Welcome to your B1 English lesson on reporting requests and orders! Have you ever needed to tell someone what someone else asked you to do? Or maybe what they told you to do? This is a super useful skill in English, both for understanding conversations and for speaking clearly yourself. In this lesson, we’ll break down how to report requests and orders effectively, focusing on practical English you can use every day. Let’s improve your spoken English practice and get you feeling confident!

What is Reporting Requests and Orders?

When we talk about reporting requests and orders, we mean changing direct speech into indirect or reported speech. Imagine someone tells you directly, “Open the window.” If you want to tell someone else what they said, you wouldn’t usually repeat “Open the window.” Instead, you’d report it. For example, you might say, “He asked me to open the window.” That’s reporting a request!

Similarly, if someone in authority tells you, “Clean your room!”, that’s an order. To report an order, you might say, “She told me to clean my room.”

Understanding and using reported speech for requests and orders is an important part of B1 English. It helps you communicate more smoothly and understand nuances in conversations.

How to Report Requests and Orders: Key Changes

When we change direct requests and orders into reported speech, we need to make a few key grammatical changes. Let’s look at the main things you need to remember for effective English grammar:

1. Reporting Verbs: ‘Tell’, ‘Ask’, ‘Order’, ‘Request’

We use specific verbs to introduce reported requests and orders. The most common are:

• Tell: Often used for orders and instructions. Example: “Clean your desk!” becomes “She told me to clean my desk.”
• Ask: Used for polite requests and questions that are requests. Example: “Could you help me?” becomes “He asked me to help him.”
• Order: Used for strong commands from someone in authority. Example: “Stop talking!” becomes “The teacher ordered them to stop talking.”
• Request: More formal than ‘ask’, used for polite requests. Example: “Please be quiet.” becomes “She requested us to be quiet.”

Choosing the right reporting verb is important for conveying the original meaning accurately. For general requests, ‘ask’ is usually a safe and common choice for spoken English practice.

2. Change in Pronouns

Pronouns often need to change when we report speech. We need to think about who is speaking and who they are speaking to.

Let’s see some examples:

• Direct: “I am tired,” she said to me.
  Reported: She told me that she was tired. ( “I” becomes “she” because we are reporting what *she* said about herself)
• Direct: “Can you help me?” he asked me.
  Reported: He asked me if I could help him. (“you” becomes “I” because he is asking *me* for help, and I am reporting it)

Pay close attention to pronouns to ensure your reported speech is clear and correct in English grammar.

3. Change in Verb Tense (Backshifting)

When we report requests and orders, we often need to change the verb tense. This is called “backshifting.” Usually, the verb tense moves one step back into the past.

Here’s a simplified guide for common tenses:

• Present Simple (e.g., “Open”) becomes Past Simple (e.g., “to open”) – “Open the door!” -> He told me to open the door.
• Present Continuous (e.g., “am doing”) becomes Past Continuous (e.g., “was doing”) – “I am doing my homework.” -> She said she was doing her homework. (Although for requests/orders we are less likely to directly report present continuous in the imperative form, it’s good to know for general reported speech.)
• Past Simple (e.g., “went”) often becomes Past Perfect (e.g., “had gone”) – “I went to the shop.” -> He said he had gone to the shop. (Less common in simple requests/orders reporting, but important for general reported speech). For simpler requests/orders in past simple, sometimes past simple is kept in reported form.
• Will becomes Would – “Will you help me?” -> She asked if I would help her.
• Can becomes Could – “Can you open the window?” -> He asked me to open the window / He asked if I could open the window.

For reporting requests and orders, we often use the infinitive form (to + verb) after the reporting verb, especially with ‘tell’, ‘ask’, ‘order’, ‘request’.

Example: “Wash the dishes!” (Present Simple imperative) -> She told him to wash the dishes. (Infinitive form)

4. Using ‘if’ or ‘whether’ for Yes/No Question Requests

If the direct request is a yes/no question (often starting with ‘Can you…’, ‘Could you…’, ‘Will you…’), we use ‘if’ or ‘whether’ in reported speech.

Examples:

• Direct: “Can you help me?” he asked.
  Reported: He asked if I could help him. OR He asked whether I could help him.
• Direct: “Will you be there?” she asked.
  Reported: She asked if I would be there. OR She asked whether I would be there.

‘If’ and ‘whether’ have the same meaning in these sentences. ‘If’ is more common in everyday spoken English.

Examples of Reporting Requests and Orders

Let’s look at some more examples to solidify your understanding of reporting requests and orders in different situations. This will help with your spoken English practice!

1. Scenario: Your boss tells you something at work.
   • Direct Order: Boss: “Finish this report by tomorrow!”
   • Reported Order: He told me to finish the report by tomorrow.
2. Scenario: A friend asks for a favor.
   • Direct Request: Friend: “Could you lend me your book?”
   • Reported Request: She asked me to lend her my book. OR She asked if I could lend her my book.
3. Scenario: A parent gives instructions to a child.
   • Direct Order: Parent: “Go to bed now!”
   • Reported Order: My mom told me to go to bed now.
4. Scenario: A teacher makes a polite request.
   • Direct Request: Teacher: “Please open your books to page 25.”
   • Reported Request: The teacher asked us to open our books to page 25. OR The teacher requested us to open our books to page 25.

Notice how we use different reporting verbs and adjust pronouns and verb forms in each example. Practice using these in your own conversations to improve your English pronunciation tips and fluency.

Let’s Practice!

Ready to test your understanding of reporting requests and orders? Try these exercises!

Exercise 1: Transform Direct Speech to Reported Speech

Change these direct requests and orders into reported speech. Use ‘told’ or ‘asked’ as the reporting verb.

1. Direct: “Close the door,” she said to him.
   Reported: She ___ him ___ close the door.
2. Direct: “Can you help me with this?” he asked her.
   Reported: He ___ her ___ help him with that.
3. Direct: “Don’t be late!” the teacher said to the students.
   Reported: The teacher ___ the students ___ not be late.
4. Direct: “Please wait here,” the receptionist said to me.
   Reported: The receptionist ___ me ___ wait there.
5. Direct: “Will you call me later?” she asked him.
   Reported: She ___ him ___ call her later.

Exercise 2: Transform Reported Speech to Direct Speech

Imagine you heard these reported requests and orders. What might have been the original direct speech?

1. Reported: He told me to be quiet.
   Direct (Possible): “___ ___ quiet!”
2. Reported: She asked me to bring my notebook.
   Direct (Possible): “___ you ___ bring your notebook?”
3. Reported: They told us not to worry.
   Direct (Possible): “___ ___ worry!”
4. Reported: The doctor asked him to take the medicine.
   Direct (Possible): “___ ___ the medicine.”
5. Reported: She asked if I could open the window.
   Direct (Possible): “___ you ___ open the window?”

Answers to Exercise 1:

1. Reported: She told him to close the door.
2. Reported: He asked her to help him with that. OR He asked her if/whether she could help him with that.
3. Reported: The teacher told the students not to be late.
4. Reported: The receptionist asked me to wait there.
5. Reported: She asked him to call her later. OR She asked him if/whether he would call her later.

Answers to Exercise 2: (Possible Direct Speech)

1. Direct (Possible): “Be quiet!”
2. Direct (Possible): “Can you please bring your notebook?” OR “Could you bring your notebook?”
3. Direct (Possible): “Don’t worry!”
4. Direct (Possible): “Take the medicine.”
5. Direct (Possible): “Can you open the window?” OR “Could you open the window?” OR “Will you open the window?”

Practice More with Lingofrnd!

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Keep practicing, and you’ll master reporting requests and orders in no time! Good luck with your English learning journey!