’ can change to ‘was/were going to’ in reported speech for planned actions.
• Direct Speech:  “I will visit the museum.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that he was going to visit the museum.
• ‘Can’t’ changes to ‘couldn’t’ in reported speech to reflect inability.
• Direct Speech:  “I can’t solve this puzzle.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she couldn’t solve the puzzle.
• ‘Should’ can change to ‘ought to’ in reported speech to maintain formality.
• Reported Speech:  He said that I ought to call my parents.
• ‘May’ can change to ‘might’ in reported speech for polite requests.
• Direct Speech:  “May I borrow your pen, please?”
• Reported Speech:  She asked if she might borrow my pen.

In reported speech, modals often undergo changes to suit the indirect context while retaining the original meaning. The transformation of modals contributes to accurate and effective communication when conveying someone else’s words and intentions.

D. Changes in Place References in Reported Speech

Place references are an important aspect of reported speech, requiring adjustments to accurately convey the speaker’s intended location. Let’s explore how place references change in reported speech, along with examples for each scenario:

• Direct Speech:  “I live here.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she lived there.
• Direct Speech:  “Take this book.”
• Reported Speech:  He told me to take that book.
• Direct Speech:  “She mentioned visiting the Eiffel Tower.”
• Reported Speech:  She mentioned visiting the Eiffel Tower.
• Direct Speech:  “Pass me that book.”
• Reported Speech:  He asked me to pass him that book.
• Direct Speech:  “Where is the nearest café?”
• Reported Speech:  She asked where the nearest café was.
• Direct Speech:  “He said, ‘Come here.'”
• Reported Speech:  He told me to go there.
• Direct Speech:  “I found the key under the mat.”
• Reported Speech:  She said she had found the key under the mat.
• Direct Speech:  “He lives near the park.”
• Reported Speech:  He said he lived near the park.
• Direct Speech:  “She lives in New York.”
• Reported Speech:  He mentioned that she lived in New York.
• Direct Speech:  “Give me this one.”
• Reported Speech:  He asked for that one.

Adapting place references accurately ensures that the location and context of the original conversation are effectively maintained, even when narrated indirectly.

E. Changes in Questions in Reported Speech

Questions, both “Yes/No questions” and “Wh-questions,” undergo specific changes when reported. These changes ensure that the reported speech accurately captures the essence of the original question. Here’s an exploration of how different types of questions change in reported speech, accompanied by examples:

• Direct Speech:  “Did you finish your homework?”
• Reported Speech:  She asked if I had finished my homework.
• Direct Speech:  “Yes, I did finish my homework,” he said.
• Reported Speech:  He said that he had finished his homework.
• Direct Speech:  “Where are you going?”
• Reported Speech:  He asked where I was going.
• Direct Speech:  “I am going to the park,” she replied.
• Reported Speech:  She replied that she was going to the park.
• Direct Speech:  “What time does the train arrive?”
• Reported Speech:  He wanted to know what time the train arrived.
• Direct Speech:  “Is she coming to the party?”
• Reported Speech:  He asked if she was coming to the party.
• Direct Speech:  “When will the meeting start?”
• Reported Speech:  She wondered when the meeting would start.
• Direct Speech:  “Could you please pass me the salt?”
• Reported Speech:  She asked if I could pass her the salt.
• Direct Speech:  “Can you help me?”
• Reported Speech:  He asked if I could help him.
• Direct Speech:  “Why did you do that?”
• Reported Speech:  She demanded to know why I had done that.

Mastering the changes in reported speech for both yes/no and wh-questions is essential for accurately conveying conversations while adapting them to different linguistic contexts. These transformations ensure that the nuances of questions are maintained even when relayed indirectly.

F. Converting Time References in Reported Speech

Adapting time references is crucial in reported speech to ensure accurate conveyance of the original message. Time expressions such as “today,” “tomorrow,” “now,” “last week,” “last night,” “yesterday,” “days ago,” and “ago” require specific changes in reported speech to reflect the shift in time. Here’s a guide on how to convert sentences with time references to reported speech:

• Direct Speech:  “I am busy today.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she was busy that day.
• Direct Speech:  “I am studying now.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that he was studying then.
• Direct Speech:  “I went to the market yesterday.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she had gone to the market the previous day.
• Direct Speech:  “He visited last week, a few days ago.”
• Reported Speech:  They mentioned that he had visited the previous week, a few days before.
• Direct Speech:  “She called me last week.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that she had called him the previous week.
• Direct Speech:  “We had dinner together last night.”
• Reported Speech:  They mentioned that they had dinner together the previous night.
• Direct Speech:  “I am the current manager.”
• Reported Speech:  She said that she is the current manager.
• Direct Speech:  “I will meet you tomorrow.”
• Reported Speech:  He said that he would meet me the next day.
• Direct Speech:  “They plan to travel next week.”
• Reported Speech:  She mentioned that they planned to travel the following week.

Adapting time references in reported speech is essential to ensure that the context and timing of the original message are accurately conveyed, even when the conversation is relayed indirectly.

G. Changes in Commands in Reported Speech

Reporting commands requires particular adjustments to accurately represent the original instruction. Here’s a concise guide on how commands change in reported speech:

• In direct commands, the verb is typically in the imperative form.
• Direct Speech:  “Open the window.”
• Reported Speech:  He told me to open the window.
• In reported speech, the command changes to a verb of reporting, followed by an infinitive form.
• Direct Speech:  “Clean your room.”
• Reported Speech:  She asked me to clean my room.
• Pronouns in commands may need to be adjusted to match the new context.
• Direct Speech:  “Take your umbrella.”
• Reported Speech:  He told me to take my umbrella.
• Modals can be used to soften the command’s tone in reported speech.
• Direct Speech:  “Give me the book.”
• Reported Speech:  She requested me to give her the book.
• Reporting verbs like “tell,” “ask,” “request,” “command,” or “order” are used to introduce the reported command.
• Direct Speech:  “Do your homework.”
• Reported Speech:  He ordered me to do my homework.
• Time references may need to be adapted in reported commands.
• Direct Speech:  “Call me later.”
• Reported Speech:  She asked me to call her later.
• Polite commands remain polite in reported speech.
• A direct command changes to an indirect request.
• Direct Speech:  “Shut the door.”
• Reported Speech:  He asked me to shut the door.

Mastering the changes in reported speech for commands is essential for accurately conveying instructions while adapting them to different linguistic contexts. These transformations ensure that the nuances of commands are maintained even when relayed indirectly.

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• B1-B2 grammar

Reported speech

Daisy has just had an interview for a summer job. 

Instructions

As you watch the video, look at the examples of reported speech. They are in  red  in the subtitles. Then read the conversation below to learn more. Finally, do the grammar exercises to check you understand, and can use, reported speech correctly.

Sophie:  Mmm, it’s so nice to be chilling out at home after all that running around.

Ollie: Oh, yeah, travelling to glamorous places for a living must be such a drag!

Ollie: Mum, you can be so childish sometimes. Hey, I wonder how Daisy’s getting on in her job interview.

Sophie: Oh, yes, she said she was having it at four o’clock, so it’ll have finished by now. That’ll be her ... yes. Hi, love. How did it go?

Daisy: Well, good I think, but I don’t really know. They said they’d phone later and let me know.

Sophie: What kind of thing did they ask you?

Daisy: They asked if I had any experience with people, so I told them about helping at the school fair and visiting old people at the home, that sort of stuff. But I think they meant work experience.

Sophie: I’m sure what you said was impressive. They can’t expect you to have had much work experience at your age.

Daisy:  And then they asked me what acting I had done, so I told them that I’d had a main part in the school play, and I showed them a bit of the video, so that was cool.

Sophie:  Great!

Daisy: Oh, and they also asked if I spoke any foreign languages.

Sophie: Languages?

Daisy: Yeah, because I might have to talk to tourists, you know.

Sophie: Oh, right, of course.

Daisy: So that was it really. They showed me the costume I’ll be wearing if I get the job. Sending it over ...

Ollie: Hey, sis, I heard that Brad Pitt started out as a giant chicken too! This could be your big break!

Daisy: Ha, ha, very funny.

Sophie: Take no notice, darling. I’m sure you’ll be a marvellous chicken.

We use reported speech when we want to tell someone what someone said. We usually use a reporting verb (e.g. say, tell, ask, etc.) and then change the tense of what was actually said in direct speech.

So, direct speech is what someone actually says? Like 'I want to know about reported speech'?

Yes, and you report it with a reporting verb.

He said he wanted to know about reported speech.

I said, I want and you changed it to he wanted .

Exactly. Verbs in the present simple change to the past simple; the present continuous changes to the past continuous; the present perfect changes to the past perfect; can changes to could ; will changes to would ; etc.

She said she was having the interview at four o’clock. (Direct speech: ' I’m having the interview at four o’clock.') They said they’d phone later and let me know. (Direct speech: ' We’ll phone later and let you know.')

OK, in that last example, you changed you to me too.

Yes, apart from changing the tense of the verb, you also have to think about changing other things, like pronouns and adverbs of time and place.

'We went yesterday.'  > She said they had been the day before. 'I’ll come tomorrow.' >  He said he’d come the next day.

I see, but what if you’re reporting something on the same day, like 'We went yesterday'?

Well, then you would leave the time reference as 'yesterday'. You have to use your common sense. For example, if someone is saying something which is true now or always, you wouldn’t change the tense.

'Dogs can’t eat chocolate.' > She said that dogs can’t eat chocolate. 'My hair grows really slowly.' >  He told me that his hair grows really slowly.

What about reporting questions?

We often use ask + if/whether , then change the tenses as with statements. In reported questions we don’t use question forms after the reporting verb.

'Do you have any experience working with people?' They asked if I had any experience working with people. 'What acting have you done?' They asked me what acting I had done .

Is there anything else I need to know about reported speech?

One thing that sometimes causes problems is imperative sentences.

You mean like 'Sit down, please' or 'Don’t go!'?

Exactly. Sentences that start with a verb in direct speech need a to + infinitive in reported speech.

She told him to be good. (Direct speech: 'Be good!') He told them not to forget. (Direct speech: 'Please don’t forget.')

OK. Can I also say 'He asked me to sit down'?

Yes. You could say 'He told me to …' or 'He asked me to …' depending on how it was said.

OK, I see. Are there any more reporting verbs?

Yes, there are lots of other reporting verbs like promise , remind , warn , advise , recommend , encourage which you can choose, depending on the situation. But say , tell and ask are the most common.

Great. I understand! My teacher said reported speech was difficult.

And I told you not to worry!

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Reported Speech in English Grammar

Direct speech, changing the tense (backshift), no change of tenses, question sentences, demands/requests, expressions with who/what/how + infinitive, typical changes of time and place.

• Lingolia Plus English

Introduction

In English grammar, we use reported speech to say what another person has said. We can use their exact words with quotation marks , this is known as direct speech , or we can use indirect speech . In indirect speech , we change the tense and pronouns to show that some time has passed. Indirect speech is often introduced by a reporting verb or phrase such as ones below.

Learn the rules for writing indirect speech in English with Lingolia’s simple explanation. In the exercises, you can test your grammar skills.

When turning direct speech into indirect speech, we need to pay attention to the following points:

• changing the pronouns Example: He said, “ I saw a famous TV presenter.” He said (that) he had seen a famous TV presenter.
• changing the information about time and place (see the table at the end of this page) Example: He said, “I saw a famous TV presenter here yesterday .” He said (that) he had seen a famous TV presenter there the day before .
• changing the tense (backshift) Example: He said, “She was eating an ice-cream at the table where you are sitting .” He said (that) she had been eating an ice-cream at the table where I was sitting .

If the introductory clause is in the simple past (e.g. He said ), the tense has to be set back by one degree (see the table). The term for this in English is backshift .

The verbs could, should, would, might, must, needn’t, ought to, used to normally do not change.

If the introductory clause is in the simple present , however (e.g. He says ), then the tense remains unchanged, because the introductory clause already indicates that the statement is being immediately repeated (and not at a later point in time).

In some cases, however, we have to change the verb form.

When turning questions into indirect speech, we have to pay attention to the following points:

• As in a declarative sentence, we have to change the pronouns, the time and place information, and set the tense back ( backshift ).
• Instead of that , we use a question word. If there is no question word, we use whether / if instead. Example: She asked him, “ How often do you work?” → She asked him how often he worked. He asked me, “Do you know any famous people?” → He asked me if/whether I knew any famous people.
• We put the subject before the verb in question sentences. (The subject goes after the auxiliary verb in normal questions.) Example: I asked him, “ Have you met any famous people before?” → I asked him if/whether he had met any famous people before.
• We don’t use the auxiliary verb do for questions in indirect speech. Therefore, we sometimes have to conjugate the main verb (for third person singular or in the simple past ). Example: I asked him, “What do you want to tell me?” → I asked him what he wanted to tell me.
• We put the verb directly after who or what in subject questions. Example: I asked him, “ Who is sitting here?” → I asked him who was sitting there.

We don’t just use indirect questions to report what another person has asked. We also use them to ask questions in a very polite manner.

When turning demands and requests into indirect speech, we only need to change the pronouns and the time and place information. We don’t have to pay attention to the tenses – we simply use an infinitive .

If it is a negative demand, then in indirect speech we use not + infinitive .

To express what someone should or can do in reported speech, we leave out the subject and the modal verb and instead we use the construction who/what/where/how + infinitive.

Say or Tell?

The words say and tell are not interchangeable. say = say something tell = say something to someone

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How to use reported speech.

Learn about Reported Speech in English grammar. Clear and simple explanation of meaning and use, with examples.

Forming reported speech

• Direct speech: “I’m not playing football.” Reported later: “He said that he wasn’t playing football.”
• Direct speech: Jane: “I don’t like living here.” (Jane is referring to herself) Reported speech: Jane said (that) she didn’t like living here. (The pronoun she refers to Jane )
• Direct speech: “I like this car.” Reported speech: He said (that) he liked that car.
• Direct speech: “I went to Tokyo last week .” Reported speech: She said (that) she’d been to Tokyo the week before .

We use reported speech to tell someone what another person said:

Jim says to you:

“I don’t feel well.” “I can’t drive.” “My parents have gone on holiday.” “I’m going out now so you will have to wait until I get back.” “I’ll help you.”

Later, you tell your friend what Jim said:

Jim said (that) he didn’t feel well. He said (that) he couldn’t drive. He said (that) his parents had gone on holiday. He said (that) he was going out now so I would have to wait until he got back. He said that he would help me .

Additional points

• Direct speech: “My car is bigger than yours.”
• Reported speech: He said his car is/was bigger than mine.
• Direct speech: “The earthquake happened at half past seven.”
• Reported speech: The radio said that the earthquake  happened at half past seven.
• Direct speech: “I should go to the dentist.”
• Reported speech: He said that he should go to the dentist.

Pronunciation

See the phonemic chart for IPA symbols used below.

If we use that  in reported speech, we pronounce the weak form.

• I said that he’d do it: /ðət/

Related grammar points

Reported Questions Reporting Verbs Say and Tell

Keith Taylor

Keith is the co-founder of Eslbase and School of TEFL . He's been a teacher and teacher trainer for over 20 years, in Indonesia, Australia, Morocco, Spain, Italy, Poland, France and now in the UK.

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16 comments

Hello, I’m not a teacher, I’m an ESL class student. So, I’m here to ask you guys a question about wich is still making me to be confused. I asked my teacher, ”if you say, ”I am a teacher”, should I make it a reported speech as ” she said she was a teacher?”. she answered that I needed to say ,” she said she is a teacher”. One more thing: I found a sentence in worksheet written , ”He told his birthday is next week”. Is it correct? I thought it had to be ” he told his birhday would be next week” So, is this modern English rule? Is that a difference? Can you pleeease, explain and help me to make sure to correct this hesitation.

Thanks for your questions.

1. “She said she was a teacher” and “She said she is a teacher” are both correct. Often we don’t change the tense if the fact that we are reporting is still true. So, if it is still true that she is a teacher, then she can report it with “She said she is a teacher” (see Additional point number 1 above).

2. “He told his birthday is next week”. First of all, if you use “told” then you must add a direct object, like this: “He told me his birthday is next week”.

Now, let’s look at the different ways we can use reported speech for this. If the person says “My birthday is next week” then we can report it like this: – He told me his birthday was next week – He told me his birthday is next week (it’s still true so we don’t need to change the tense)

If the person says “My birthday will be next week” then we can report it like this: – He told me his birthday would be next week.

I hope that helps!

This is what I wanted to know. Thanks a lot!

I ask one of my students to introduce him/herself (name, age, hobbies)… and ask other students to take notes. When they are finished, I ask “What did he say?”

I tell students to think about what happened to them before they came to class. For example, “what did your mom, dad, husband, wife say to them? They write down the direct speech and then the reported speech.

I prepare cards with several questions in different tenses, such as:

“What were you doing yesterday at 6?” “How long have you been studying English?” “Will you do your homework for tomorrow?”

I put my students in pairs and ask them to interview each other using the questions on the cards. Once they’ve got their answers, they change partners and share everything they’ve learnt about the previous student.

Cut a dialogue into four parts. Paste it on four walls. Students work in pairs. One of them is the messenger and the other one is a receiver. The messenger runs to the walls and remembers the sentences, comes back and narrates the same to the receiver.

I did a “Find someone who…” mingling activity with my students and then divided the group into two teams. I asked a member from the first team to report one of the replies to a question they had asked. If their reply was correctly put into reported speech, they got a point for their team. I repeated the process until I had covered all the responses from the activity. The team with the most points won the game and was rewarded with cream eggs!

I have students make 10 questions they would ask their favourite actor or actress. Then, they use these questions to interview another partner who pretends to be that famous person. He or she will answer those questions the same way the famous person would. Students end up reporting their answers to the teacher. In that way, they can practice reported speech in an interesting form.

If you have the resources, you can play a short listening/video about an important event, news, etc. Students then have to report to the teacher what they heard.

I show them some debate shows on the Internet after advising them to make notes of the main points. Then I ask them to report what different participants opined. SBS insight has nice discussions to be used for this purpose.

I showed some slides about a fire at a petrol station and the group had to make up a conversation between two witnesses to the fire. We then wrote it as a newspaper report.

I put students in groups of three. Two in the group are a couple quarrelling, but who will not speak to each other. The middle man/woman receives information from one and uses reported speech to relay the message(s).

I ask students to think of a fun sentence. I put them all in a line and the student at the end whispers their sentence to the one beside them, this student then reports the sentence to the following student, and so on. The last student says the sentence aloud and we see if they did it correctly… it is like the “telefono descompuesto” in Spanish.

I ask students to tell their partner three secrets. Then, this student tells other students in the class (a good way to explain the word: gossip!). This activity helps students practice reporting but in a fun way!

I give the students comic strips from the funny pages, and they have to summarize the direct speech. There are always lots of questions, and that makes especially good practice.

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Reported Speech

Learn how to use  reported speech in English. Reported speech is also known as  indirect speech  and is used to tell somebody else what another person said. Using  reported speech in English can sometimes be difficult for non-native speakers as we (usually) change the verbs, pronouns and specific times.

Keep reading to understand how to use reported speech and download this free English lesson!

Let’s study reported speech !

Reported speech vs. direct speech.

When we want to tell somebody else what another person said, we can use either direct speech  or  reported speech .

When we use d irect speech, we use the same words but use quotation marks, “_”. For example:

Scott said, “I am coming to work.  I will be late because there is a lot of traffic now.”

When we use r eported speech, we usually change the verbs, specific times, and pronouns. For example:

Scott said that he was coming to work.  He said that he would be late because there was a lot of traffic at that time.

How do we use reported speech ?

Since reported speech is usually talking about the past, we usually change the verbs into the past. It is always necessary to change the verbs when the action has finished or is untrue.

We do not always change the verbs.  When you are reporting an action that is still current or true, it is not necessary to change the verb tense. For example:    

How old are you?  “ I am twenty-seven years old .” She said she is twenty-seven years old.

We usually follow the rules below.  When we are reporting speech, we are usually talking about the past; therefore, we change the verbs into the past.

Reporting Questions

We use a special form when we report questions:  

WH-Questions:    

Where is + Tom’s house ?   He asked where Tom’s house + was.

Where does Tom live?  He asked where Tom lived.

Yes/No Questions:  

Does Tom live in Miami?  She asked if Tom  lived in Miami.

Is Tom happy?  She asked if Tom was happy.

Say vs. Tell

Say Something

June:  “I love English .”

June said (that) she loved English.

Tell Someone Something

June:  “I love English.”

June told me (that) she loved English.

Modal Verbs and Reported Speech

Must, might, could, would, should , and ought to stay the same in re ported   s peech .  We usually change may to might .

Infinitives and Reported Speech

Infinitives  stay the same in reported speech:

“ I am going to the store to buy milk.”  He said he was going to the store to buy milk.

We also use infinitives when reporting orders and commands, especially when using tell .

“ Do  your homework.   Don’t use a dictionary!!”  He told me to do to my homework and not to use a dictionary.

Reporting Suggestions

When we are reporting another speakers suggestions, we can use a special form with suggest, recommend, or propose .

SUGGEST/ RECOMMEND/PROPOSE   +   (*THAT)   +    SUBJECT PRONOUN   +   **V1

SUGGEST/ RECOMMEND/PROPOSE   +   V1 + ING

“I think you should visit Viscaya.”     →  He suggested we visit Viscaya.  He suggested visiting Viscaya.

“Try to get there early to get good seats.”    →   He recommended we get there early to get good seats.

*That is often omitted in speech.

**The verb is always in the base form. We do not use third person.

Reporting Statements

A reported statement  begins with an introductory clause and is followed by the ‘information’ clause.  The speaker may choose different words, but the meaning remains unchanged.  Some formal words to introduce a reported statement or response are: declared, stated, informed, responded, replied, etc.

“I don’t agree with these new rules. I am not going to accept this change!” →  He declared that he was in disagreement with the new rules and stated that he would not accept the changes.

Free English Lesson PDF Download

Reported Speech ~ Exercises and Practice

A. Change each direct speech example into the reported speech . The first one has been done for you.

• Michelle said, “I love my Chihuahua, Daisy.”

Michelle said that she loved her Chihuahua, Daisy.

2. Republicans said, “We don’t support Obama’s plan to raise taxes.”

__________________________________________________________.

3.With her mouth full, Sarah said, “I am eating mashed potatoes.”

4. John Lee said, “This year, I will not pay my taxes.”

5. Lebron said, “I am going to win the championship next year.”

6. Patty said, “I can’t stomach another hamburger. I ate one yesterday.”

B. Rewrite the sentences/questions below using reported / indirect speech . Always change the tense, even though it is not always necessary. You can use ‘said’, ‘told me’ , or ‘asked’ .

1. Sarah:   “I am in the shower right now.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

2. John:   “I dropped my son off at school this morning.”

3. Samuel: “I am going to the beach with my sister this afternoon.”

4. John: “Jessica will call you later.”

5. The girls: “Who does John live with?”

6. Our classmate: “Did we have any homework last night?”

7. Sarah: “I am moving to Tokyo because I want to learn Japanese.”

8. John: “Why do you have an umbrella?”

9. The students: “Our teacher can’t find her books anywhere.”

10. Sarah and Jillian: “Is John British?”

11. Steve: “I’m going to the beach so that I can play volleyball.”

__________________________________________________________________________________

12. Ann: “Where is the bathroom?”

13. My parents: “What are you going to do with your life?”

14. Sarah: “I ate breakfast before I came to school.”

C. Your friend Megan is very nosy (she always wants to know what’s going on) so she constantly asks questions about your life and the lives of your friends. Rewrite her questions using the reported questions form. The first one has been done for you .

1. Why do you date Ryan?

She asked me why I dated Ryan.

2. How much money do you make at your new job?

________________________________________________________________________________

3. Does Ryan think I’m pretty?

4. Where is your favorite restaurant?

5. Do I look good in these jeans?

6. Can I borrow some twenty bucks?

D. Your American grandfather is telling you about how things used to be. Using the reported speech , tell your friends what he said.

“In the 1930s, people were very poor. They ate watery soup and hard bread. Many people lost their jobs. To make matters worse, a horrible drought ruined most of the farmland in the American midwest. People went to California to look for a better life. They picked strawberries in the hot California sun.”

Did you download this lesson? If not, don’t forget to download this free English lesson.

If you have any questions about English grammar, please contact us via email us or just comment below. I hope this lesson helped you understand how to use reported speech in English.

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3 Grammar Rules for REPORTED SPEECH

Test your understanding of this English lesson

340 comments.

To answer at your last question: Yes I did ! thanks (9 correct out of 10) ?

Nice job! Thanks for studying with me!

Thanks elex. What a useful video!!!:-)

THANK YOU SO MUCH MR. ALEX. LESSON IS VERY GOOD. YOUR LESSON IS VERY FUNNY.

I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for clicking.

Thank you very much for this concise lesson.

You’re very welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

Very useful lesson I got 6 out of 10

Not bad. Keep studying! :)

Yes Mr Alex, we all enjoy your videos, I´m pretty sure!! Thank you very much for this useful lesson. P.S.: nice beginning of this video XD

I’m glad you enjoyed it, super guitarist Mark Knopfler!

Very good and useful lesson

Thanks a lot for watching it.

I got 9 correct out of 10

Great job! Keep studying.

Alex asked me if I enjoyed this video. Nope, I loved it!!

Great job, Alex!!

That’s great! Thanks for checking it out!

Hi Alex, thank you so much for the lesson.

My pleasure! I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Hi Alex, your lessons are very useful.

I’m glad you enjoy them! Thanks for watching.

What do you mean when you tell «academician»? In France «académicien» means a person elected by other «académiciens». «Les académiciens» generally made university studies but it isn’t compulsory. A lecturer for me is a conference speaker. Perhaps, that word may mean an other thing. Excuse me for my curiosity. That gets to improve my English. Best regards.

Hi mclaude, which part of the lesson are you referring to?

Thanks a lot for your feedback and your great help. The question isn’t in your lessons. I asked Yagmurcamd a question about informations that he has given on himself. So, I wait his answer. Best regards. Marie-Claude

Amazing lesson thanks ?

Thanks, Manoura! I’m glad you liked it!

Hi Alex, thank you for your lesson, it was clearly. I got 10 out of 10.

“It was clear.” You can also say “It was clearly explained.”

Great job on the quiz, Victor!

I gave 10 correct answers. Thank you for the lesson

Fantastic job! Now practice the rules when you’re speaking!

I got 10 out of 10. :) Thanks Alex.

Great job! Keep on studying!

thank you very much mr Alex

Any time. I’m glad you enjoyed the video!

got 8.. both the mistakes were due to IF and THAT . Need to practice more to understand the situation better. any videos related to this would be helpful.

Could you give me more information on what you mean?

thans teacher….

“Thanks, teacher.”

As always, thanks for clicking, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the video. Don’t forget that if you want to support the website, you can donate @ engvid.com/support. This helps us to continue doing what we’re doing! Also, add me on Facebook (facebook.com/alex.engvid) and Twitter (twitter.com/alexengvid) to keep in touch. Thanks for studying with EngVid!

I would like to thank your team. i learnt lots of things from you people and trying to do IELTS in future soon. i got ten out ten marks. Hurrah!

Nice job! I’m glad we’ve been able to help you.

Thank you for the great and interesting lesson.I like it very much.Someyimes,I’m confused how to use”reported speed”but now you help me. I’ve got 9/10.I want to do better so I will listen to your lesson again and try to do it perfectly. Thank you!^-^

Nice job! Keep studying and getting better!

Nine out of ten,I thought the last one was #4, using past perfect, because the question was already in the past.

The last one doesn’t use the past perfect correctly, though. The verb form is not the past participle, which is what it should be with the past perfect.

Yep, that’s right! But that question doesn’t have a correct answer then, does it? Coz #2 uses present perfect ‘have enjoyed’ when it should be ‘had enjoyed’ in Past Perfect. And ‘this’ should be changed into ‘that’.

10 out of 10. Thanks for a great lesson!

Nice job! Keep it up!

thanks Alex

Hi i am an engineer too and my language is turkish also so i think we can improve our english together so can we be in touch i am from kirkuk and working at power plant as an electrical engineer

Any time. Thanks for watching.

thanks t Alex it’s really helpful lesson I get 9 out of 10

Great job! Keep on studying.

Thank U Alex for this lesson. Reported speech is a new topic for me. Have a nice day!

That’s good! You’re learning new things.

Have a nice day as well!

Thank you Alex it was very useful i got 10 out of 10

Nice job, Malak. Keep on studying. :)

I enjoyed this lesson as every lesson you’ve made thanks a lot my best teacher my best !

Thanks a lot, Oussouby! I really appreciate that. Have a great day.

Thank you Alex. You made very useful lesson, as always. You are perfect teacher :)

That’s very kind of you to say. Thanks a lot, Timur. I’m glad you’ve been enjoying my lessons.

Thank you for yet another great lesson.Could we use the word ‘whether’,instead of ‘if’,to report yes/no questions?

Absolutely! I should have mentioned that in the lesson.

Thank you so much for the great lessons.You had a lesson about “Either or Neither” and I asked a question about something related to that lesson, could you please make some time and answer that? Thank you :)

Hi Alex, nice and useful lesson as always. But i must confess I do not like grammar. I find it a bit boring. Could you prepare a lesson on Star Wars as you did a few months ago?

Haha. That lesson took a lot of work. Maybe in the future, but not any time soon!

Yes, I did it!

Thank you for your video, your English is very clear, and I understood everything, I am very happy!!

You’ve been always providing useful lessons. I am enjoying it a lot.

That’s great to hear. Thanks for checking out my videos. :)

A great a class

Thank you very much. Have a great weekend. :)

hi Alex, Thanks you so much, your video is very helpful and I have a question, in your example:”Can you play guitar” is that correct? As I know, we always have to put “the” before an instrument so It must be” Can you play the guitar?”. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks

You can use both.

Can you play guitar? Can you play the guitar?

There is no difference in tone or formality. It’s the same with seasons.

I love spring. I love the spring.

Oh I got it, Thanks you so much ^^

Hello Can we have a converstaion on Skype??

This lesson was short but clear and so helpful. Many thanks, Alex. :)

You’re very welcome! My pleasure!

I got 9/10. thanks you, teacher !

wooowww, I got 10/10, thanks Alex for this useful lesson.

Dear Alex, i got 8 correct out of 10. But it’s a really amazing experience.. Waiting for another gem ..

I got 10/10!!! Good Lesson.

Thank you very much for the nice lesson, Alex. I have one question concerning the verb tenses: —Is Kate here? —He wanted to know if she was here? Couldn’t we use a present tense: He wants to know if she is here?

Merci Alex.

De rien. :)

Thank you very much Alex! Your teaching always is very interesting for me I appreciate it. Best Regards!

Thanks for checking out the video. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happyness was the key to life. When I went to school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy”. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. Obviouvsly this is not a real experience of my life, it’s John Lennon’s. Thanks for your lesson Alex and take care.

That’s really great. :) Thanks for posting that!

10 out of 10 ! Good job, thanks Alex

Very clear, thank you. I wonder why Mr James speaks so fast.

That’s just his natural speech. A lot of his lessons are meant for advanced students.

Thanks Alex for a helpful lesson.!

My pleasure. Thanks for studying with me!

Thank you, Mr. Alex, your lesson is very clear.

Thanks for watching and for studying with EngVid, BigMitch!

I have got 100/100 but I need more challenging test. how can I get them?

We have other lessons that are more advanced, so I’d check those out if you’re looking for a challenge.

Thank you so much Alex

You’re very welcome. Thanks for clicking and for studying with EngVid.

Hi Alex! Thanks for this lesson, it was very educative.

“Educational.” :)

“Educational”, thanks for correcting me. Please tell me, when do I have to use educative?

“Educational” is much more common in the contexts you are probably thinking. “Educative” is possible, but not as common.

“The internet can be a wonderful educative tool.” “The book has a lot of educative uses.”

It’s a difficult distinction, but know that “educational” is the one that’s more frequently used.

I got it 9 out of 10… Thanks Alex

Great job! Keep studying!

I had had a lots difficult about reported speech in my English course, but this lesson was very good for me. thank you so much!

You’re welcome, Romulo! I’m glad I could help. It’s definitely not an easy subject.

Ohh ,really thxxx teacher i got 7 of 10 q This is a very enjoy

Not bad! Keep studying.

“This is very enjoyable.” :)

3+5 = 8 3 plus 5 (is/are) 8? 3 + 5 (make/makes) 8 Three plus five (equal/equals) eight? 3 and 5 (is/are) 8? Are the verbs (make, equal, and is/are) interchangeable? Does the plural subject take a plural verb in these example?

Some quick answers…

is makes equals is

Use the third person. :) The most common word people use is “is.” After that, “equals.” “Makes” is also used. All three are interchangeable in this context, though.

This lesson was extremely helpful!!! Thank you so much!

You’re very welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks Alex.. I really learned this lesson. Your lessons is very nice.

Thanks for your feedback, rmsouza. I appreciate it!

thanks, i enjoyed it

Thanks for clicking and for studying with EngVid. :)

Excelent class!! I enjoyed

I’m really glad to hear that! Thanks for studying with me and with EngVid.

10 out of 10! Thank You Alex for lessons, I wait for your new video!

Already? Haha. You will have to wait for another two weeks. The next video is VERY different, though. I hope you like it!

Hi Alex. I liked this video a lot! It’s a very useful lesson. Thank you so much. I got 100.

Great job, Julio! Keep it up. :)

Thanks again, Alex, for your straightforward and very useful lessons!

Alex asked us if we liked this lesson and I answered yes and greeted him for one more very useful lesson. :)

Ha! Nice job, Fabio. As always, I appreciate your feedback. I hope the weather’s nice in your part of Brazil this week!

The weather is a little chill and cloudy here in the town I live, Campinas: 13 degrees celsius.

This is much better than the weather of the last saturday, when it was pouring so much that certain neighbourhoods in this city was partially destroyed — something that was never recorded before. Some imagens of this incident can be seen following this link: http://correio.rac.com.br/_conteudo/2016/06/campinas_e_rmc/431949-tempestade-deixa-rastro-de-destruicao-na-cidade.html

Excluding this ocurrence, generally the mild cold weather is welcome and interesting to drink wine and hot tea, and eat some different foods.

I hope you’re all enjoying the spring and the coming summer in Canada!

Hi, Could you please make a video about: (different vs difference) and (Clothes vs Clothing) Because I don’t know what is the different between them :(. and I search about that but I didn’t find the answer which I was looking for,so please help me And Thanx a lot :).

The basic difference between “different” and “difference” is that “different” is an adjective and “difference” is a noun. The word “different” must describe something.

You look different today. (describing YOU) You’re wearing different shoes today. (describing SHOES) I’ve been looking for a different book. (describing BOOK)

Difference must typically be used with “a” or “the” in front of it.

I don’t see the difference. She didn’t even notice the difference. There’s a difference between right and wrong.

I’ll have to think more about “clothes” and “clothing,” but I’d say “clothes” is much more commonly used, and “clothing” just sounds like it’s used in more formal situations.

I like your clothes/clothing. (“clothing” sounds possible but strange in most contexts here)

You can use clothing when talking about “A clothing store” or “the men’s/women’s clothing section” in a store.

“She has a lot of clothes/clothing.” (again, both are possible, but “clothes” just sounds more natural and used)

thank Alex for your lesson!

My pleasure. Thanks for clicking.

Hi Alex! i am loving the lessons. I am a beginner student and these lessons are helping me enough, thanks for that. I have a question about this quiz. In one of the questions, I think that is the question number five, you wrote “stop!” and after was written in the question ” he asked” us.. Would not be “he said us”???

You cannot say “He said us.” The structure is incorrect. Check out my video on “say” and “tell” for the correct form. :)

In this context, you can say…

“He told us to stop.” “He asked us to stop.” “He commanded us to stop.” “He advised us to stop.”

…and more.

Hi Alex, thank you.

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

hi alex , i am an english teacher but i need to enhance my english specially speaking , what should i do please help me please

Thank you for lesson! very easy to understand the rules.

I thank you for this very valuable workThank you

Thanks a lot, Alex. This video is pretty useful for me. Although the one is short, your explanation is so clear and methodical. What a excellent teacher you are. I enjoy watching your videos.

you are perfect

hi Alex, it is first time to watch your video but i was following this site long time, really i liked the way you are teaching and i got 100% in this quiz. good start with you lessons. thanks for giving us your valuable time

Nice job! Keep studying!

Hello Alex,

Thank you for this wonderful lesson and for helping us. Every time you are doing your best. Alex, I have one question in my mind after doing the quiz. In the question number five, you said that we can use “He asked us to stop”. Don’t we use “ask” to report yes/no questions? What I want to say is “Stop.” is not an interrogative sentence, it is an imperative. As we know, while reporting imperatives, we use verbs like “say”, “tell”, “command”, or “advise”. Could you please enlighten me about this? So I can put an end to my doubt. I look forward to your reply.

Kind Regards, Roya.

You’re right. However, a person could think a command is just a request. Think of the person asking “Could you stop, please?” instead, and you have your answer. Good question!

Thank a lot Alex

Thank you!!!! I got it!

I got 7-10 I need to take the class again!

got 10 correct out of 10! lol…

I love this lesson, thanks:)

i can develop my english skills by following your videos. Thank you, all these are so clear and understandable. have you and other teachers in engvid published any video about the word “through” ? if there is, i have been ckecked mostly but i couldn’t find.

Thanks you for this good lesson. I have done the quiz and got 10. I have a question, let me say that someone told me “was there any green pen on your desk yesterday?” In your lesson you changed the tense of verbs to past when you used “if”. so if I had a question which is already in the past. How should I report it? Shall I use the past tense or Past Perfect Tense?

My Regards Muhanand

The question should be “Was there a green pen on your desk yesterday?” When reporting the simple past, you SHOULD go to the past perfect. However, many native speakers just keep it in simple past when reporting, especially if they are reporting shortly after the original conversation.

hellO I would my message finds you well. I would be glad if you could tell me a little about the language psychology at teaching also give me a hand by expressing some english teaching methods,how a teacher/constructor could properly motivate students to talk by the way this is mehdi form iran-tehran thanks indeed I will be waitting for your response

I got 9/10 so thank you so much!

Yes Alex .. its really nice how you explain the construction of reporting form..good luck

i have done the uizz with 10 correct. Thanks for your teach.

Can you say “guitar”? it should be “the guitar” as we have learnt….

I really was wrong in this rule but now I catch the meaning thanks

Hello, what is the difference between TOP, CAP, LID as a noun ? a top of a bottle a cap of a bottle a lid of a bottle regards

Hi Alex thank you for this helpful lesson.

My friend asked if i like reported speech video , my answer is yes !

Hi Alex! Thanks for this lesson.

You got 10 correct out of 10. :D

Thank you Alex I really enjoyed this vidio.

great lesson! thank you very much indeed.

What tense should I use after “if”?

Hi Alex, I really need grammar, your lessons are helping me so much!! I have learnt with you! Thank you!!

Hello Alex, thank you very much for the video lesson. It’s really helpful and useful for me. I took the quiz and got 10 correct out of 10. Kind regards

hi , its impressive how you replied almost all the comments :) . and yes i love this website , so helpful and thank you and all your colleagues for making FREE quality videos to teach and help people round the world learn English easier ;)

i got 9 correct answers,thanks for the lesson.

actully i’m a bit confused about whether we use past partciple of the verb or just the past form in the reported sentence.

Hello alex , Thanks for teaching I really enjoyed this lesson. I got 9 correct out of 10.

Hey Alex. Thanx got 10 out of 10.

Do you understand this video? Alex asked me if I understood that video I got 10, thank you so much.

Thank u so much Alex for such a useful lesson. I got 8 out of 10

Teacher Alex asked me if I enjoyed this video by the end of the quiz and I say I did because I got it all correct. Thanks for the very important grammar topic on this. Take care ;)

My question is … as i know in reported speech the past simple change into past perfect >>> so when the question start with did that means this is past simple??????

Yes I also wonder that… I’ve been using Lingualeo.com to study English and in their reported speech lessons I’ve seen that we should change past tense to past perfect tense, isn’t it correct? Can anybody please help us with this?

Thanks a million!

Perfect, i’ve done 10/10 Thanks Alex

Hi, Alex! Thank you for this video. I have a question. Ronnie said in her video about reported speech that we should use past perfect tense if the quoted speech was in past simple, but there are not such possible answers in the 7th and 10th questions of the Quiz. Thanks a lot.

Excelent topic! Thanks Alex

This lesson is so useful and easy! I love this lesson :D

The last question asks me if I enjoyed the video. I definitely enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I answered wrong because I had thought that I should transfer tense from past to past participle, but the answer with “had enjoy” is not right, so I chose the answer B (present participle). I am sorry for my diffuse explanation. But above all, I enjoyed your lesson, Alex!. Thank you so much.

Hello Teacher! I loved this video!Congratulations! But I have a doubt in the Question 10: Direct speech Simple Past / indirect speech :Past Participle Why it didn’t change to a past participle ?

I did it well at last 10 out of 10.

Great.. Thank you sir…

I do want to practise my english speaking with someone. Is there anyone? My facebook email is : [email protected] My whatsapp number is: +923155240575 , also it’s on imo. It will be my pleasure to speak with you. Thanking you in anticipation.

OH MY GOD… I JUST GOT 10 OF10 THANK YOU ALEX~~~THE LESSON IS SO USEFUL:)))

Great! Scored 10 out 10.

Thanks for you help

I have wrong the 7 and 10 question, because in pass and i put past perfect.

I liked your lesson Alex. Thank you very much!

Dear Alex, you’re great!

Alex asked us if we enjoyed this lesson- We said yes! :) Thanks for another good lesson Alex! Wish u having a superb day!

Thanks Alex Reported Speech it was always a terrible theme for me in my course and now I can review some exercices with you… Tks.

hey Alex. I like your lesson very much. i got 8 out of 10

I got 6 correct out of 10. I’ll try more sir by the way tanks for your this lesson.

i got 90. thank you so much

Thanks a lot Alex, Regarding yes/no question, in reported speech part why you changed the present tense to past tense

Thank you teacher Alex, I enjoyed your video ?

Alex! Sorry, about the second question… I don’t understand one thing! Why did you conjugate the verb “to say” at the third person singular if “The signs” is a plural noun? I can’t really understand! “The signs says… not to park”

10/10. Thank you, Alex! Especially for “David Bowie was an alien who went back to his home planet”)) You’re a great teacher!

Excellent explanation

Thanks I enjoyed it. I got 10/10

Thanks I really enjoyed it

Thanks Alex I’ve got 8 correct!

thanks so much

Thank you so much Alex. I got 7 true out of 10. Hi from Turkey ,to you…

Excellent Lesson.. Thanks Alex..

Thank you very much, I got 100 score. I learned this lesson very well, even though I had not seen previous video. I hope that the following sentence be true.

Alex : “Subscribe this video ” Narges : Alex wanted to know if I subscribed this video .

Alex asked if I subscribe this video .

I DONT KNOW MAY BE ITS COMPLICATED SOMETHING , I CONFUSED WITH THE THREE LESSONS FOR THIS TOPIC (REPORTED SPEECH ) COULD YOU HELP ME PLEASE HOW CAN I STAR WITHOUT CONFUSING ?

Alex hi, may I ask you why in the last question the right answer was not “have enjoyed”? Thank you!

i want to ask you why in the last question the right answer was not “have enjoyed”? Thank you! because the rule is the past tense became past perfect.

hey teacher ALEX i like yuor lesson pretty much. i already clear my reported speech. well done thanks a lot

Hi,Alex. Why did you not suggest variant ”Alex asked if we had enjoyed this video” ? I think it would be more correctly. Or am I wrong ?

Thanks Alex. This is a short but very useful lesson. I got full.

Hi… Alex… Could please tell me.. where is VALEN ?

THANKS A LOT ALEX GOT 9/10 IN YOUR QUIZ AND 19/20 IN MY UNIT TEST

i have answered these question and i have finished 7/10. Thanks you teacher.

Thank you Alex, i had a prefect score.

excellent lesson 100%

Hi Alex! Thanks (9 correct out of 10). ;)

Thank you Alex!

Thanks for your lessons . They are useful! I was clearly explained. =)

I got 10/10… Thank you Alex

Hello Alex, Is it correct to use “would” when reporting a sentence whose content has yet to take place? For example I read on this week’s Economist:”Emmanuel Macron, a former economy minister in France’s Socialist government, announced that he would run for the French presidency next year (2017).” I thought that we can use “would” when something has already happened (or not) and we look back to the past: “I’ll go to the cinema tomorrow” (uttered, say, on Monday) which becomes “He said he would go to the cinema the following day” (uttered on Friday)not knowing if eventually he went or not. But in the economist example the elections haven’t yet taken place. I hope I made myself clear enough. Thanks in advance!

Hey! Ronie tought us if we converting quote in Past Simple into reporting speach we should use Past perfect. So what about question #10, why this rule did not aply here?

it seems that there is a mistake did you know this answer? he asked me if I had known the answer????

in reported speech in the quiz: did you enjoy the video? the answer is : he asked me if I had enjoyed the video and not He asked me if I enjoyed the video

is that correct??

I felt the same way, maybe. You mean the tense should be go back when we form a reported speech, right?

Alex wrote about that above answering the same question:”The question should be “Was there a green pen on your desk yesterday?” When reporting the simple past, you SHOULD go to the past perfect. However, many native speakers just keep it in simple past when reporting, especially if they are reporting shortly after the original conversation.”

thanks SIR ALEX.

Hi Alex my favourite teacher: could you expalin aq little more about the last question #10 ? it’s kinda confusing to me and seemingly other students. what I learned so far from the other engvid’s teachers tells that simple past tense turns to past perfect tense. so: Did you enjoyed? —> you enjoyed —> she had enjoyed

Alex wrote about that above answering the same question:”The question should be “Was there a green pen on your desk yesterday?” When reporting the simple past, you SHOULD go to the past perfect. However, many native speakers just keep it in simple past when reporting, especially if they are reporting shortly after the original conversation.”

Many thanks for your lesson. I enjoyed it very much!

It was a very useful lesson. … Thanks for your help ?

Good learning through great teaching!

Thanks Alex! My result is 100!

Hi! Thank you for all your lessons, Alex! It is easy to understand them.

I have a question – is it possible to say like this: Is she here? -> He wanted to know if she was there?

Is there any difference with your example? Thank you!

I think I seem to become a good student. It is very useful for me to understand. Thank you so much!

Thanks , Alex! You are the best!

That’s right.

Thank you so much for your lesson Alex.

Alex you are really the best young teacher who is can explain all details very very and again very incredible. Wish you were my teacher.You can encourage me when I listen you.

I ve done 9 correct out of 10.))))))))))) thanks Alex

i got 9/10 can u put more videos and quiz

Really really thank you mr Alix I get 7☺️ And I’m happy I did not make mastak I last question ?

10/10 thanks mr Alex for that awesome lesson.

yessss! I am a beginner but I got 10/10! Sir Alex I really enjoyed your video! that was seriously a helpful video for many…. thankyou! :D

That’s great. 9/10 :D

Wow Alex thanks I got 100% !!!!!!!!

thanks a lot Alex. I got 100%

I got 100% it’s incredible.

wow. I got a 9. Thanks, Alex.

Alex I got 10.Your amazing Alex keep it up :D

Hello Alex First of all I really enjoy your lessons and the way you teach. Could you help me. I’m stuck here:

“Did you know about that?” – it looks like past simple

I thought – “She asked me if I HAD KNOWN about that” because past simple has to be transformed into past perfect, but I didn’t find this option. Could you point me out where is my mistake?

Alex, thanks for your lesson. As usual, It is really helpful.

I have a question about the reported speech in the Y/N questions: Could I put “whether” instead of “IF”? Thus, considerating that a Y/N question give two options for answering it.

Thankyou Alex!!!

Thank you Alex!!! Amazing explanation!

In the near past, I didn´t answer correct the reported speech, now I got it.

Hi Alex, I have learned about reported speech before. But I was confused when I watched your video because my teacher said that I needed to change “here” to “there” in reported speech. Can you give a complete explanation? Thank you so much.

10 out of 10 :) a top class teacher !! i wish i had bumped into you long time ago :)

I got 10 correct out of 10! Thanks a bunch Alex!

I would also like to ask you for a brief explanation when to use ” to + infinite verb ” and ” to + ING verb form”. I got a little confused while taking the test. Thank you in advance!

Very simple and easy to understand! 10/10 Thank you:)

it is such an amazing video and site to study english lessons , i got 7 out 10 :( but i didn’t understand the last question which is past simple and the answer is in past perfect isn’t it? i was wondering why is if we enjoyed this video instead if we had enjoyed thus video? many thanks

Thank you for this lesson. I would like to know if i could change ” IF ” for “WHETHER” in the YES/NO questions.

I could answer 10 questions right) Thank you)

I could answer 7/10. I am going to try more.

I studied this long time ago but got 10 out of 10!:) Thank you for lesson, it was very usefull to remember it

Thanks I could answer 7/10 . I need to learn this leasson!

Thanks you so much Alex. The lesson was perfect as always. I could answer 10/10 :)

Nice to meet you from Japan, Alex. I’m new here, just signed up for your lesson.I got 8 of 10 on this test, which makes me happy! Thank you for your video!

I don’t understand the tense of “Yes/No Questions” with reported speech form.

I thought, to answer the question, “Did you know about that?” in the form of reported speech, “She asked me if I had known about it.” was right. However, the collect answer was, “She asked me if I knew about it.”

And the same way, at the last question, I thought, “Alex asked if we had enjoyed this video.” was the way it would be.

I’m not sure if my excuse to come across well, why we can ignore the rule, which what I understood, “to form reported speech, go one tense back from quoted speech form.”

I wish you would answer my question. Though either way, I’m looking forward to your following lessons!!

Congratulations and thank you for your useful, clear and interesting videos. I wonder why you don’t make some about Conditionals.

tnxs sir its really helpful

8 correct out of ten :(

Thank you Alex, the lessons are very useful for me who want to improve an English skill.

thanks teacher Alex i get 10 out 10

Hi Alex, your lessons are very useful and I love your lessons.Thanks

Thanks a lot! I get 10 out of 10, it´s awesome!

Hello alex i wanna thank you for for the useful lessons i get 10/10

Thank You, Alex, for helping me to understand. it is very clear because you have done very well.

I got 10/10

Where can I ask quaestions? ^^

Direct: He said, “I went there last Saturday.” Reported : He said that he had gone there the Saturday before.

Is that correct? I’m not sure how I should change ‘Last Saturday.’

Please give me a correct answer! Thanks a lot

in Quiz “Do not park.” The signs says _ it should be . the signs said ??? thank you Alex

Great lesson, great teacher! ?

good lesson alex

I got 10! Thank you Alex,you are a very good teacher.

Hello alex I have 2 question. Can you plz help in this carefully. I want to know what happend to first condition when we report it. For example if u go out in cold u catch cold.(i mean in this situation it turns to hypothetical ) And tow for fact like canada is beutiful. Thank u very much.

Hey alex in question 10 u asked : did you enjoy the video? It shouldt be. if we had enjoyed the vidoe? Cuz of did? Thanks alex

sir alex i like your teaching method and first time i understood the narration …thank sir alex and all other teacher staff who are doing this effort…

i got 9 out of 10..

Hi! Thanks for such a short and very informative update Sir. Thanks again

Thanks, Alex! You are a talented teacher. I got 10 out of 10.

Thanks Alex!I got 8 out of 10.Very useful!

Yay, I got 10 answers correct. Thanks Alex! You are one of among excellent English teachers in this world.

10/10 finally I’m learning reported speech thanks, teacher!!!

Hi I was wondering to get tested on reported speech lessons and where to click , I can’t found any link!!!!!

Thanks for the test, it was helpful I’ve got 9 of 10

hi alex thanks for your efforts and hard work i realy enjoed learning english with you

i was inquired about the sentence that says is she here? shouldnot we say he wanted to know if she was there (not here )

and second can we say whether insted of if

10 out of 10 :) It was pleasure to study with you :) Br=est regard from Poland

I´m not sure but I think there is a mistake in this exercise, if a yes/no question is in past simple (like number 10) DID YOU ENJOY THIS VIDEO? the answer must be in past perfect, or Am I wrong? let me know please¡ I think the answer is: ALEX ASKED ME IF I HAD ENJOYED THIS VIDEO.

I’m also confused. It really looks like a mistake

You said that in this class you were going to look at two very specify cases of reported speech. you also said to watch other videos before your class or to watch this lesson first.you said to study a lot of English if I wanted to improve my English.finally you said to make sure to use if when the report was a question. thanks your class was fantastic.

Sorry, second answer: “The signs says” – it is a mistake

Thank you Mr. Alex. I really enjoyed this video.

Hello, Alex.I hope you are Ok. Alex, could you tell me the right way to use the following in the indirect speech. ( When her husband came home from work, she said to him, ” Here are the Christmas cards for our friends”… What did she say? Am I right to say? She said that there were the Christmas cards for their friends or it’s better to say She gave the Christmas cards to her husband whithout using the indirect speech… Which is the best way? Thanks for helping)))

Thanks Mr.Alex. We love your English lessons

I did 9 ! Thank you!for this lesson!

Thank you for the lesson, Alex! But I have a question about the quiz. In the last sentence we don’t change the time in the second part. Why? Did you enjoy this video? Alex asked if we enjoyed this video.

Why not “Alex asked if we had enjoyed this video”?

Thank you for helping us! Your tips are great!

Hello, Thank you for your lessons. May I ask you why #10 is using past simple in reported speech (. I thought it had to be past perfect because of past simple in direct speech. The same #7 past simple in direct speech = past simple in reported speech. Thank you

10 out of 10 thank you

Hello, Alex thank you for your lesson. I have a question…. In the last question of the practice could I say “Alex asked if we have enjoyed this” instead of “Alex asked if we enjoyed this video? it would be the same? (In case there is a different could you explain me thar, please) Thank you so much

Quiz 7 and 9. Past simple (did) and present simple (do). Why answer same – knew? Why not knew and had known? Pl let me know. Please.

Quiz 2. The signs says. Why not the signs say (without s)?

I’ve got 8/10???? HOOOW?

Hi Alex, Thanks a lot for your effort and this nice lesson, I enjoyed it and I got a new information, You said if I enjoyed the lesson to tag a like in your You Tube. Sure I will do . BR.

I watched this video twice on May 27, 2021, and I took the quiz after watching it once. I got ten correct out of 10.

Hi dear Alex!Thanks for your amazing videos. I’ve got a question. May told us she wanted to get a flu shot tomorrow. I saw this sentence in my book and I was wondering why the time《tomorrow》is unchanged?? When don’t we change the time and place of indirect speeches? Thank you in advance.

Hello there ) Don`t we change Here into There in the reported speech? “is she here?” – he asked. – He asked if she was there. ??? Thank you for your super videos!

Got a perfect score. Thank you for sharing this video.

Great class dear Alex as always you’re so funny with the options… many greetings from Surco…

I got 10/10. Thank you.

I answer your last question now. Yes, of course!!! I have just done the quiz and I got 7 out of 10. Thanks for this video!

I really understand your teaching

Thanks a lot! Great class!

sir, the question 10 confused me, why don’t we use backshift for it ? it is in past simple and will be transformed to past perfect, was I right ? :( Hope that you will respond me ;((( Thanks

thanks a lot

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Reported Speech / Indirect Speech

Direct speech:

Indirect speech / reported speech:, convert direct speech to indirect speech, indirect speech statements, mixed types, common verbs used with reported speech.

• English Grammar
• Reported Speech

Reported Speech - Definition, Rules and Usage with Examples

Reported speech or indirect speech is the form of speech used to convey what was said by someone at some point of time. This article will help you with all that you need to know about reported speech, its meaning, definition, how and when to use them along with examples. Furthermore, try out the practice questions given to check how far you have understood the topic.

Table of Contents

Definition of reported speech, rules to be followed when using reported speech, table 1 – change of pronouns, table 2 – change of adverbs of place and adverbs of time, table 3 – change of tense, table 4 – change of modal verbs, tips to practise reported speech, examples of reported speech, check your understanding of reported speech, frequently asked questions on reported speech in english, what is reported speech.

Reported speech is the form in which one can convey a message said by oneself or someone else, mostly in the past. It can also be said to be the third person view of what someone has said. In this form of speech, you need not use quotation marks as you are not quoting the exact words spoken by the speaker, but just conveying the message.

Now, take a look at the following dictionary definitions for a clearer idea of what it is.

Reported speech, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, is defined as “a report of what somebody has said that does not use their exact words.” The Collins Dictionary defines reported speech as “speech which tells you what someone said, but does not use the person’s actual words.” According to the Cambridge Dictionary, reported speech is defined as “the act of reporting something that was said, but not using exactly the same words.” The Macmillan Dictionary defines reported speech as “the words that you use to report what someone else has said.”

Reported speech is a little different from direct speech . As it has been discussed already, reported speech is used to tell what someone said and does not use the exact words of the speaker. Take a look at the following rules so that you can make use of reported speech effectively.

• The first thing you have to keep in mind is that you need not use any quotation marks as you are not using the exact words of the speaker.
• You can use the following formula to construct a sentence in the reported speech.
• You can use verbs like said, asked, requested, ordered, complained, exclaimed, screamed, told, etc. If you are just reporting a declarative sentence , you can use verbs like told, said, etc. followed by ‘that’ and end the sentence with a full stop . When you are reporting interrogative sentences, you can use the verbs – enquired, inquired, asked, etc. and remove the question mark . In case you are reporting imperative sentences , you can use verbs like requested, commanded, pleaded, ordered, etc. If you are reporting exclamatory sentences , you can use the verb exclaimed and remove the exclamation mark . Remember that the structure of the sentences also changes accordingly.
• Furthermore, keep in mind that the sentence structure , tense , pronouns , modal verbs , some specific adverbs of place and adverbs of time change when a sentence is transformed into indirect/reported speech.

Transforming Direct Speech into Reported Speech

As discussed earlier, when transforming a sentence from direct speech into reported speech, you will have to change the pronouns, tense and adverbs of time and place used by the speaker. Let us look at the following tables to see how they work.

Here are some tips you can follow to become a pro in using reported speech.

• Select a play, a drama or a short story with dialogues and try transforming the sentences in direct speech into reported speech.
• Write about an incident or speak about a day in your life using reported speech.
• Develop a story by following prompts or on your own using reported speech.

Given below are a few examples to show you how reported speech can be written. Check them out.

• Santana said that she would be auditioning for the lead role in Funny Girl.
• Blaine requested us to help him with the algebraic equations.
• Karishma asked me if I knew where her car keys were.
• The judges announced that the Warblers were the winners of the annual acapella competition.
• Binsha assured that she would reach Bangalore by 8 p.m.
• Kumar said that he had gone to the doctor the previous day.
• Lakshmi asked Teena if she would accompany her to the railway station.
• Jibin told me that he would help me out after lunch.
• The police ordered everyone to leave from the bus stop immediately.
• Rahul said that he was drawing a caricature.

Transform the following sentences into reported speech by making the necessary changes.

1. Rachel said, “I have an interview tomorrow.”

2. Mahesh said, “What is he doing?”

3. Sherly said, “My daughter is playing the lead role in the skit.”

4. Dinesh said, “It is a wonderful movie!”

5. Suresh said, “My son is getting married next month.”

6. Preetha said, “Can you please help me with the invitations?”

7. Anna said, “I look forward to meeting you.”

8. The teacher said, “Make sure you complete the homework before tomorrow.”

9. Sylvester said, “I am not going to cry anymore.”

10. Jade said, “My sister is moving to Los Angeles.”

Now, find out if you have answered all of them correctly.

1. Rachel said that she had an interview the next day.

2. Mahesh asked what he was doing.

3. Sherly said that her daughter was playing the lead role in the skit.

4. Dinesh exclaimed that it was a wonderful movie.

5. Suresh said that his son was getting married the following month.

6. Preetha asked if I could help her with the invitations.

7. Anna said that she looked forward to meeting me.

8. The teacher told us to make sure we completed the homework before the next day.

9. Sylvester said that he was not going to cry anymore.

10. Jade said that his sister was moving to Los Angeles.

What is reported speech?

What is the definition of reported speech.

Reported speech, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, is defined as “a report of what somebody has said that does not use their exact words.” The Collins Dictionary defines reported speech as “speech which tells you what someone said, but does not use the person’s actual words.” According to the Cambridge Dictionary, reported speech is defined as “the act of reporting something that was said, but not using exactly the same words.” The Macmillan Dictionary defines reported speech as “the words that you use to report what someone else has said.”

What is the formula of reported speech?

You can use the following formula to construct a sentence in the reported speech. Subject said that (report whatever the speaker said)

Give some examples of reported speech.

Given below are a few examples to show you how reported speech can be written.

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What is Direct and Indirect Speech? with Examples

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Olivia Drake

Direct and indirect speech are two different ways of reporting spoken or written language. Let’s delve into the details and provide some examples.

Direct Speech

Direct speech refers to the exact words someone said, often (but not always) enclosed in quotation marks. It is also known as quoted speech or direct discourse. This method is useful when you want to convey someone’s words verbatim.

For example:

Sarah said, “I’m feeling very happy today.””It’s a beautiful day,” commented John.In these examples, the words within the quotation marks are exactly what the speaker said.

Indirect Speech

Indirect speech, also known as reported speech or indirect discourse, is when you report what someone said, but not in their exact words. You’re paraphrasing their words. When you use indirect speech, you don’t use quotation marks.

Sarah said that she was feeling very happy that day.John commented that it was a beautiful day.In these examples, you’re reporting the essence of what the speaker said, but not using their exact words.

It’s also worth noting that in indirect speech, verb tenses, pronouns, and words expressing time and place may need to change to reflect the shift in perspective.

Here is an example:

Direct speech:  He said, “I am going to the store now.” Indirect speech:  He said that he was going to the store then.

Notice how “am” changed to “was” and “now” changed to “then”. This is because the time and context have shifted from when the speaker originally spoke to when the speaker’s words were reported.

Click here if you want to read more about direct and indirect speech.

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English Notes

English notes latest questions, ram said to me, “did you do your homework” change into indirect speech.

Indirect Speech: Ram asked me if I had done  my homework.

Explanation: When the reporting verb is in the past (said) and the direct speech is in the past indefinite tense, then the indirect (reported) speech will change into the past perfect tense.

Past Indefinite Tense > Past Perfect Tense. And if the sentence is interrogative, we use the reporting verbs – asked, enquired, etc.

Note: While answering to “yes or no questions”, we use if or whether.

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Reported Speech

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Transform the following from direct to reported speech: The teacher said to me, "Do your homework." The teacher said to me to do my homework. The teacher said to me do your homework. The teacher told me to do your homework. The teacher told me to do my homework.

Indirect speech is used to report something in our own words. in case of order, the pattern for converting direct speech to reported speech is verb + indirect object + to-clause. the indirect object is the person spoken to. verbs in case of order can be command, order, warn. hence, option b is the correct answer..

[077] - REPORTED SPEECH 3 (Câu 50) - Bộ bài tập theo từng câu hỏi bám sát cấu trúc đề minh họa 2024

Họ tên: hãy nhập tên để nhận kết quả làm bài, mark the letter a, b, c, or d on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that is closest in meaning to each of the following questions., picture dictionary.

Góp ý - Báo lỗi

Tổng hợp bài tập, luyện nhớ từ vựng lớp 1-12, bài học từ vựng trên yhw.

Quý thầy cô cũng có thể tự mình tạo các bài tập trắc nghiệm tương tự và gửi cho học sinh làm bài. Vui lòng xem hướng dẫn tại đây:

• Group Facebook cập nhật các bài trắc nghiệm tiếng Anh: fb.com/groups/bestflashcard
• Video hướng dẫn: YouTube

Grammar Challenge: Present And Past Tense Trivia

Mark: what does mack do john: he's a teacher. he __________ in the junior high school., i always ……………..my car twice a week.                , john:  when do you get up jim:  i……………. at  6 o’clock in the morning., i _______ a bike on the last weekend.            , joy:  what did you do last weekend jane:  ____________________               , k: what time did you get up this morning l:  i _________ up at half-past six.          , fern:  what does jenny normally do in her free time betty: __________________________________.                                           , i and my friend ……………..our homework every day.                  , we are actors, we ………………..in movies.  , joy:  what ……………….. pam ……………. tim:  she is a student..

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The Kicker’s Speech

This is going to be a long post.  My goal is to take the entirety of Kansas City Chief’s kicker Harrison Butker’s commencement speech and review it.

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2024, I would like to start off by congratulating all of you for successfully making it to this achievement today. I’m sure your high school graduation was not what you had imagined and most likely neither was your first couple years of college.

The only thing I remember from my commencement address is that the speaker told us we would never remember him.  I don’t, but I recall the quip.  Covid-19’s effects and impacts still linger and those kids who missed their graduation, or my daughter who spent a year going to college online, missing out on having a roommate she actually liked, is still a problem.

By making it to this moment through all the adversity thrown your way from COVID, I hope you learned the important lessons that suffering in this life is only temporary. As a group you witnessed firsthand how bad leaders who don’t stay in their lane can have a negative impact on society. It is through this lens that I want to take stock of how we got to where we are and where we want to go as citizens, and yes, as Catholics.

This is an important part of Mr. Butker’s speech.  He is setting the framework for what he intends to discuss and why.  Suffering is temporary.  As a person who suffers from depression and fights it constantly, that is a difficult lesson to keep in mind. He is alluding to the mistakes that leaders can and will make and how we, as citizens, as members of the various communities that these leaders run, can and should respond. Not just as people, but as Catholics.

One last thing before I begin: I want to be sure to thank president Minns and the board for their invitation to speak. When President Minnis first reached out a couple of months ago I had originally said no. You see, last year I gave the commencement address at my Alma Mater Georgia Tech and I felt that one graduation speech was more than enough, especially for someone who isn’t a professional speaker. But of course president Minnis used his gift of persuasion and spoke to the many challenges you all faced throughout the COVID fiasco and how you missed out on so many milestones the rest of us older people have taken for granted.

Mr. Butker isn’t a professional speaker, he is a professional football player.  This is important to be mindful of during his speech. He explains why he was invited in the first place, and how his personal experience with graduation is so at variance with the students before him.

While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years it is not unique. Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.

Now we start to get to some of the controversial parts of his speech. From a Catholic point of view, there have been a series of bad policies and bad leadership that led to a loss of respect for human life. It is the position of the Church that life is to be respected from conception to its natural end.  Opposition to abortion makes sense in this respect, as does euthanasia; but why does he mention IVF and surrogacy?  The issue with IVF comes from the fact that when performing IVF, multiple embryos are fertilized and the most promising one is implanted, the rest are frozen.

Often that first implantation does not work, so another is defrosted and they attempt it again.  Usually, the process works before the fertilized embryos are exhausted. To many people who believe that these are human lives, to then destroy those embryos is akin to abortion. Good Catholics disagree on some of these topics, but most respect the views held by others. Still, many see IVF as a Good Thing™ and perhaps do not understand the issues that devout Catholics have with the process. Surrogacy is another topic that Catholics may hold varying opinions on, but the Church’s teachings on it have been fairly consistent.  The Church views it as a violation of natural law and Pope Francis further sees it as an abuse of human rights.

Mr. Butker finishes this passage with a vague observation that there are other cultural values that are promoted by the media that are destructive to our culture.  He doesn’t say which ones, but I would point to the “hook-up” culture that predominates with younger people, which suggests that sex is without any emotional complications as an example.

Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice. He is not alone. From the man behind the COVID lockdowns to the people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America, they all have a glaring thing in common: They are Catholic. This is an important reminder that being Catholic alone doesn’t cut it.

When I saw President Biden make the sign of the cross at an abortion event, I was deeply disturbed. My thoughts were the same as Mr. Butker’s. President Biden’s support for abortion, for any reason, at any time, is so at odds with the Church’s teachings that many faithful Catholics wonder why he has not been disciplined by his (or any) Bishop. He then mentions Tony Fauci, lockdowns, and alludes to other Catholics who have been promoting transgender ideologies as being dangerously deluded.  This is another area where good Catholics may disagree with each other.  The Church tells us to love each other and not look down on anyone. However, debate occurs when the method of treating an illness such as gender dysphoria. Mr. Butker’s views are his own, and while I agree with them (mostly) on these topics, not all Catholics will.

His larger point is to say that just being a Catholic does not automatically make one “right” on any topic, especially political ones. Catholicism and the politics of either party do not align perfectly, and in some ways not even closely.  One simple example can be found in the respect for life.  The Church emphatically opposes abortion, the Democratic Party supports it.  The Church also opposes the death penalty, but the GOP supports it.  There is no Catholic party, and there shouldn’t be, if only because no religion is capable of making the decisions to judge a pluralistic society. Mr. Butker’s point though, is reminding his young audience that following the teachings of Christ means that we may not be able to align ourselves with every policy of one of our political parties.  That our responsibility is to God and not to politics.  When this is forgotten, we see things like a self-described Catholic president crossing himself at an abortion event.

These are the sorts of things we are told in polite society to not bring up. You know, the difficult and unpleasant things. But if we are going to be men and women for this time in history we need to stop pretending that the “Church of nice” is a winning proposition. We must always speak and act in charity but never mistake charity for cowardice. It is safe to say that over the past few years I’ve gained quite the reputation for speaking my mind. I never envisioned myself nor wanted to have this sort of a platform but God has given it to me so I have no other choice but to embrace it and preach more hard truths about accepting your lane and staying in it.

If you saw the movie Dogma by Kevin Smith, the irreverent comedy that took aim at some rather obscure Catholic beliefs, then you may remember “Buddy Jesus.”  In the movie Buddy Jesus is the new, hip savior designed to bring more people to the Church. This is what I think of when he talks about the “Church of Nice.”  ( Michael Voris uses this phrase in his writings .) It’s been defined as “Catholic belief in deference to church hierarchy and a willingness to incorporate those who sometimes fall short of its teachings, particularly regarding sexual morality.”   There is a larger aspect of this rejection of “nice” from the sexual abuse scandals of the Church.

The term “ Lavender Mafia ” is also used to describe the seemingly large number of priests who are homosexuals, and the evidence that some — perhaps many of them — are not celibate, and that higher-level Bishops and Cardinals use a form of sexual harassment, permitting the trading of sexual favors for promotions. More and more rank-and-file Catholics want to see real and substantive reforms to what is perceived as the corruption of the clergy by a policy of encouraging homosexual men to enter the clergy, where they would be celibate (and thus not sin), but which has led to the abuse of children, and what appears to be a fairly rampant level of open homosexuality around the world.  Mr. Butker doesn’t mention this specifically, but this is what sprang to mind when I listened to this part of his speech.

As members of the church founded by Jesus Christ, it is our duty and ultimately privilege to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic. Don’t be mistaken: even within the church, people in polite Catholic circles will try to persuade you to remain silent. There even was an award-winning film called “Silence” made by a fellow Catholic wherein one of the main characters, a Jesuit priest, abandoned the church, and as an apostate, when he died is seen grasping a crucifix quiet and unknown to anyone but God. As a friend of Benedictine College, his Excellency Bishop Robert Barron said in his review of the film it was exactly what the cultural elite want to see in Christianity: Private, hidden away and harmless.

This view is one that many Christians can relate to.  The Left wants all religion, except for the worship of the State, to be gone from any public space. For them, religion is something that ought to be left in the home or the church/synagogue, and should never be seen outside of those places. Yet, that is not what God calls on us to do. God plainly tells us not to hide our light under a bushel basket.  We live in a world of sin and being a beacon of righteousness is part of being a Catholic.  After all, as the hymn goes: “They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love.  They will know we are Christians by our love.”  I haven’t seen the movie Silence, and I doubt that I will, but I suspect that Bishop Barron nailed it in his review.

  Our Catholic faith has always been countercultural. Our Lord along with countless followers were all put to death for their adherence to her teachings. The world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves whenever they go against the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion. We fear speaking truth because now unfortunately truth is in the minority. Congress just passed a bill where stating something as basic as the Biblical teaching of who killed Jesus could land you in jail.

I suspect that few readers of this site would debate the idea that truth is an endangered species. It is subject to the whims of the current political ideology, often depending on whether it supports or hurts the Democratic or Progressive agenda. If a person tells you that they are a woman, then we must call them that; treat them like that; allow them into women’s spaces; and allow them to compete in women’s sports.  To deny “their truth” is a great social sin and can cost you a job, family, or friends.  The State can take your children away from you should you deny them “gender-affirming care.”

And then we have the new anti-Semitism, bill where the GOP was perhaps too clever.  To say that the Jews killed Christ is often a “blood libel.” That is anti-Semitic, but at the same time, it was Caiphas, the high priests, and the Elders of the Jews who conspired to have Christ killed. I have not read the legislation, and, in theory, I support the concept, but I also recognize the ways it could be abused.

But make no mistake, before we even attempt to fix any of the issues plaguing society we must first get our own house in order, and it starts with our leaders. The bishops and priests appointed by God as our spiritual fathers must be rightly ordered. There is not enough time today for me to list all the stories of priests and bishops misleading their flocks, but none of us can blame ignorance anymore and just blindly proclaim that that’s what father said. Because sadly many priests we are looking to for leadership are the same ones who prioritize their hobbies or even photos with their dogs in matching outfits for the parish directory. It’s easy for us lay men and women to think that in order for us to be holy, that we must be active in our parish and try to fix it. Yes, we absolutely should be involved in supporting our parishes, but we cannot be the source for our parish priests to lean on to help with their problems just as we look at the relationship between a father and his son, so too should we look at the relationship between a priest and his people. It would not be appropriate for me to always be looking to my son for help when it is my job as his father to lead him.

Getting our own house in order is akin to Jesus telling the Pharisees, “The  sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.”   (John 8:7.)  I suspect that Mr. Butker is truly talking about cleaning up the Church as opposed to our personal houses.  Once again, the “Church of Nice” is partially to blame.  Can a priest take Instagram photos with their dog?  I’d say yes, but when that seems to be their focus as opposed to tending to their flock then it is a problem, and one that their Bishop should address.  Part of his point is that while laypeople should be involved in parish volunteering and assistance, laypeople are not spiritual leaders.  That is not their vocation.  The priests are charged by the Church and by God to lead their parishes and that must be their focus. This doesn’t mean that they cannot have hobbies, but those, much like the vocation of being a parent or a religious, are secondary.  They should never become a distraction.  He also warns that there is a trap where the priest leans on their laypeople to minister, which is akin to allowing the child to lead a family as opposed to the father.

St. Josemaria Escriva states that priests are ordained to serve and should not yield to temptation to imitate lay people but to be priests, through and through. Tragically, so many priests revolve much of their happiness from the adulation they receive from their parishioners, and in searching for this, they let their guard down and become overly familiar. This undue familiarity will prove to be problematic every time, because as my teammate’s girlfriend says “familiarity breeds contempt.” St Josemaria continues that some want to see the priest as just another man. That is not so they want to find in the priests those virtues proper to every Christian and indeed every honorable man: understanding, justice, a life of work, priestly work in this instance, and good manners. It is not prudent as the laity for us to consume ourselves in becoming amateur theologians so that we can decipher this or that theological teaching unless of course you are a theology major. We must be intentional with our focus on our state in life and our own vocation, and for most of us, that’s as married men and women.

This section earned Mr. Butker more opprobrium than others simply because he alluded to Taylor Swift.  Most mentions of it try to link his quoting of a minor song lyric (which isn’t original to her) to his words later about the vocation of motherhood and its importance.  I have not read St. Josemaria Escriva, but the thoughts align with my understanding of the vocation of the priesthood.  A priest isn’t supposed to chase adulation and approval. Far from it.  They must be able to tell their parishioners the hard truths that they don’t want to hear.  Just as a Dad has to be the Father to their children more than their friend, a priest who is too familiar runs the risk of temporizing their messages for fear of losing that friendship/adulation.

The Catholic Church is not an organization that looks to the personal interpretation of the scriptures as the basis of doctrine and dogma, but rather she has an entire collection of theologians that do just that.  It makes the Church slow to change but sure in its direction.  While Catholics are also taught to question and learn, the deep theological work is not the place for the layperson.  Yes, we can read the Papal Encyclicals (and we should), but we should remember that we, as laypeople, aren’t the ones that explain that to others, or set the Doctrine of the Church.

Still we have so many great resources at our fingertips that it doesn’t take long to find traditional and timeless teachings that haven’t been ambiguously rewarded for our times. Plus, there are still many good and holy priests and it’s up to us to seek them out. The chaos of the world is unfortunately reflected in the chaos in our parishes and sadly in our cathedrals, too. As we saw during the pandemic, too many Bishops were not leaders at all. They were motivated by fear: fear of being sued, fear of being removed, fear of being disliked. They showed by their actions, intentional or unintentional, that the sacraments don’t actually matter. Because of this countless people died alone, without access to the sacraments, and it’s a tragedy we must never forget.

Here Mr. Butker looks at the results of some of the overly familiar priests and Bishops who care more for being liked — whether by parishioners or by political allies — than for tending to their flocks. The result was exactly what Mr. Butker says: Priests didn’t tend to their sick and dying.  They closed down the churches and denied the sacraments.

As Catholics, we can look to so many examples of heroic shepherds who gave their lives for their people, and ultimately, the church. We cannot buy into the lie that the things we experienced during COVID were appropriate. Over the centuries there have been great wars, great famines, and yes, even great diseases, all that came with a level of lethality and danger. But in each of those examples, church leaders leaned into their vocations, and ensured that their people received the sacraments. Great saints like St. Damien of Molokai, who knew the dangers of his ministry, stayed for 11 years as a spiritual leader to the leper colonies of Hawaii. His heroism is looked at today as something set apart and unique, when ideally, it should not be unique at all. For as a father loves his child, so a shepherd should love his spiritual children, too.

Some examples, including from the Covid-19 pandemic, of priests who continued to minster to their flocks despite the risks:

• A group of Boston priests who went to hospitals and nursing homes to anoint the sick in May of 2020.
• Rev. Patrick Ryan died in 1898 tending to the sick in a Cholera epidemic in Chattanooga.
• Priests who ministered to the sick during the Black Death.
• St. Godeberta of Noyon, St. Roch, St. Charles Borrome, St. Henry Morse, St. Virginia Centurione Bracelli, Bl. Peter Donders, St. Jose Brochero, St. Marianne Cope

There are more that can be found.  To me, abandoning one’s flock in a pandemic is like a parent abandoning their children.  Of course, the State forced parents to do just that… though the reverse often occurred, as children and grandchildren were barred from being with their parents in their last hours.  Having recently been through hospice with my mother-in-law, I can say this was unnecessary and cruel. That it has been tossed down the oubliette makes it even worse.

  That goes even more so for our bishops. These men who are present day apostles, our bishops once had adoring crowds of people kissing their rings and taking in their every word, but now relegate themselves to a position of inconsequential existence. Now, when a bishop of a diocese or the Bishops Conference as a whole puts out an important document on this matter, nobody even takes a moment to read it, let alone follow it. No. Today, our shepherds are far more concerned with keeping the doors open to the Chancery than they are saying that difficult stuff out loud. It seems that the only time you hear from your bishops is when it’s time for the annual appeal. Whereas we need our bishops to be vocal about the teachings of the Church, setting aside their own personal comfort and embracing their cross. Our bishops are not politicians, but shepherds. So instead of fitting in the world by going along to get along, they too need to stay in their lane and lead.

Hearkening back to the “Church of Nice,” Mr. Butker aims at the managers of the Church, the Bishops, and how they are absent from the hard discussions that make up so much of their role. Yes, they have to take care of the physical plant, but they are more entrusted with shepherding the various dioceses so that every Catholic is given the necessary guidance to reach heaven.

This brings us to an area where Catholics disagree somewhat. We are called to welcome all, especially the sinners to the Church and to Christ. However, that does not mean that we accept their sins.  The “deal,” if you will, is that they are there to grow closer to Christ and stop sinning.  Every one of us is a sinner, so we all want to be welcome.  Are some sins worse than others?  For Catholics, yes.  Some are venial sins that do not damn one’s soul to hell but will require time spent in purgatory.  Other sins, mortal ones, must be forgiven through the sacrament of reconciliation, else the soul is damned.  St. Thomas Aquinas set forth three tests for a sin to be mortal.

• Did the act involve a grave matter?
• Was the act committed with full knowledge of the wrongdoing that had been done in the act?
• Was the act done with full consent of the will?

As my childhood priest put it,  “Was it wrong? Did you know it was wrong? Did you do it anyway?” It can be complex.  Hating someone is a sin.  Hating them and wishing evil to befall them is a grave matter.  Thus, depending on the circumstances, hatred may be venial or mortal.  Reconciliation as a sacrament is how Catholics are forgiven their sins by a priest acting as Christ.  The priest sets the penance required for the sin based on their view of the tripartite test.

It is not our place as a laypersons to judge another’s sin or its severity, it is the priest’s. At the same time, they are charged with the spiritual health of their entire flock, and while they and we must welcome the sinners into the Church, they must also guard their flocks from potential corruption from the unrepentant sinner.  This is often the responsibility of the Bishops, to guide the priests with their greater experience.  That is what Mr. Butker means when he says they need to stay in their lanes.  Does this make Mr. Butker right?  No.  In some ways, he is showing hubris in his remarks and judging… but, at the same time, he is observing Bishops giving guidance that puts a welcoming message ahead of spiritual guidance.  I see his point, even if he may be overly judgmental.

I say all of this not from a place of anger as we get the leaders we deserve. But this does make me reflect on staying in my lane and focusing on my own vocation, and how I can be a better father and husband and live in the world, but not be of it. Focusing on my vocation while praying and fasting for these men will do more for the church than me complaining about our leaders. Because there seems to be so much confusion coming from our leaders. There needs to be concrete examples for people to look to, and places like Benedictine, a little Kansas college built high on a bluff above the Missouri River, are showing the world how an ordered Christ-centered existence is the recipe for success. You need to look no further than the examples all around this campus, where over the past 20 years enrollment has doubled, and construction and revitalization are a constant part of life and people, the students, the faculty and staff are thriving. This didn’t happen by chance. In a deliberate movement to embrace traditional Catholic values, Benedictine has gone from just another liberal arts school with nothing to set it apart to a thriving beacon of light and a reminder to us all that when you embrace tradition, success, worldly and spiritual will follow. I am certain the reporters at the AP could not have imagined that their attempt to rebuke and embarrass places and people like those here at Benedictine wouldn’t be met with anger, but instead with excitement and pride. Not the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it. But the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the Holy Ghost to glorify Him.

Here is part of his guidance: Prayer and fasting for Catholic leaders will do more than complaining.  Laypeople also need to stay in their lanes and focus on their vocations as religious or parents.  The example of places like Benedictine can show how staying ordered in a Catholic sense can prosper even in our disorganized world.  People WANT order and security, after all, and there is a belief amongst conservative Catholics that the strong order from the Tridentine mass, from preaching and living the Doctrine of the Church, will lead to greater numbers of the faithful. There is evidence that they are correct, and not just in Catholicism.

Here is another one of his lines that drew great opprobrium… that the pride celebrated in June is the deadly sin of hubris, as opposed to a justified and God-centered pride that comes from service God’s will on earth.  Is it really so surprising that the actions of Pride (or any of the other dozens of days dedicated to the LGBTIA2S+ throng) draw the ire of a faithful Catholic?  Is celebrating what the Church calls a sin a proper way to act in God’s name?  Should we welcome someone who celebrates Pride into the Church?  Yes. And hopefully as we all try to sin no more, they will as well.  Is there a danger if a priest, Bishop, Cardinal, or Pontiff appears to normalize such behaviors and imply that they should not be condemned?  There certainly is.  Similarly, the church that accepts divorcees, or unmarried couples that live together can send the wrong message that such behavior is Godly.

  Reading that article now shared all over the world, we see that in the complete surrender of self and a turning towards Christ, you will find happiness. Right here in a little town in Kansas, we find many inspiring lay people using their talents. President Minnis, Dr. Swofford and Dr. Zimmer are a few great examples right here on this very campus that will keep the light of Christ burning bright for generations to come. Being locked in with your vocation and staying in your lane is going to be the surest way for you to find true happiness and peace in this life. It is essential that we focus on our own state in life, whether that be as a layperson or priests, or religious.

In the end, this paragraph is the crux of Mr. Butker’s message.  The vocations that we take on in this world guide us in our actions.  A layperson who marries and has children isn’t the same as a religious figure who takes on a vow of celibacy, or a priest who does the same.  But, since a vocation is a calling, leaning into that vocation is very gratifying.  I find this to be true in my career.  I love what I do, and it makes going to work easy.  I also love being a Father, and much like in my career, the more I devote to that vocation, the more fulfilling it is.

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2024, you are sitting at the edge of the rest of your lives. Each of you has the potential to leave a legacy that transcends yourselves and this era of human existence. In the small ways by living out your vocation, you will ensure that God’s Church continues and the world is enlightened by your example. For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you, how many of you are sitting here now about to cross the stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you’re going to get in your career. Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world. But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.

This is likely the portion of this speech that has been most often misquoted and misunderstood;  this is where the attacks of misogyny are coming from, despite the fact near-inversion of Mr. Butker’s point. Let’s look in detail at what he says here. From the beginning to the “I want to speak directly” portion, he first congratulates all of the graduates and reminds them that living their vocation will ensure the success of God’s Church on Earth.  To the women, he further congratulates them on their accomplishments, and tells them that they should be proud of their achievements.  Few could quibble with any of those words, though I suspect that some, looking for offense, could claim that he is condescending.

The next portion is where he chooses to speak to the women in the audience, and explains why.  They have been told diabolical lies.  What are those lies?  Well, in short, that men and women are the same.  That a woman should feel that her career is more important than a family. That to desire to raise a family, to be a homemaker, is a betrayal of being a woman.  That they need a man as much as a fish needs a bicycle.

Those are the truths of modern feminism in the third and fourth waves.  But are they true?  I do not think so.  That is not to say that they are entirely wrong, but not the Truth either.  It is also true that while this path might work for some, for a devout Catholic it would not, or should not, because it calls them away from their vocation as a layperson.  It means that they will strive for meaning and happiness in ways that lead them further from God, not closer.  This is not an issue exclusive to females.  It is possible for men to be enraptured with their careers and forsake their families and their obligations as fathers.  Mr. Butker will address that in a minute and we will talk more then.  I have a friend on Facebook who had this comment:

She claims that she listened to the entire speech, but I have a hard time believing that based on her comments.  The crux of his speech is about how important a vocation is, and how leaning into that vocation leads to true happiness. He never tells them that they will not have careers, nor that they shouldn’t.  He makes a guess (perhaps incorrectly) that most are more excited about having kids than their careers.  He bases this on his experience with his wife, whom he recounts as saying that her life truly began when she dedicated herself to her vocation as a wife and mother. To call this misogynistic is mistaken.  It is willfully misinterpreting what he said with a desire to find offense in his words. Recall that earlier in the speech, he points out that just being a Catholic isn’t enough. My friend points to her Catholicism as an appeal to authority, to discount a straw man she’s created, and then makes an ad hominem attack.  That is three logical fallacies in one Facebook comment.  I’d call that a record, but I’ve seen too many Facebook comments.

I’m on this stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me. But it cannot be overstated, that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker. She’s a primary educator to our children. She’s the one who ensures I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father. She is the person that knows me best at my core. And it is through our marriage that Lord willing, we will both attain salvation. I say all of this to you because I’ve seen it firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God’s will in their life. Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true. But if you ask her today, if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud without hesitation and say, “heck no.”

This section of the speech ought to be listened to as opposed to read.  Here Mr. Butker is overcome with emotion recounting the story of how he and his wife met in band class in middle school, adding that he credits her with being pivotal to his success.  I feel similarly about my wife.  I could not do what I do without her support.  Much like Isobel Butker has done for Mr. Butker, she keeps me honest; though I sometimes bridle at her requests. Her desire is to raise our children and ensure their success.  As I sit writing this it is the day before my son’s last day of high school. Given his disabilities (ASD, ADHD, Dysgraphia, Developmental Coordination Disorder, Anxiety, etc.), getting him to this point has been anything but easy.  She has been crucial to his success, monitoring him closely to get him to turn in work and staying on top of his classes.  Along the way, from her intense research into our son’s condition, she discovered that she also is Autistic.

Absent her support — and we almost lost her in 2010 in an auto accident — I would have struggled terribly.  I certainly would not have been able to work as I have in my career, and thus provide us with income.  We would have survived, but it would have been much more difficult.  She warned me that many parents of Autistic children divorce because of how hard it is to raise them, but we have been able to stay together and still love each other deeply.  She hates the term “help-mate”, but what she truly is to me is my partner.  Together we are stronger and better than we are individually.  I think the Butkers are the same.  Good marriages are like that.  Both of us come from strong marriages.  My parents were together for 68 years when my Mom passed in ’19.  My wife’s parents were married for 66 years when her Mom passed in March.  My brothers have both been married for 38 and 42 years respectively.

Each has been a partnership where both husband and wife brought value to the union.  In a way, this is a hidden message in Mr. Butker’s speech.  Marriages are hard work, and only prosper when both partners lean into the marriage and work towards being more together than the two could be as individuals.  If the marriage is about you being happy, then it might not work out because you won’t always be happy, and your partner won’t either.  They, and you, will change over time, and if you don’t allow for that change, and accept it, then you won’t stay married.  The upside of that attitude is that you get to fall in love with each other multiple times over your lives.  

As a man who gets a lot of praise and has been given a platform to speak to audiences like this one today, I pray that I always use my voice for God and not for myself. Everything I am saying to you is not from a place of wisdom, but rather a place of experience. I am hopeful that these words will be seen as those from a man not much older than you who feels it is imperative that this class, this generation, and this time in our society must stop pretending that the things we see around us are normal. Heterodox ideas abound, even within Catholic circles. Let’s be honest, there is nothing good about playing God with having children, whether that be your ideal number or the perfect time to conceive. No matter how you spin it, there is nothing natural about Catholic birth control. It is only in the past few years that I have grown encouraged to speak more boldly and directly, because as I mentioned earlier, I have leaned into my vocation as a husband and father and as a man.

Here we are reminded of Lincoln’s great quote: “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” Mr. Butker is telling us this because these are his lived experiences.  He is not necessarily wise, but as the Farmer’s Insurance guys says, “We’ve seen a few things.” This is an important time in our history.  Perhaps we are even at the end of the American experiment.  But if we are not, or if we hope shape what comes next, we must live as God intends.

To affirm the truth of natural law is imperative. It is a Catholic position that birth control is a sin because it denies the inherent sanctity of marriage and intimacy with its potential for procreation.  This is a troubling topic for American and European Catholics as advanced information-age societies see children as a burden because of the cost of raising them.  Birth control is an issue that most non-Catholics don’t “get,” and many Catholics engage in cafeteria-style Catholicism on the matter.  I’ll admit that, in my misspent youth, I chose to ignore this aspect of the Church’s teachings.  In some ways being married to a non-Catholic makes easier, but in other ways more difficult.  It is something that I think about from time to time and one day, hopefully, I will meet God and face His judgment.

  To the gentleman here today, part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture. And when that is absent disorder, dysfunction and chaos set in this absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation. Other countries do not have nearly the same absentee father rates as we find here in the US. And a correlation can be made in their drastically lower violence rates as well. Be unapologetic in your masculinity. Fight against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy. You might have a talent that you don’t necessarily enjoy. But if it glorifies God, maybe you should lean into that over something that you might think suits you better. I speak from experience as an introvert who now finds myself as an amateur public speaker, and an entrepreneur, something I never thought I’d be when I received my industrial engineering degree.

This is the part of Mr. Butker’s speech that the feminists who were so angry about his earlier statements appear to ignore.  Here he is throwing down the gauntlet to the men in the audience.  Men are crucial in the family, and those that say they are not are trucking in diabolical lies.  On the Flagship Podcast, just following the week of this speech, @peterrobinson related a story about a prison ministry where the minister had the idea to have his roughly-500 inmates send Mother’s Day cards to their moms.  Every one of them, whose mother was still living, sent a card.  It went so well that he decided to do the same for Father’s Day.  Alas, not a single one knew or cared to know enough about their dads to send a card.  The plural of anecdotes is not data, but we do know that families that lack fathers are growing, and that they, especially in Black families, tend to lead to higher rates of criminal activity, which leads to more fatherlessness.

Does this lead to more violence?  Do other countries have a lower rate of fatherlessness, and is there a correlation?  Mr. Butker says so, and while I have not researched it… it rings true. We have an epidemic of violence in the US.  We claim it is gun violence, but guns are not the source.  Gangs are a big part, and those often spring up in communities where father figure’s are scarce.  The Bloods, the Crips, MS-13, and others are not the Mafia of the early-to-mid 20th century, when the gangs were families in name and in truth.  They are surrogates for the families that these young men are lacking.  We all know that when people finish school first, get married second, and have kids third, they are more likely to be stable financially and culturally.  We know that a two-parent home creates the best opportunity for a good outcome for children.  We know these things (and more) and yet… our culture seems determined to destroy the two-parent home.  If one believes in the active work of evil in the world… this would seem to be an example.

To fight this evil requires hard choices.  It means that we might not get to do what we want to do, but instead what we have to do.  Recently my family watched the finale of the TV show Young Sheldon .  We all knew that George would die.  We knew this from the TV show that preceded Young Sheldon ( The Big Bang Theory ).  When the second-to-last show ended, and the knock at the door came, I was in tears because I knew what was about to happen, and it hurt so much.  This was due to the great storytelling and great acting, but it was also because of the type of dad that George was.

As an example, and to highlight why I bring this up: George was a football coach.  HJe coached the high school team that Sheldon and his older son Georgie attended.  His dream had always been to coach for a college team.  More money, if less stability, and a higher level of competition.  He got an offer to coach for a college in Oklahoma (I forget which one) and the family is universally against it.  His younger kids (Sheldon and Missy) are upset. (Sheldon because he hates change, and Missy because she would lose her friends.) His older son doesn’t want to change high schools; his wife likes their church, enjoys living across the street from her mom, and doesn’t want to upset the kids.  George has to make a very tough decision. He ultimately chooses to not take the dream job and stays on coaching high school in sleepy Medford, TX.  To make the series end even tougher, right as Sheldon is going off to grad school, and Missy to High School, he gets an offer to coach at Rice in Houston.  He and Mary have decided that he will take the dream job that was delayed but not lost.  Alas, he never gets that opportunity.

Mr. Burker is encouraging us to be like George Cooper.  To lean into being the father, knowing that it will mean sacrifice, but that, in the end, it will be worth more than we can ever know. Raising solid children into good adults is one of the highest callings that we can aspire to.  That takes leadership and a partnership.  It means that one person might need to give up on the career for a while, possibly forever.  That doesn’t have to be the mom but, even if it will be, the dad is going to make sacrifices as well.  It might mean being on the road when a recital or concert happens.  It might mean long days working followed by help with homework, or fixing things around the house.  It might mean passing up on the job that will advance their career because moving would be too disruptive.  These are hard things, and Mr. Butker encourages us to lean into them.

The road ahead is bright, things are changing, society is shifting, and people young and old are embracing tradition. Not only has it been my vocation that has helped me and those closest to me, but not surprising to many of you should be my outspoken embrace of the traditional Latin Mass. I’ve been very vocal in my love and devotion to the TLM and its necessity for our lives. But what I think gets misunderstood is that people who attend the TLM do so out of pride or preference. I can speak to my own experience. But for most people I have come across within these communities. This simply is not true. I do not attend the TLM because I think I’m better than others, or for the smells and bells, or even for the love of Latin. I attend TLM because I believe just as the God of the Old Testament was pretty particular and how he wanted to be worshiped, the same holds true for us today. It is through the TLM that I encountered order and began to pursue it in my own life. Aside from the TLM itself, too many of our sacred traditions have been relegated to things of the past. When in my parish, things such as Ember Days — days when we fast and pray for vocations and for our priests — are still adhered to. The TLM is so essential that I would challenge each of you to pick a place to move where it is readily available. A lot of people have complaints about the parish or the community, but we should not sacrifice the mass for community. I prioritize the TLM even if the parish isn’t beautiful, the priest isn’t great, or the community isn’t amazing. I still go to the TLM because I believe the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is more important than anything else. I say this knowing full well that when each of you rekindle your knowledge and adherence to many of the church’s greatest traditions, you will see how much more colorful and alive your life can and should be. As you move on from this place and enter into the world, know that you will face many challenges.

As a former altar boy, I used to love it when we celebrated a high mass.  I loved the incense, especially when I was older and got to be the thurifer.  I loved the longer liturgy of the Eucharist (we usually did Prayer II, which is the shortest. Or maybe that was III…)  I really loved when the mass was sung by the choir.  The Gloria of the Bells is one of my favorite versions of that prayer.  I also loved singing the Agnus Dei and the Responsorial Psalm.  We didn’t do the mass in Latin — I don’t know if I have ever attended a Latin mass, though I have attended many masses in other languages so… that is sort of the same thing (to me at least).  As my friend points out, it is more correctly termed the Tridentine mass. Though I have no idea why.

In many ways, Mr. Butker is telling us that we should consider the parishes when we choose where to live. It’s not JUST the $/sqft or the schools that matter, but we have to remember our spiritual residence as well.  If the local Bishop doesn’t allow the Tridentine mass, then what else does that tell us about them?  For many devout Catholics is doesn’t bode well.  

  Sadly, I’m sure many of you know of the countless stories of good and active members of this community who after graduation and moving away from the Benedictine Bubble have ended up moving in with their boyfriend or girlfriend prior to marriage. Some even leave the church and abandon God. It is always heartbreaking to hear these stories, and there’s a desire to know what happened and what went wrong. What you must remember is that life is about doing the small things well. So setting yourself up for success and surrounding yourself with people who continually push you to be the best version of you. I say this all the time, that iron sharpens iron. It’s a great reminder that those closest to us should be making us better. If you’re dating someone who doesn’t even share your faith, how do you expect that person to help you become a saint? If your friend group is filled with people who only think about what you’re doing next weekend, and are not willing to have those difficult conversations, how can they help sharpen you? As you prepare to enter into the workforce, it is extremely important that you actually think about the places you are moving to. Who is the bishop? What kind of parishes are there? Do they offer the TLM and have priests who embrace their priestly vocation? Cost of living must not be the only arbiter of your choices. For a life without God is not a life at all. And the cost of salvation is worth more than any career.

It is fairly common for people, especially those who receive parochial education, and even those who do so through college, to rebel once they are away from the confines of that world.  The secular world is not easy to navigate when the guard rails are removed.  Hugh Hewitt wrote a book for graduates called In, But Not Of as a guide to new graduates on how to live a holy life in a secular world.  He advises to surround yourself with people who will make you a better person, even if that means missing out on some of the fun things that everyone else is doing.  As someone with a mixed-faith marriage, it is tough.  I don’t regret it per se, but I would be a better Catholic had I married another Catholic.  Both of my brothers did, and it has been good for them.  He isn’t saying it cannot work, but that it will be harder.  It’s about those choices again…  They all have consequences, and the straight and narrow path is the one that leads most directly to God and heaven, but almost everything is tempting us from that path.

I’m excited for the future. And I pray that something I’ve said will resonate as you move on to the next chapter of your life. Never be afraid to profess the one holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. For this is the Church that Jesus Christ established, through which we receive sanctifying grace. I know that my message today had a little less fluff than is expected for these speeches. But I believe that this audience and this venue is the best place to speak openly and honestly, about who we are and where we all want to go, which is heaven. I thank God for Benedictine College, and for the example it provides to the world. I thank God for men like President Minnis who are doing their part for the Kingdom. Come to find out you can have an authentically Catholic College and a thriving football program. Make no mistake, you’re entering into mission territory in a post-God world. But you were made for this and with God by your side and a constant striving for virtue within your vocation, you too can be a saint. Christ is King to the heights.

This has been a very long post.  (It has taken me over a week to write it, and hours of time looking up things and thinking through what I wanted to say.)  I loved this speech because it was difficult to hear at times, and because it made many people angry.  Some of that was because people didn’t really read or listen to the speech, but rather other people’s summaries.  Some wanted to disagree with Mr. Butker because they assumed he was “on the other team,” and their politics demanded that they upbraid him, cancel him, and let everyone know that this was the kind of speech they would not tolerate.  I hope that my post illuminates how some others see this speech, those of us who find the message to be uplifting and positive.  I find it inspiring, and am trying to lean into my vocation of Father to my kids.  (Not that it means I will be going to a Latin mass anytime soon.)  Maybe a first step would be to go to a mass… I’m not a very good Catholic after all, but maybe I can be a better one.

I hope if you have gotten this far, that you can be inspired to lean into your vocation as well.

There are 36 comments.

Drew in Texas : This has been a very long post.  It has taken me over a week to write it, and hours of time looking up things and thinking through what I wanted to say. 

Thank you for taking the time to write this, presenting the entire speech and your thoughts and reflections on it.  I read the entire thing and found your analysis spot on.  While elements can be viewed as controversial, I have felt for a while that someone had to have the courage in one of these graduations speeches to say what he did on men and women, even knowing what the blowback would be.  I thought he balanced his remarks on careers and motherhood reasonably well: It’s OK to want to be a wife and mother.  In fact, these are essential roles.  For men, it’s OK to want to be a good husband and provider.  In fact, these are essential roles.  It’s not all that you will do, or can do, but you shouldn’t be shamed for it.  

Gossamer Cat  (View Comment ) : This is going to be a long post.  My goal is to take the entirety of Kansas City Chief’s kicker Harrison Butker’s commencement speech and review it.

Thank you, Drew.  Your post is amazing.   I liked every bit of Butker’s speech.   I especially like that he called out bishops, priests, and politicians for their poor leadership during the Covid Reaction Crisis.   Weak leaders make for hard times and too few people have called out our dangerously weak leaders.

It seems that a lot of folks these days have their “Offense Detector” turned up to Maximum.

You mention IVF, surrogacy, and transgender ideology and that “good” Catholics can disagree on these issues. Certainly we know that many Catholics support abortion, IVF, surrogacy, and transgender ideology – and they are wrong – they are not “good” Catholics. You are either heterodox in your beliefs or you are not. It is the Church of Nice that says we can disagree and be good Catholics – as long as we are nice to each other. This is wrong.

And as for your use of the word celibate – sorry, this one always drives me crazy. Celibate as used in the Church refers to whether one is or is not married (and that is between a man and a woman only). Most people thinks it has to do with whether or not one has sexual relations – this is not correct. This is how the homosexuals get away with being priests – but wait, look, I’m celibate (not married to a woman) – it has nothing to do with their sexual encounters with other homosexuals. We are all called to chastity – the proper use of sex.

Scott Wilmot  (View Comment) : You mention IVF, surrogacy, and transgender ideology and that “good” Catholics can disagree on these issues. Certainly we know that many Catholics support abortion, IVF, surrogacy, and transgender ideology – and they are wrong – they are not “good” Catholics. You are either heterodox in your beliefs or you are not. It is the Church of Nice that says we can disagree and be good Catholics – as long as we are nice to each other. This is wrong.

My point in noting that Catholics can and do disagree on many of these topics is twofold.  First, it is possible to hold a belief that IVF and surrogacy demean the sanctity of life and thus Catholics should not make use of them while not believing that they should be forbidden for non-Catholics.  Secondly, while it seems mercenary to say it this way, even a Catholic who was to use IVF should be welcome into the Church and, if they partake of Reconciliation and truly repent of their sin then they will be forgiven by God, and we should not hold their sins against them.  Of course, if they continue to sin, that is between them and God.  Each of us falls short and sins, often repeatedly, yet Christ will always welcome us back and forgive us.

Mr. Butker in his speech does talk about not being amateur theologians, and in this I agree.  I defer to the Church on these topics and why Catholic Doctrine holds that they are not valid.  I even understand the reasoning behind them to an extent.  My goal should be to live as close as I can to the strictures of my faith. That being said, I am not a “good” Catholic.  I haven’t been to mass in over a decade as an example.  I live in a state of mortal sin just for that.  I am not going to condemn someone else for their sins when mine loom large in my own soul.  Even were I the best Catholic I could be, I should not condemn others for their sins for that isn’t my lane.  I suppose that is what I mean by “good” Catholics disagreeing.  I hope this is more clearly stated.  I appreciate your comments on this topic.  I do not disagree with you, but I do think that we can abide by the Church’s teaching while still being open and loving.  The “Church of nice” is more a criticism of the clergy than the members.

And as for your use of the word celibate – sorry, this one always drives me crazy. Celibate as used in the Church refers to whether one is or is not married (and that is between a man and a woman only). Most people thinks it has to do with whether or not one has sexual relations – this is not correct. This is how the homosexuals get away with being priests – but wait, look, I’m celibate (not married to a woman) – it has nothing to do with their sexual encounters with other homosexuals. We are all called to chastity – the proper use of sex.

This is a good point, but at the same time, it is the term that is most often used.  There is an implication that a celibate person will be chaste as well because sex outside of marriage is a sin, but yes, Chastity is the more correct term.  I think that the unspoken push to encourage gay men to become priests has been incredibly harmful to the Church.

Drew in Texas  (View Comment ) : Scott Wilmot (View Comment) : You mention IVF, surrogacy, and transgender ideology and that “good” Catholics can disagree on these issues. Certainly we know that many Catholics support abortion, IVF, surrogacy, and transgender ideology – and they are wrong – they are not “good” Catholics. You are either heterodox in your beliefs or you are not. It is the Church of Nice that says we can disagree and be good Catholics – as long as we are nice to each other. This is wrong.

My point in noting that Catholics can and do disagree on many of these topics is twofold. First, it is possible to hold a belief that IVF and surrogacy demean the sanctity of life and thus Catholics should not make use of them while not believing that they should be forbidden for non-Catholics.

You are adopting the position of pro-abortion advocates . I’m sure you’ve seen their bumper stickers – “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” This is emphatically NOT a Catholic approach.

Scott is right.

I’ll have more comments on this post as there are other areas where I think you might be mistaken as to Catholic teaching, but I don’t have the time now.

Painter Jean  (View Comment ) : You are adopting the position of pro-abortion advocates . I’m sure you’ve seen their bumper stickers – “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” This is emphatically NOT a Catholic approach. Scott is right.

You may be correct. I think that one difference is that abortion is seen an an inherent evil. I’m not sure that IVF is. It depends on where the demarcation happens. Is it the degradation of the sanctity of life from creating it via artificial means, or is the creation and then destruction of the embryos that is the sin?  Is it both, and is the first less grave than the second?  Is the degradation of the sanctity of life actually a sin, or is it a gateway to sin and thus to be avoided?  I haven’t talked to a priest on these matters and if I seem to be speaking as if I know the full Catholic position, that wasn’t my intention. 

Drew in Texas  (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : You are adopting the position of pro-abortion advocates . I’m sure you’ve seen their bumper stickers – “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” This is emphatically NOT a Catholic approach. Scott is right.

You may be correct. I think that one difference is that abortion is seen an an inherent evil. I’m not sure that IVF is. It depends on where the demarcation happens. Is it the degradation of the sanctity of life from creating it via artificial means, or is the creation and then destruction of the embryos that is the sin? Is it both, and is the first less grave than the second? Is the degradation of the sanctity of life actually a sin, or is it a gateway to sin and thus to be avoided? I haven’t talked to a priest on these matters and if I seem to be speaking as if I know the full Catholic position, that wasn’t my intention.

It is the same problem as with contraception – God is taken out of the act.

Donum Vitae teaches that if a given medical intervention helps or assists the marriage act to achieve pregnancy, it may be considered moral; if the intervention replaces the marriage act in order to engender life, it is not moral.

https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/reproductive-technology/begotten-not-made-a-catholic-view-of-reproductive-technology

You might want to educate yourself on Church teaching before making erroneous statements about what she teaches. The Catechism states that IVF is “morally unacceptable.”

Here’s a good article: On IVF, Alabama, and Frozen Babies | Catholic Answers Magazine

Here’s a link to the relevant Vatican documents: Instruction on respect for human life (vatican.va)

Another article: What is the Catholic Church’s position on IVF? | Catholic News Agency

Painter Jean  (View Comment ) : Drew in Texas (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : You are adopting the position of pro-abortion advocates . I’m sure you’ve seen their bumper stickers – “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” This is emphatically NOT a Catholic approach. Scott is right.

You might want to educate yourself on Church teaching before making erroneous statements about what she teaches. The Catechism states that IVF is “morally unacceptable.”

Here’s a good article: On IVF, Alabama, and Frozen Babies | Catholic Answers Magazine

Here’s a link to the relevant Vatican documents: Instruction on respect for human life (vatican.va)

I was enjoying this discussion – can please comment without the snark? Everything you wrote that I bolded was not only unnecessary to make your point, it was rude and uncalled for. 

 More and more rank-and-file Catholics want to see real and substantive reforms to what is perceived as the corruption of the clergy by a policy of encouraging homosexual men to enter the clergy, where they would be celibate and thus not sin, but which has led to the abuse of children and what appears to be a fairly rampant level of open homosexuality around the world. 

To be honest, when I read this, my first thought was, “Where has he been?!” There have been reforms. Most of the cases of “child abuse” (actually, most of the cases were of homosexual acts with pubescent and post-pubescent minors – actual cases of pedophilia were rare) are old cases. The younger priests coming up are more orthodox, more faithful, and better formed than in the past. Tomorrow I’ll be attending the Ordination Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul (archdiocese of Mpls.- St. Paul). I’ve gotten to know some of the seminarians and I am so heartened by what a fine group of young men are being ordained.

The Catholic Church is not an organization that looks to the personal interpretation of the scriptures as the basis of their doctrine and dogma but rather has an entire collection of theologians that do just that.  It makes the Church slow to change, but sure in its direction.  That is different from many other religions, but for Catholics, while we are also taught to question and learn, the deep theological work is not the place for the layperson.  Yes, we can read the Papal Encyclicals (and we should), but we should remember that we, as laypeople, aren’t the ones that explain that to others, or set the Doctrine of the Church.

As for your last sentence, it’s good to recall St. Peter’s words: Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  We ARE the ones that need to be able to explain the reasons for our belief. This is not something that should be left to the clergy – we all should contribute.

I would also disagree with your statement that “ deep theological work is not the place for the layperson.” That is not Church teaching. Not all of us have the desire to delve deep into theological matters, but there is no reason not to if one so desires.

Also, your statement that The Catholic Church is not an organization that looks to the personal interpretation of the scriptures as the basis of their doctrine and dogma but rather has an entire collection of theologians that do just that. It’s the Magisterium that defines and promulgates doctrine and dogma, not theologians. (Though no doubt the Magisterium takes into account the work of theologians – Aquinas, for example, is referenced many times in the Catechism.)

Painter Jean  (View Comment ) : More and more rank-and-file Catholics want to see real and substantive reforms to what is perceived as the corruption of the clergy by a policy of encouraging homosexual men to enter the clergy, where they would be celibate and thus not sin, but which has led to the abuse of children and what appears to be a fairly rampant level of open homosexuality around the world. To be honest, when I read this, my first thought was, “Where has he been?!” There have been reforms. Most of the cases of “child abuse” (actually, most of the cases were of homosexual acts with pubescent and post-pubescent minors – actual cases of pedophilia were rare) are old cases. The younger priests coming up are more orthodox, more faithful, and better formed than in the past. Tomorrow I’ll be attending the Ordination Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul (archdiocese of Mpls.- St. Paul). I’ve gotten to know some of the seminarians and I am so heartened by what a fine group of young men are being ordained.

First off, in my experience the vast majority…in fact I would call it an overwhelming majority of the clergy have been fine and upstanding individuals.  I grew up in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and right after I left for college in Texas our Archbishop had to resign over an affair he had with a woman.  While the reason for his resignation wasn’t made public initially it was later, so that is progress.  However, where I live now (near San Antonio, TX) we had this story from last year:

A priest who was reassigned to several different churches in the San Antonio Archdiocese was arrested Tuesday for an alleged sex crime involving a woman in her 70s, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.

This was on the heels of two other San Antonio priests being turned over to the authorities for accusations of sexual misconduct.

Father Jesus Eduardo Martinez-Soliz of St. Joseph Church-Honey Creek in Spring Branch is accused of sexual misconduct and grooming a minor, García-Siller said. Grooming refers to the process by which sexual predators build a relationship of trust with children in order to exploit them.

At S t. Monica Catholic Church  in Converse, a teenager said that Father Alejandro Ortega had touched them inappropriately, the archbishop said. The minor reported the incident at a Catholic youth retreat held with another parish on June 24. “Our investigation showed that Father Ortega had on many occasions engaged in sexually inappropriate and unwanted physical touch, usually with adult women,” the letter said. “This was the first allegation that Father Ortega had intentionally engaged in inappropriate physical touch with a minor.”

These “bad apples” are still showing up.  Perhaps at the rate that is in the rest of society, but that is a problem as well.  In the past two years, my son’s High School has seen two teachers prosecuted for inappropriate sexual contact with minors.  This isn’t solely a Church problem, it is much larger, but, it is also a problem that the Church should be providing leadership by example.

Annefy  (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : Drew in Texas (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : You are adopting the position of pro-abortion advocates . I’m sure you’ve seen their bumper stickers – “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” This is emphatically NOT a Catholic approach. Scott is right.

I was enjoying this discussion – can please comment without the snark? Everything you wrote that I bolded was not only unnecessary to make your point, it was rude and uncalled for.

I wasn’t intending any snark. Why do you assume the worst?

Drew in Texas  (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : More and more rank-and-file Catholics want to see real and substantive reforms to what is perceived as the corruption of the clergy by a policy of encouraging homosexual men to enter the clergy, where they would be celibate and thus not sin, but which has led to the abuse of children and what appears to be a fairly rampant level of open homosexuality around the world. To be honest, when I read this, my first thought was, “Where has he been?!” There have been reforms. Most of the cases of “child abuse” (actually, most of the cases were of homosexual acts with pubescent and post-pubescent minors – actual cases of pedophilia were rare) are old cases. The younger priests coming up are more orthodox, more faithful, and better formed than in the past. Tomorrow I’ll be attending the Ordination Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul (archdiocese of Mpls.- St. Paul). I’ve gotten to know some of the seminarians and I am so heartened by what a fine group of young men are being ordained.

First off, in my experience the vast majority…in fact I would call it an overwhelming majority of the clergy have been fine and upstanding individuals. I grew up in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and right after I left for college in Texas our Archbishop had to resign over an affair he had with a woman. While the reason for his resignation wasn’t made public initially it was later, so that is progress. However, where I live now (near San Antonio, TX) we had this story from last year:

Father Jesus Eduardo Martinez-Soliz of St. Joseph Church-Honey Creek in Spring Branch is accused of sexual misconduct and grooming a minor, García-Siller said. Grooming refers to the process by which sexual predators build a relationship of trust with children in order to exploit them.

At S t. Monica Catholic Church in Converse, a teenager said that Father Alejandro Ortega had touched them inappropriately, the archbishop said. The minor reported the incident at a Catholic youth retreat held with another parish on June 24. “Our investigation showed that Father Ortega had on many occasions engaged in sexually inappropriate and unwanted physical touch, usually with adult women,” the letter said. “This was the first allegation that Father Ortega had intentionally engaged in inappropriate physical touch with a minor.”

These “bad apples” are still showing up. Perhaps at the rate that is in the rest of society, but that is a problem as well. In the past two years, my son’s High School has seen two teachers prosecuted for inappropriate sexual contact with minors. This isn’t solely a Church problem, it is much larger, but, it is also a problem that the Church should be providing leadership by example.

The rate of abuse by both Catholic and Protestant clergy is much lower than the rates of abuse by teachers and family members. 

Painter Jean  (View Comment ) : Also, your statement that The Catholic Church is not an organization that looks to the personal interpretation of the scriptures as the basis of their doctrine and dogma but rather has an entire collection of theologians that do just that. It’s the Magisterium that defines and promulgates doctrine and dogma, not theologians. (Though no doubt the Magisterium takes into account the work of theologians – Aquinas, for example, is referenced many times in the Catechism.)

What is your point here?  That the Magisterium (the Pope and the various Bishops in union with the Pope) are not theologians?  They all have both formal and informal training as such.  It may not be their primary job, but I would be very surprised if they did not consult and read theological arguments, and make those arguments themselves to work towards their decisions.  My point is that, unlike in many Protestant sects or in Islam, there is a single Doctrine and Dogma that undergoes slow change after much careful thought and consideration.  When I was first married we attended my wife’s church (Church of God, Anderson Coalition).  This was one of a few sects of the Church of God, which was one of many Protestant sects. In that community, the Pastor’s views held very important sway, but the members, sometimes (often) disagreed with him and would base their disagreements on their reading of the Bible (with various versions being used).  Overall they were a wonderful community and I miss some of them, but coming from a Catholic perspective the idea that you hired your Pastor based on their views on the Bible seemed quite odd to me.  I always thought of every parish as teaching the same thing the same way.  The truth is somewhat different, but the basic idea is that there is one Catholic way of doing things, unlike other sects.

Does that make more sense?

Painter Jean  (View Comment ) : The rate of abuse by both Catholic and Protestant clergy is much lower than the rates of abuse by teachers and family members. 

On this, I agree.  The problem is that…it should be zero.  We are humans and thus imperfect sinners so it can never be zero, but the problem the Church had in the past was it appeared to turn a line eye towards the abuse.  The biggest reform and the one that is the most important is seen in those articles.  In all three cases, the priests were turned over to the police for prosecution.  That is a massive improvement.  Alas, that reservoir of trust has been depleted and now it will take a very long time to find and turn over every priest who engages in sexual misconduct of this type to regain the trust they lost.

Painter Jean  (View Comment ) :

In case I have not been clear.  I do appreciate your comments and additions to this discussion.

Drew in Texas  (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : Also, your statement that The Catholic Church is not an organization that looks to the personal interpretation of the scriptures as the basis of their doctrine and dogma but rather has an entire collection of theologians that do just that. It’s the Magisterium that defines and promulgates doctrine and dogma, not theologians. (Though no doubt the Magisterium takes into account the work of theologians – Aquinas, for example, is referenced many times in the Catechism.)

What is your point here? That the Magisterium (the Pope and the various Bishops in union with the Pope) are not theologians? They all have both formal and informal training as such. It may not be their primary job, but I would be very surprised if they did not consult and read theological arguments, and make those arguments themselves to work towards their decisions. My point is that, unlike in many Protestant sects or in Islam, there is a single Doctrine and Dogma that undergoes slow change after much careful thought and consideration. When I was first married we attended my wife’s church (Church of God, Anderson Coalition). This was one of a few sects of the Church of God, which was one of many Protestant sects. In that community, the Pastor’s views held very important sway, but the members, sometimes (often) disagreed with him and would base their disagreements on their reading of the Bible (with various versions being used). Overall they were a wonderful community and I miss some of them, but coming from a Catholic perspective the idea that you hired your Pastor based on their views on the Bible seemed quite odd to me. I always thought of every parish as teaching the same thing the same way. The truth is somewhat different, but the basic idea is that there is one Catholic way of doing things, unlike other sects.

There are a lot of lay theologians. They aren’t part of the Magisterium. I was just trying to clarify that it was the Magisterium, not theologians per se, that defined doctrine and dogma. You and I might know what you meant, but the non-Catholic reading your post might not.

Painter Jean  (View Comment ) : Annefy (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : Drew in Texas (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : You are adopting the position of pro-abortion advocates . I’m sure you’ve seen their bumper stickers – “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” This is emphatically NOT a Catholic approach. Scott is right.

I wasn’t intending any snark. Why do you assume the worst?

I didn’t assume anything. I reacted to what you wrote.

Annefy  (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : Annefy (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : Drew in Texas (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : You are adopting the position of pro-abortion advocates . I’m sure you’ve seen their bumper stickers – “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” This is emphatically NOT a Catholic approach. Scott is right.

I didn’t assume anything. I reacted to what you wrote.

And you assumed I was being snarky. I wasn’t. 

I have to admit that I also had the same reaction.  I’m glad you didn’t intend it to be snarky.  It is hard sometimes in text not to read into things.

Painter Jean  (View Comment ) : Annefy (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : Annefy (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : Drew in Texas (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : You are adopting the position of pro-abortion advocates . I’m sure you’ve seen their bumper stickers – “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” This is emphatically NOT a Catholic approach. Scott is right.

And you assumed I was being snarky. I wasn’t.

I read it the same way Annefy did. It’s not like snark is a rarity on Ricochet but it would behoove all of us to be a little more charitable. Except with Jerry….I kid, I kid…kinda

Painter Jean  (View Comment) : Annefy (View Comment) : Painter Jean (View Comment) : Annefy (View Comment) : Painter Jean (View Comment) : Drew in Texas (View Comment) : Painter Jean (View Comment) : You are adopting the position of pro-abortion advocates . I’m sure you’ve seen their bumper stickers – “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” This is emphatically NOT a Catholic approach. Scott is right.

It reads like a snarky comeback.

Headedwest  (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment) : Annefy (View Comment) : Painter Jean (View Comment) : Annefy (View Comment) : Painter Jean (View Comment) : Drew in Texas (View Comment) : Painter Jean (View Comment) : You are adopting the position of pro-abortion advocates . I’m sure you’ve seen their bumper stickers – “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” This is emphatically NOT a Catholic approach. Scott is right.

Whatever….

AMD Texas  (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : Annefy (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : Annefy (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : Drew in Texas (View Comment ) : Painter Jean (View Comment ) : You are adopting the position of pro-abortion advocates . I’m sure you’ve seen their bumper stickers – “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” This is emphatically NOT a Catholic approach. Scott is right.

I read it the same way Annefy did. It’s not like snark is a rarity on Ricochet but it would behoove all of us to be a little more charitable. Except with Jerry….I kid, I kid…kinda

Heh…..

Honestly, I wasn’t trying to be snarky. The OP had written, regarding IVF, that “Good Catholics disagree on some of these topics.” But Church teaching is quite clear on this, easy to find, and as Scott noted, these are not “good” Catholics. If you’re going to say what is or is not a teaching of the Church, make sure it’s accurate, especially as this is not a post in Ricochet Catholics, but is going out to a larger audience who might get the wrong idea regarding Church teaching.

Whew! That was a lot of work. Good job. I would only have a few amendments (similar to Scott’s) and comments, but I’ll start here:

Drew in Texas : Suffering is temporary. 

It’s not so much that suffering is temporary — it’s that it’s redemptive! JPII was pretty solid on this, as I recall:

[every person] is called to share in that suffering through which all human suffering has also been redeemed . In bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption.

No pain, no gain as we boomers might say. Or, as Jesus said, “take up your cross and follow.” The Christian life gives meaning to suffering, which eases the burden. “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Drew in Texas : The issue with IVF comes from the fact that when performing IVF, multiple embryos are fertilized and the most promising one is implanted, the rest are frozen. . . 

The destruction of embryos is not the only issue. It’s the unnatural means of fertilization that violates the natural law and the human rights of children. Children have the right to be conceived in a one-flesh union of a sacramentally (unbreakable union) married mother and father. The example I heard on Catholic Answers was a girl who was conceived by IVF using a sperm donor, and she forever questioned whether the potential husband she was dating was biologically related to her — a half-brother. Can you imagine?

Drew in Texas : Good Catholics disagree on some of these topics, but at the same time, most respect the views held by others.

Not really. “Good” Catholics adhere to the teachings of the Church, no matter how uncomfortable they are with them, or how uncomfortable it makes their friends, family, and acquaintances feel.* One of the main differences between Catholics and other Christians is there’s a way to tell a “good” Catholic from a bad one. Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi have rejected Christ’s Church, and their bishop(s), if they really cared for their immortal souls, would give them consequences (banning them from receiving Holy Eucharist) like any good father would. Good fathers don’t let their kids run out in traffic and they don’t let them eat judgment upon themselves. 

* Jesus’ teaching on marriage and divorce is so radically uncomfortable, his own disciples say it would be better never to marry. Joe Heschmeyer has two excellent podcasts on the subject. One and two .

Drew in Texas : The Church also opposes the death penalty, but the GOP supports it.

Not quite. The Church still considers capital punishment a matter of prudential judgment, despite Francis’s ambiguous “inadmissible” language. A Catholic can oppose it or find it a matter of prudence in some cases (I hold the latter position about heinous murderers. I do not believe keeping an Adolf Eichmann alive shows a respect for life. Just the opposite.).

Drew in Texas : When I saw President Biden make the sign of the cross at an abortion event it was deeply disturbing.  This coming from a man who has done many things that I find disturbing shocked me.  My thoughts were the same as Mr. Butker’s, how delusional does he have to be to be so insulting to members of a faith that he claims as his own?

It was neither disturbing nor delusional. It was profane, heretical, anathema. . . The sign of the cross is a prayer in the power of the Triune God. He was praying for the “right” to kill one’s baby. For that alone, he should be excommunicated.

Western Chauvinist  (View Comment ) : Drew in Texas : Good Catholics disagree on some of these topics, but at the same time, most respect the views held by others.

Not really. “Good” Catholics adhere to the teachings of the Church, no matter how uncomfortable they are with them, or how uncomfortable it makes their friends, family, and acquaintances feel.* One of the main differences between Catholics and other Christians is there’s a way to tell a “good” Catholic from a bad one. Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi have rejected Christ’s Church, and their bishop(s), if they really cared for their immortal souls, would give them consequences (banning them from receiving Holy Eucharist) like any good father would. Good fathers don’t let their kids run out in traffic and they don’t let them eat judgment upon themselves.

* Jesus’ teaching on marriage and divorce is so radically uncomfortable, his own disciples say it would be better never to marry. Joe Heschmeyer has two excellent podcasts on the subject. One and two .

I second that – those two podcasts are excellent! I can’t recommend them enough.

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Trump booed and jeered at Libertarian National Convention

WASHINGTON — Insults were hurled at former President Donald Trump when he took to the stage Saturday night to address the Libertarian National Convention .

The crowd’s hostility to the former president was especially pronounced when Trump directly solicited their votes. Each time Trump asked attendees at the Washington Hilton for their votes or the party’s nomination, he was met with loud boos.

“I’m asking for the Libertarian Party’s endorsement, or at least lots of your votes, lots and lots of Libertarian votes,” Trump said as the audience booed in response.

At times, Trump turned on the crowd, criticizing libertarians’ turnout in previous elections.

“You can keep going the way you have for the last long decades and get your 3% and meet again, get another 3%,” Trump said following jeers from the crowd.

The 2020 Libertarian Party nominee, Jo Jorgensen, won just over 1% of the votes in several swing states including Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia. But in a tight race , these voters could have the power to swing the election between major-party nominees.

The audience yelled at Trump throughout his speech as well, a stark contrast to his typical crowds filled with adoring fans decked out in MAGA gear. At one point during Saturday’s speech, punches were thrown in the audience.

One member of the crowd shouted, “Lock him up!” and another yelled, “Donald Trump is a threat to democracy!” Moments later, someone yelled at Trump, “You had your shot!”

Others yelled at Trump, “F--- you” and “You already had four years, you a--hole.”

Twice, people chanting “We want Trump” were drowned out by boos and chants of “End the Fed.”

After Trump’s Saturday speech, a Libertarian candidate who took the stage called the former president a war criminal, citing his use of drone strikes and actions in Syria.

On Friday night, the libertarian crowd was also hostile to mentions of Trump, and the audience booed when Vivek Ramaswamy brought up the former president. Separately, the crowd cheered one Libertarian Party member’s suggestion that “we go tell Donald Trump to go f--- himself.”

Ahead of Saturday’s speech, many members of the audience had already made up their minds about Trump. Libertarian Caryn Ann Harlos balked at the prospect of being swayed by Trump’s remarks.

“I would rather eat my own foot out of a bear trap,” Harlos said. “I only vote Libertarian.”

The Trump campaign argued it was important for the former president to venture into less-than-friendly territory to appeal to “nontraditional Republican votes.”

“What he’s really trying to do is to show that he can be a president for all Americans,” a Trump campaign official said ahead of the former president’s remarks. “If you want to compete for nontraditional Republican votes, then you got to go where they are. You can’t expect them to just show up to you.”

Trump himself referenced the unexpected decision, saying, “A lot of people ask why I came to speak at this Libertarian convention, and, you know, it’s an interesting question, isn’t it? But we’re going to have — but we’re going to have a lot of fun.”

But there were moments when Trump received cheers, like when he touted his record of starting no news wars and his administration’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization , which Biden later rejoined. Trump was also cheered when he called for pardoning Jan. 6 defendants .

One of the loudest cheers from the audience came when Trump announced his intention to commute the life sentence of “Silk Road” website operator Ross Ulbricht.

“If you vote for me, on Day One I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht,” he said.

“We’re going to get him home,” he added later.

Ulbricht was sentenced to life in federal prison in 2015 for creating and operating a hidden website known as “Silk Road” that people used to buy and sell drugs, among other illegal goods and services.

Many libertarians have called for Ulbricht’s release. At the convention on Saturday, the crowd was filled with “Free Ross” signs and took up chants in support of Ulbricht.

Preet Bharara, who was U.S. attorney for Manhattan when Ulbricht was sentenced in 2015, said in a press release at the time that Ulbricht’s actions contributed to at least six deaths. Bharara a lso ca lled Ulbricht “a drug dealer and criminal profiteer.”

“While in operation, Silk Road was used by thousands of drug dealers and other unlawful vendors to distribute hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services to more than 100,000 buyers, and to launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from these unlawful transactions,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement said a 2015 press release announcing Ulbricht’s sentencing.

However, Trump’s previous comments about drug dealers are in conflict with his Saturday vow to commute Ulbricht’s sentence.

The former president has said that the death penalty should be instituted for certain drug dealers, depending on the severity of the crime.

And given that history, libertarians seemed to view the vow to commute Ulbricht’s sentence as calculated.

“Do you think Donald Trump even knew Ross Ulbricht’s name before he decided to come here and pander to us?” Libertarian politician Chase Oliver asked the crowd following Trump’s remarks.

Abigail Brooks reported from the Washington Hilton. Megan Lebowitz reported from Washington, D.C.

Abigail Brooks is a producer for NBC News.

Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.

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• Education, training and skills
• School curriculum
• Primary curriculum, key stage 1
• Phonics screening check: information for parents
• Standards & Testing Agency

Phonics screening check 2024: information for parents (text only version)

Updated 21 May 2024

© Crown copyright 2024

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected] .

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phonics-screening-check-information-for-parents/phonics-screening-check-2024-information-for-parents-text-only-version

1. Do you have a child in year 1 at primary school?

If so, your child will take part in the phonics screening check in June.

The phonics screening check is a check of your child’s phonics knowledge. It helps your school confirm whether your child is making the progress expected in the national curriculum.

With some exceptions, all pupils who have reached the age of 6 by the end of the school year must take the check during that academic year, including those in maintained nursery schools. For most pupils, this will be in year 1.

In 2024, the check will take place during the week commencing Monday 10 June.

2. What is phonics?

Phonics is an effective way of teaching children to read. By ensuring high quality phonics teaching, we want to improve literacy levels and give all children a solid base to build on as they progress through school.

Through phonics, children are taught how to:

• recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes
• identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make, such as ‘sh’ or ‘oo’
• blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word

Children can then use this knowledge to ‘decode’ new words that they hear or see. This is the first important step in learning to read.

3. What is the phonics screening check?

The phonics screening check contains 40 words divided into two sections of 20 words. Both sections contain a mixture of real words and pseudo-words.

Pseudo-words are words that are phonically decodable but are not actual words with an associated meaning. They are included in the check specifically to assess whether your child can decode a word using their phonics skills.

All pseudo-words in the check are accompanied by a picture of an imaginary creature. Children are taught that when a word has a creature next to it, it is a pseudo-word. This ensures that they are not trying to match the pseudo-word to a word in their vocabulary.

The check is designed to give teachers information on how your child is progressing in phonics. It will help to identify whether your child needs additional support at this stage so that they do not fall behind in this vital early reading skill.

4. Do I need to do anything to prepare my child for the check?

Phonics works best when children are given plenty of encouragement and learn to enjoy reading and books. Parents play a very important part in helping with this.

You can highlight the phonics sounds when you read with your child. Teaching how sounds match with letters is likely to start with individual letters such as ‘s’, ‘a’ and ‘t’ and will then move on to two-letter sounds such as ‘ee’, ‘ch’ and ‘ck’.

With all books, encourage your child to ‘sound out’ unfamiliar words and then blend the sounds together from left to right rather than looking at the pictures to guess. Once your child has read an unfamiliar word, you can talk about what it means and help them to follow the story.

Your child’s teacher will also be able to suggest books with the right level of phonics for your child. These books are often called ‘decodable readers’ because the story is written with words made up of the letters your child has learnt. Your child will be able to work out new words from their letters and sounds, rather than just guessing.

Most schools use book bags and a reading record, which is a great way for teachers and parents to communicate about what children have read. The reading record can tell you whether your child has enjoyed a particular book and shows problems or successes they have had, either at home or at school.

5. How will the results be used?

Schools will have access to all their pupils’ results to identify those who need additional support and make plans to help them improve.

The Department for Education does not publish school-level results for the phonics screening check, but schools will have access to  national, regional and local authority results  to allow them to benchmark their pupils’ performance.

6. Will I receive feedback on my child’s check?

Your child’s teacher will share your child’s score with you in the second half of the summer term.

If your child has found the check difficult, the school should tell you what support they have put in place to help your child improve. You might like to ask how you can support your child to take the next steps in reading.

Children who have not met the standard in year 1 will re-take the check in year 2. The results of any re-take will also be shared with you.

7. Further information

Your child’s teacher will be able to answer any questions about the phonics screening check. For further details, you can also visit  www.gov.uk/STA .

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Vatican releases new norms on alleged supernatural phenomena

By Vatican News

A new document from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published on Friday, May 17, has updated the norms for discerning alleged supernatural phenomena . The norms come into force on Sunday, May 19, the feast of Pentecost.

The document is preceded by a detailed presentation by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery, followed by an introduction and six possible conclusions. The procedure allows for faster decisions while respecting popular devotion.

As a rule, the Church’s authority will no longer be engaged to officially define the supernatural nature of a phenomenon, a process that can require large amounts time to thoroughly study an event.

Another new norm involves the explicit involvement of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which must approve the local bishop’s final decision and which has the authority to intervene motu proprio at any time.

Many cases in recent decades have involved the former Holy Office, even when individual bishops have expressed themselves. However, the interventions have usually remained behind the scenes and were never made public.

The Dicastery’s new explicit involvement also relates to the difficulty in circumscribing phenomena, which in some cases reach national and even global dimensions, “meaning that a decision made in one Diocese has consequences also elsewhere.”

Reasons for the new norms

The document originates from the long experience of the last century, which saw cases where the local bishop (or bishops of a region) rapidly declared a phenomenon’s supernatural nature, only for the Holy Office to express a different decision later. Other cases involved a bishop saying one thing and his successor deciding the opposite (regarding the same phenomenon).

Each event also required lengthy discernment periods to evaluate all elements in order to reach a decision on the supernatural nature or non-supernatural nature of the phenomena. These time periods sometimes contrasted with the urgency to give pastoral responses for the good of the faithful.

The Dicastery began revising the norms in 2019, leading to the current text approved by Pope Francis on May 4.

Spiritual fruits and risks

In his presentation, Cardinal Fernández explains that, “many times, these events have led to a great richness of spiritual fruits, growth in faith, devotion, fraternity, and service. In some cases, they have given rise to shrines throughout the world that are at the heart of many people’s popular piety today.”

However, there is also the possibility that “in some events of alleged supernatural origin,” serious issues that harm the faithful may arise. These include cases where from the alleged phenomena, “profit, power, fame, social recognition, or other personal interest” (II, Art. 15, 4°) are derived, even to the point of “exerting control over people or carrying out abuses (II, Art. 16).”

There may be “doctrinal errors, an oversimplification of the Gospel message, or the spread of a sectarian mentality.” There is the possibility of believers “being misled by an event that is attributed to a divine initiative but is merely the product of someone’s imagination, desire for novelty, tendency to fabricate falsehoods (mythomania), or inclination toward lying.”

General guidelines

According to the new norms, the Church will exercise her duties of discernment, based on the following:

“(a) whether signs of a divine action can be ascertained in phenomena that are alleged to be of supernatural origin; (b) whether there is anything that conflicts with faith and morals in the writings or messages of those involved in the alleged phenomena in question; (c) whether it is permissible to appreciate their spiritual fruits, whether they need to be purified from problematic elements, or whether the faithful should be warned about potential risks; (d) whether it is advisable for the competent ecclesiastical authority to realize their pastoral value” (I, 10).

However, “it is not foreseen in these Norms that ecclesiastical authority would give a positive recognition of the divine origin of alleged supernatural phenomena” (I, 11).

Therefore, as a rule, “neither the Diocesan Bishop, nor the Episcopal Conferences, nor the Dicastery will declare that these phenomena are of supernatural origin, even if a Nihil obstat is granted. It remains true, however, that the Holy Father can authorize a special procedure in this regard” (I, 23).

Possible conclusions regarding an alleged phenomenon

The discernment of an alleged supernatural phenomenon may reach the following six conclusions.

- Nihil Obstat : Without expressing any certainty about the supernatural authenticity of the phenomenon itself, many signs of the action of the Holy Spirit are acknowledged. The bishop is encouraged to appreciate the pastoral value and promote the dissemination of the phenomenon, including pilgrimages;

- Prae oculis habeatur : Although important positive signs are recognized, some aspects of confusion or potential risks are also perceived that require the diocesan bishop to engage in a careful discernment and dialogue with the recipients of a given spiritual experience. If there were writings or messages, doctrinal clarification might be necessary;

- Curatur : Various or significant critical elements are noted, but the phenomenon is already spread widely, and verifiable spiritual fruits are connected to it. Therefore, a ban that could upset the faithful is not recommended, but the local bishop is advised not to encourage the phenomenon;

- Sub mandato : The critical issues are not connected to the phenomenon itself but to its improper use by people or groups, such as undue financial gain or immoral acts. The Holy See entrusts the pastoral leadership of the specific place to the diocesan bishop or a delegate;

- Prohibetur et obstruatur : Despite various positive elements, the critical issues and risks associated with this phenomenon appear to be very serious. The Dicastery asks the local bishop to offer a catechesis that can help the faithful understand the reasons for the decision and reorient their legitimate spiritual concerns;

- Declaratio de non supernaturalitate : The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith authorizes the local bishop to declare that the phenomenon is found to be not supernatural based on concrete facts and evidence, such as the confession of an alleged visionary or credible testimonies of fabrication of the phenomenon.

Procedures to follow

The new norms then indicate the procedures to be implemented. It is up to the diocesan bishop to examine cases and submit their judgment to the Dicastery for approval. The bishop is asked to refrain from making public declarations about the authenticity or supernatural nature and to ensure there is no confusion or sensationalism.

If the elements of the case “seem sufficient,” the diocesan bishop will then set up an investigative commission, which should include at least one theologian, one canonist, and an expert chosen based on the nature of the phenomenon.

Positive and negative criteria

The document lays out several positive criteria to evaluate the alleged supernatural phenomenon.

These include: “the credibility and good reputation of the persons who claim to be recipients of supernatural events or to be directly involved in them, as well as the reputation of the witnesses who have been heard...; the doctrinal orthodoxy of the phenomenon and any messages related to it; the unpredictable nature of the phenomenon, by which it is evident that it is not the result of the initiative of the people involved; and, fruits of the Christian life” (II, 14).

The negative criteria involve: “the possibility of a manifest error about the event; potential doctrinal errors...; a sectarian spirit that breeds division in the Church; an overt pursuit of profit, power, fame, social recognition, or other personal interest closely linked to the event; gravely immoral actions…; psychological alterations or psychopathic tendencies in the person that may have exerted an influence on the alleged supernatural event; and, any psychosis, collective hysteria, and other elements traceable to a pathological context” (II, 15).

Finally, “the use of purported supernatural experiences or recognized mystical elements as a means of or a pretext for exerting control over people or carrying out abuses” (II, 16) is considered of particular moral gravity.

Regardless of the final approved determination, the diocesan bishop “must continue to watch over the phenomenon and the people involved, exercising his ordinary power” (II, 24).

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