By the end of this exercise, you can tell somebody in English what another person said, asked or told you to do — using reported speech.
Free Year 9 English practice: social media, fake news and cyberbullying, with reported speech exercises, self-marking gap-fills and a writing task.
Read the text about a study on teenagers and social media. Choose the correct word for each gap.
A new study asked 1,200 teenagers how they use their 1. On average, they spend more than three hours a day on social 2.
Most of them say that they enjoy it. They chat with 3, watch short videos and follow their favourite bands. But almost half of them also say that they sometimes feel 4 when they compare their lives with the perfect pictures they see.
One big problem is fake 5. A photo can be changed in seconds, and a video can look completely real when it is not. Experts say that young people should always check the 6 of a story before they share it.
Another problem is cyberbullying. If somebody writes something cruel online, hundreds of people can read it within minutes. Schools now teach students how to 7 such messages and where to get help.
The study ends with simple 8: switch your phone off an hour before you go to bed, and talk to a real person every day.
When the reporting verb is in the past, the tense goes one step back: am/is → was, watch → watched, have done → had done, will → would, can → could, must → had to.
1. “I am tired.” → She said that she tired.
2. “We watch videos every evening.” → They said that they videos every evening.
3. “I have deleted the photo.” → He said that he the photo.
4. “I will call you later.” → She said that she call me later.
5. “I can't find the link.” → He said that he find the link.
6. “You must check the source.” → The teacher said that we check the source.
7. “I'm posting a picture.” → He said that he a picture.
8. “My phone broke yesterday.” → She said that her phone the day before.
Reported questions keep normal word order and lose do/did. Yes/no questions need if or whether. Requests and orders use to + infinitive (not to for negatives). And remember: you tell somebody something, but you just say something.
1. “Where do you get your news?” → She asked me where I my news.
2. “Are you online?” → He asked I was online.
3. “Don't share that video!” → The teacher told us that video.
4. “Please turn off your phone.” → She asked me off my phone.
5. Mia me that the whole story was fake.
6. Ben that he had already seen the post.
7. “How many followers have you got?” → He asked me how many followers I got.
8. “Did you read the article?” → She asked me I had read the article.
Your class discussed phone rules at school. Write 6–8 sentences reporting what people said — and add your own opinion. Use at least three reported speech sentences.
• Your teacher: “Phones must stay in your bag during lessons.”
• A classmate: “I need my phone for the bus timetable.”
• Another classmate: “Will we be allowed to use phones in the break?”
• Your parents: “Don't take your phone to bed.”
Review your answers below, then send them to your teacher.
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