exercises on reported speech elementary

English Grammar Online Exercises and Downloadable Worksheets

Online exercises.

• Reported Speech

Levels of Difficulty : Elementary Intermediate Advanced

• RS012 - Reported Speech Intermediate
• RS011 - Reported Speech Intermediate
• RS010 - Reporting Verbs Advanced
• RS009 - Reporting Verbs Advanced
• RS008 - Reporting Verbs Advanced
• RS007 - Reporting Verbs Intermediate
• RS006 - Reported Speech Intermediate
• RS005 - Reported Speech - Introductory Verbs Advanced
• RS004 - Reported Speech Intermediate
• RS003 - Reporting Verbs Intermediate
• RS002 - Reported Speech Intermediate
• RS001 - Reported Speech Intermediate
• Gerund - Infinitive
• Adjective - Adverb
• Modal Verbs
• Passive Voice
• Definite and Indefinite Articles
• Prepositions
• Connectives and Linking Words
• Quantifiers
• Question and Negations
• Relative Pronouns
• Indefinite Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns
• Phrasal Verbs
• Common Mistakes
• Missing Word Cloze
• Word Formation
• Multiple Choice Cloze
• Prefixes and Suffixes
• Key Word Transformation
• Editing - One Word Too Many
• Collocations
• General Vocabulary
• Adjectives - Adverbs
• Gerund and Infinitive
• Conjunctions and Linking Words
• Question and Negation
• Error Analysis
• Translation Sentences
• Multiple Choice
• Banked Gap Fill
• Open Gap Fill
• General Vocabulary Exercises
• Argumentative Essays
• Letters and Emails
• English News Articles
• Privacy Policy

Reported Speech – Free Exercise

Write the following sentences in indirect speech. Pay attention to backshift and the changes to pronouns, time, and place.

• Two weeks ago, he said, “I visited this museum last week.” → Two weeks ago, he said that   . I → he|simple past → past perfect|this → that|last …→ the … before
• She claimed, “I am the best for this job.” → She claimed that   . I → she|simple present→ simple past|this→ that
• Last year, the minister said, “The crisis will be overcome next year.” → Last year, the minister said that   . will → would|next …→ the following …
• My riding teacher said, “Nobody has ever fallen off a horse here.” → My riding teacher said that   . present perfect → past perfect|here→ there
• Last month, the boss explained, “None of my co-workers has to work overtime now.” → Last month, the boss explained that   . my → his/her|simple present→ simple past|now→ then

Rewrite the question sentences in indirect speech.

• She asked, “What did he say?” → She asked   . The subject comes directly after the question word.|simple past → past perfect
• He asked her, “Do you want to dance?” → He asked her   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you → she|simple present → simple past
• I asked him, “How old are you?” → I asked him   . The subject comes directly after the question word + the corresponding adjective (how old)|you→ he|simple present → simple past
• The tourists asked me, “Can you show us the way?” → The tourists asked me   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you→ I|us→ them
• The shop assistant asked the woman, “Which jacket have you already tried on?” → The shop assistant asked the woman   . The subject comes directly after the question word|you→ she|present perfect → past perfect

Rewrite the demands/requests in indirect speech.

• The passenger requested the taxi driver, “Stop the car.” → The passenger requested the taxi driver   . to + same wording as in direct speech
• The mother told her son, “Don’t be so loud.” → The mother told her son   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The policeman told us, “Please keep moving.” → The policeman told us   . to + same wording as in direct speech ( please can be left off)
• She told me, “Don’t worry.” → She told me   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The zookeeper told the children, “Don’t feed the animals.” → The zookeeper told the children   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t

How good is your English?

Find out with Lingolia’s free grammar test

Take the test!

Maybe later

Reported Speech, Indirect Speech – English Grammar Exercises

• You are here:
• Grammar Exercises

Reported Speech Exercise: Requests And Commands

Reported speech exercises | reporting requests and commands.

Do the exercises below about the reported speech (requests and commands) and click on the button to check your answers.

(Before doing the exercise you may want to see the lesson on reported speech )

Transform these requests and commands into reported speech (start the sentence as suggested.)

• Can you lend me your book? → She asked me
• Please, help me with my homework → She begged her brother
• Could you spell your name, please? → She asked him
• Stand up. → The policeman ordered the criminal
• Don't be late. → She warned me
• Please, park your car away from the factory. → The security agent asked her
• Don't call me anymore. → She asked him
• Enjoy your stay in Paris → The hotel manager told her
• Please, keep quiet. → She asked the kids
• Don't leave me alone. → He told his mom
• Could you bring your laptops? → The teacher asked the students
• Be nice to your sister . → He urged his son
• You must not use the calculator.→ The maths teacher told the students
• Can you send invitations to all participants? → He asked his secretary
• You had better exercise regularly. → The doctor advised him
• Don't eat too much red meat. → The doctor advised him
• Stop making fool of me. → He asked her
• Open the window, please. → The duke ordered his butler
• Drop me at the hotel, please. → He asked the taxi driver
• Don't put the bag on the table. → She asked her daughter

Related materials

• Reported speech exercise (mixed)
• Reported speech exercise (questions)
• Reported speech exercise (requests and commands)
• Reported speech lesson

Search form

• 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!

Check your grammar: matching

Check your grammar: error correction, check your grammar: gap fill, worksheets and downloads.

What was the most memorable conversation you had yesterday? Who were you talking to and what did they say to you?

Sign up to our newsletter for LearnEnglish Teens

We will process your data to send you our newsletter and updates based on your consent. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of every email. Read our privacy policy for more information.

English Practice Downloadable PDF Grammar and Vocabulary Worksheets

Reported speech (b1).

• RS013 - Reported Speech
• RS012 - Reported Questions and Commands
• RS011 - Reported Speech
• RS010 - Reported Speech
• RS009 - Reported Commands
• RS008 - Reported Questions
• RS007 - Reported Speech
• RS006 - Reported Speech
• RS005 - Reported Speech
• RS004 - Reported Speech
• RS003 - Reported Speech
• RS002 - Reported Speech - Mixed Exercises
• RS001 - Reported Speech - Mixed Exercises
• Adjective - Adverb
• Gerund and Infinitive
• Modal Verbs
• Reported Speech
• Passive Voice
• Definite and Indefinite Articles
• Quantifiers
• Relative Clauses
• Prepositions
• Questions and Negations
• Question Tags
• Language in Use
• Word Formation
• General Vocabulary
• Topical Vocabulary
• Key Word Transformation

News Articles

• Letters and Emails
• Blog Posts and Comments
• Connectives and Linking Phrases
• Phrasal Verbs
• Collocations and Phrases

Listening Comprehension

Privacy policy.

Reported speech commands and requests

• English grammar PDF
• PDF worksheets
• Mixed PDF tests
• Present tenses
• Past tenses
• Future tenses
• Present perfect
• Past perfect
• Future perfect
• Irregular verbs
• Modal verbs
• If-conditional
• Passive voice

Reported speech

• Time clauses
• Relative clauses
• Indirect questions
• Question tags
• Imperative sentence
• Gerund and infinitive
• Direct | indirect object

Make reported commands and requests.

"Sit down, please," she asked me. She asked me to sit down.

Check test Answer key Clear test

Related pages:

Exercises, PDF worksheets and grammar rules.

Reported commands, requests and questions

Reported speech worksheets PDF

Reported commands and requests

We use verbs such as advise, ask, beg, forbid, order, persuade, recommend, tell, urge, warn etc. to introduce commands and requests in the reported speech.

In the direct speech we usually do not mention the person in the imperative. In the reported speech the person addressed must be mentioned.

"Stand up," the teacher said. - The teacher told the children to stand up. "Please, prepare for the exam," she said. - She urged me to prepare for the exam. "Take off your shoes," I said. - I advised him to take off his shoes. "Lie down on the floor," ordered the policeman. - The policeman ordered the robber to lie down on the floor.

Negative commands and requests

Negative commands and requests are made by verb + object + not + infinitive.

"Don't be late again," said Jane. - Jane urged me not be late again. "Don't hesitate," our teacher persuaded us. - Our teacher persuaded us not to hesitate. "Don't smoke," the doctor warned my father. - The doctor warned my father not to smoke.

Reported speech - 1

Reported speech - 2

Reported speech - 3

Worksheets - handouts

Exercises: indirect speech

• Reported speech - present
• Reported speech - past
• Reported speech - questions
• Reported questions - write
• Reported speech - imperatives
• Reported speech - modals
• Indirect speech - tenses 1
• Indirect speech - tenses 2
• Indirect speech - write 1
• Indirect speech - write 2
• Indirect speech - quiz
• Reported speech - tenses
• Indirect speech – reported speech
• Reported speech – indirect speech

Reported Speech Exercise 3

Perfect english grammar.

• Review reported orders and requests here
• Download this quiz in PDF here
• More reported speech exercises here

Hello! I'm Seonaid! I'm here to help you understand grammar and speak correct, fluent English.

Read more about our learning method

Reported Speech

Loading ad...

Essential Grammar in Use, fourth edition; Raymond Murphy; Cambridge University Press, 2015

• Google Classroom
• Microsoft Teams
• Download PDF

Reported Speech and Indirect Requests Listening and Speaking Exercises

Indirect questions and reported speech are two aspects of English grammar that can be a little tricky. Practice with pictures and  listening using multiple intelligences can help make lessons more entertaining and engaging.

1 Reported speech listening/speaking (with audio and answers)

Reported speech is an essential but sometimes overlooked aspect of English grammar. This is a fairly elementary exercise.  Students can try to complete the speech bubbles. Then they can listen to the audio to compare answers.

Reported speech (PDF)

(see the YouTube video)

Subscribe to Eslflow

Subscribe to get full access to the latest and best resources from eslflow.com . There are no ads in the newsletter and you will receive entertaining, high quality, and up-to-date teaching resources regularly. And, if you subscribe, you will be supporting the eslflow website.

Reported Speech Guide

Introduction to reported speech practice worksheet (PDF)

2 Reported speech brainstorm (with audio and possible answers)

Two introductory exercises  for reported speech.

Reported speech brainstorm (PDF)

Indirect questions

Introduction indirect questions practice (PDF)

3 Indirect questions (with answers and audio)

This is an indirect questions listening and speaking  exercise and activity. Students  try to complete the invitations conversations using the pictures and the vocabulary. Or students can listen to the audio and match the vocabulary and phrases to complete the questions.

Indirect questions listening/speaking (PDF)

(Indirect questions Youtube video mp4)

4 Indirect  questions challenge(with audio and answers)

An exercise to introduce or review indirect questions.

Indirect questions challenge (PDF)

5 Celebrity interview: advanced reported speech with academic reporting verbs (with audio and answers)

This is a more advanced reported speech exercise for listening/speaking or writing students. I’ve noticed that even quite good students often have trouble using a variety of reporting verbs. In this exercise, students listen to a interview with a celebrity and write sentences using the specified reporting verbs.

Celebrity interview: reported speech (PDF)

Related Resources:

5 Gerunds and Infinitives Exercises

Comparative adjective exercises

10  Adjectives Exercises Including Adjectives for People and Things 

3 Parts of Speech Exercises

7 Picture-Based Present Continuous Worksheets (PDF)

8 Preposition Exercises for Location, Time and Movement (PDF)

5 Future Tense Vocabulary and Speaking Exercises

5  Useful Passive Voice Practice worksheets

6  Present Perfect Language and Speaking Worksheets

11  Incredibly Useful Past Tense Simple Teaching Activities (PDF)

Listening/Speaking Exercises for Conditionals

6 Reporting verbs (sorting)

This is an exercise for academic writing, or any kind of advanced writing. I’ve noticed over years that students just didn’t get “reporting verbs”. They had a lot of trouble introducing paraphrasing and quotations. I have never got around to doing anything about it before. But I’m pretty proud of this exercise. It makes a nice writing lesson to go along with essay writing activities that require doing some research. Bringing the research into an essay requires paraphrasing and quotations. Reporting verbs are often quite flexible and difficult to explain but this activity helps generate discussion and a better understanding of their various uses.

Reporting verbs (PDF)

10 opinion and argument writing worksheets

8 comparison/contrast templates and exercises

10 cause/effect writing activities

3 kinds of exercises for teaching transitions

6 memorable narrative essay writing practice exercises (PDF)

6 delightful descriptive paragraph and essay writing exercises  (PDF)

11 essential exercises for elementary writing students (PDF)

2 Replies to “Reported speech and indirect requests”

Amazing update, thank you

Absolutely fantastic 😍 thank you ❤️

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

RECENT ESL EXERCISES

• Essential listening exercises for ESL classes
• Daily routines and schedules
• Sentence starters
• Writing topic sentences
• Shopping online listening, speaking and vocabulary
• Import/export, logistics and supply chain exercises
• Create a conversation
• Using comparative adjectives
• Gerunds and Infinitives Grammar, Speaking and Listening Activities

A 12-Year-Old Wins Astonishing Spell-Off at Scripps National Spelling Bee

In a dramatic finish, Bruhat Soma, from Tampa, Fla., defeated Faizan Zaki, a 12-year-old from Plano, Texas, in the competition’s second spell-off ever.

• Share full article

Emmett Lindner

A fast-paced spell-off capped the night: Takeaways from the spelling bee.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday came down to its second-ever spell-off, a fast-and-furious tiebreaking round that rewards speed as much as accuracy. Given 90 seconds to spell as many of the announced words as possible, Bruhat Soma and Faizan Zaki, the two remaining spellers after 14 rounds, stood tense over a blue buzzer as they flew through words difficult to comprehend even at conversational speed.

When the results were tallied, Bruhat — a 12-year-old from Tampa, Fla. — came out on top with a superhuman total of 29 correct words, seven more words than the previous spell-off winner in 2022. As the confetti fell from the ceiling, Bruhat smiled widely, held the trophy high above his head and shook hands with Faizan.

If you weren’t able to watch the finals on Thursday night, here are three takeaways.

The schwa and homonyms were a tough hurdle.

The difficulty of the finals was immediately apparent: The first speller onstage, Rishabh Saha, misspelled “desmotrope,” a chemistry term. As an eighth-grader, Rishabh will not be eligible to compete in the 2025 Scripps Bee.

The schwa — the “uh”-like sound that can be represented by any vowel in the English alphabet — tripped him up, much like it did for several spellers in 2023. He added an “a” in place of the first “o.”

Shrey Parikh also fell to the schwa with the word “kanin,” a kind of boiled rice used in the Philippines. He spelled it as “kanan.” Shortly after, Ananya Prassanna misspelled “murrina,” a word of Spanish origin, as “marina.”

YY Liang got tripped up by “immanent,” a homonym of “imminent,” and was the second to be eliminated. Kirsten Santos was taken out next by another homonym, “apophasis,” which she spelled “apophysis.”

A trend of the night: Indigenous vocabularies.

The 13th round featured several Indigenous words. Shrey correctly spelled “Jumano,” a group of Native Americans that lived in the Southwest and South Plains between until around 1700. He asked twice for an etymology, but judges told him that it had none, given the dictionary. No matter — he nailed the spelling.

The next competitor, Aditi Muthukumar, was asked to spell Lillooet, a Salishan people of the Fraser River valley in British Columbia. The word also did not have a language of origin listed, and it knocked Aditi out of the finals.

Immediately after Aditi came Bruhat, the night’s eventual champion, who correctly spelled “Okvik,” from an Alaskan geographical name.

Texas, almost always home to finalists, could not clinch a win.

Texas holds the title of being home to the most Bee champions, with 16 spellers from the Lone Star State holding the trophy under clouds of confetti. Out of the 20 Texans who made it to the nationals this year, only two remained by the finals.

Faizan, who is from the Dallas area, came in second place after spelling 20 words correctly in the spell-off.

The eight finalists spanned the United States, with spellers from California to New York.

Alexandra E. Petri

Bruhat Soma was on a mission to win after a disappointing loss last year.

It was only the second spell-off in the history of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and Bruhat Soma rattled off a head-spinning 29 correctly spelled words in 90 seconds, including heautophany, nachschläge and puszta.

Bruhat’s spell-off sprint on Thursday night won him the competition’s trophy, the Scripps Cup, and a grand prize of $50,000. He far surpassed his competitor, Faizan Zaki, a sixth grader from Dallas who correctly spelled 20 words, and also the bee’s previous spell-off record of 22 correct words in 2022, according to Bee officials.

After breezing through the stunning victory, the 12-year-old from Tampa, Fla., stood in shock as confetti fell to the stage floor around him.

“It’s been my goal for the past year to win,” the seventh-grader said. “I can’t describe it. I’m so shaky.”

Bruhat had been on a mission to hold the Scripps Cup above his head. He was eliminated last year in the first round of the quarterfinals, tying for 74th place. “I was pretty disappointed by my performance, and I knew I had to work harder,” he said in a recorded interview that aired during the show.

He also competed in 2022, when he tied for 163rd place.

Bruhat’s first word of the night was habitude, which means one’s “usual disposition or mode of behavior or procedure.” He steadily conquered words like Okvik, an Alaskan geographical name, and hoofddorp, a Dutch word, as the competition progressed in intensity and difficulty. He remained poised onstage, rarely seeming nervous and often thinking through the words by mock-typing out the letters in the air.

After his win, Bruhat was joined onstage by his parents and two siblings, who expressed pride and elation at his achievement.

In a recorded interview aired during the show, Bruhat — who is tall for his age — said that he also enjoys basketball. His favorite player is LeBron James, according to his bio on the Scripps National Spelling Bee website. He also enjoys reading, ping-pong and badminton, and he plays the snare drum in his middle school band.

While competing, his forehead was marked with a vermilion tika, a Hindu symbol of power and purity. His parents said that Bruhat memorized about 80 percent of the sacred Hindu texts, the Bhagavad Gita.

Emily Schmall , Maggie Astor and Emmett Lindner contributed reporting.

Advertisement

Aimee Ortiz

Here are a few key moments, and words, from this year’s Scripps spelling bee.

The long road to a champion speller is littered with schwas and arcane words, but after 244 eliminations, there was finally a winner on Thursday: Bruhat Soma, a seventh grader from Tampa, Fla.

For many, the words are the star of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Here are a few key moments that helped shape the competition:

Desmotrope: a form of a chemical element related to another

The first word of the night took out the very first speller, Rishabh Saha, a 14-year-old from Merced, Calif., who used an A for the first O. Grace Walters, 22, a spelling bee coach and a recent graduate of Rice University, said in an interview that Saha “maybe overthought it because it’s the finals and he didn’t expect a word to follow the rules like that.”

Apophasis: the raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it (as in, “We won’t discuss his past crimes.”)

Kirsten Santos, this year’s only repeat finalist, was knocked out by the word, which has a homonym: “apophysis.” Kirsten, a 13-year-old from Katy, Texas, looked crestfallen when she heard the bell indicating that she had gotten the word wrong. Cole Shafer-Ray, 23, a former professional spelling bee coach, recent Yale University graduate and the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee runner-up, said the word was “one of the first words that’s as hard as a typical finals word. The fact that it’s a homonym makes it harder.”

Kanin: boiled rice

Shrey Parikh, a 12-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., was taken out by the word, which he spelled “kanan.” Dev Shah, 15, the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, said that “asking geographical words at a spelling bee is like spelling at a geography bee.”

Nicuri: a Brazilian palm

Faizan Zaki, a 12-year-old from Plano, Texas, tore through this word without asking any questions and kicked the competition into an exciting spell-off, the second in the history of the bee.

Emily Schmall

Bruhat’s forehead was marked with a vermilion tika, a Hindu symbol of power and purity. His father said he had memorized 80 percent of the Hindu sacred text, the Bhagavad Gita.

Standing with his wife and daughters next to his spelling champion son, Bruhat’s father said in a television interview that it was “the proudest moment for the family.”

Bruhat clearly was determined. He first competed at the national bee as a fifth-grader in 2022. That year, he tied for 163rd place. He rose up the ranks the following year, finishing tied for 74th place. This year, he held the trophy over his head, as the crowd roared with applause.

“I can’t describe it,” Bruhat said in a television interview on stage as the confetti rained down. “I’m still shaking.”

As the confetti fell from the ceiling, Bruhat smiled wide and held the trophy high above his head. A Bee official said that he set a new record for the number of words correctly spelled during a spell-off; the winner of the only other spell-off in the bee’s history had 22 correct words.

Maggie Astor

Bruhat’s reaction at the moment he was declared the winner was a bit muted, almost like he was in shock — understandable! He smiled and shook Faizan’s hand.

Bruhat’s spell-off performance was mesmerizing to watch. Twenty-nine words in 90 seconds, including such monsters as “heautophany,” “nachschläge” and “puszta.”

And the winner is… Bruhat Soma, with 29 correctly spelled words in 90 seconds! Faizan Zaki correctly spelled 20 words.

One of the officials is now tormenting — I mean, complimenting — Faizan and Bruhat by talking about how awesome they are. I’m sure all they actually want is to know who won.

Before beginning, Faizan took a few deep breaths with his eyes closed, lifting his fingers to his face. He then raced through the words, stumbling a few times, but persevering until the 90 seconds were up.

Faizan Zaki didn’t get as far down the list as Bruhat Soma did, but before we have a declaration of the winner, the judges have to confirm how many of the words each of them spelled correctly.

Cole Shafer-Ray, a former spelling coach, said that a “bee that works like it should (where the best spellers generally win) hinges on having a read on what makes a word difficult.” He added: “This year’s competition has probably had the most examples ever of Scripps’ word selection reflecting blatant misunderstanding of word difficulty. I think if they ever want to fix this — which they should — they need to have former spellers pick the words. Recent ones.”

Shafer-Ray said that spell-offs are exciting, “but I think it should probably be a last resort, since it’s testing an entirely new skill.”

Bruhat Soma just BLAZED through about 30 words in an unbelievable performance. Faizan Zaki is up now, and he asks for and receives a few moments to take deep breaths.

Bruhat is like the runner in a race whose whole strategy is to hang back and then let it absolutely rip in the last mile.

Each speller will receive the same words in the same order. (The other person will of course be sequestered while the other spells, so they can’t hear it.) Whoever spells more of the words correctly in 90 seconds will win.

We’re heading to a spell-off for only the second time in the history of the spelling bee! The two remaining contestants, Faizan Zaki and Bruhat Soma, will have to spell as many words as they can in a short period of time, rather than taking their time to spell a single one.

The crowd goes wild, chanting, “Spell-off! Spell-off! Spell-off!”

Wow, Faizan Zaki just instantly spelled “nicuri” after asking not a single question.

Ananya Prassanna is out on “murrina,” a disease of Central American horses and mules, which she spells “marina.” We’re down to two.

Bruhat Soma correctly spells “hoofddorp,” a Dutch word.

Shrey Parikh is out, and we’re down to three. He covered his face with his hands and looked from side to side nervously as he thought and asked questions. The word was “kanin,” and he spelled it “kanan.”

As Shrey walked off the stage, Faizan walked over and gave him a hug.

Dev Shah, last year’s champion, said that tagalog words like to use “k” and that “personally, asking geographical words at a spelling bee is like spelling at a geography bee.”

Ananya Prassanna correctly spells “tennesi,” which she seemed uncertain about, and she is clearly delighted. Next up is Faizan Zaki, who correctly spells a word with a homonym: “daena,” referring to “the moral life of humankind.”

Bruhat Soma correctly spelled “Okvik,” from an Alaskan geographical name. He asked multiple times for the part of speech, an adjective, which could have misled him into ending the word with “ic” but didn’t.

Aditi Muthukumar’s word, Lillooet — “a Salishan people of the Fraser river valley in British Columbia” — also has no language of origin listed in the dictionary. She misspelled it “Lillowet,” and we’re down to four.

Cole Shafer-Ray, a former spelling coach, noted that “it’s getting significantly more difficult now. These kids are impressive.” He added that Lillooet, which knocked out Aditi Muthukumar, "was probably the toughest so far.”

She was visibly shaken at first, but left the stage smiling, flashing a heart sign with her hands.

Shrey Parikh gets a tricky one: “Jumano.” He asked for the language of origin twice, but it had none given in the dictionary. He got it right anyway.

At the Scripps bee, hard work, not age, can spell success.

When Sanil Thorat, 8, a third grader from Louisiana, correctly spelled “triceratops” to win his regional spelling bee in March, his extracurricular hobbies might have lent a competitive edge.

“I felt very excited because I’m a dinosaur lover,” Sanil said in an interview. But he was even more thrilled to qualify after the win for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, where he was the youngest of 245 people hoping to be crowned champion.

“When I was in first grade, I was like, I want to really get there, and it’s finally happening,” he said.

For regional spellers who advance to the national level, the chance to compete is the culmination of months or years of staring down dictionaries, Latin roots and homonyms. Some might have had a little more time to prepare — this year, contestant ages range from 8 to 15. But participants over the years have shown that being young is not necessarily a limitation.

The Scripps nationals is a family rite of passage for Sanil. His older brother, Sahil, competed in 2022 and 2023, finishing in 49th and then 12th place.

During the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Sanil was eliminated when he misspelled “microphakia” by one letter, adding a “c” instead of a “k.” He tied for 60th place in the competition. In the preliminary rounds, he had correctly spelled “pretil” and “bailiwick.”

To make it that far, Sanil studied thousands of words and their origins. “I use this concept called roots,” he said. “Latin or Greek or whatever types of words, they give meaning.”

With that strategy, he added, “you can decipher the word and you can find its spelling easily.”

But Sanil’s days are not always filled with ancient lexicons and dictionaries. In his free time, he likes to swim and run. (He is very fast, he said.) He also plays piano and said that Vivaldi is his favorite composer to practice.

As the Bee approached, did he think about how he might fare against hundreds of competitors, some nearly twice his age? That answer, for Sanil, was fundamental.

“If I can do it, anyone can do it,” he said.

Being younger was not a disadvantage, either, for Edith Fuller, who in 2017, at age 6, was the competition’s youngest speller to advance to the national event. She successfully spelled “nyctinasty” and “tapas” in the preliminary rounds, but failed to move forward and tied for 41st place. Like Sanil, Edith focused on roots, she told Scripps in 2017 , and conducted mock spelling bees with two of her younger siblings.

In 2016, Nihar Janga became the youngest person to win the Scripps Bee at age 11, when he was crowned co-champion. His winning word was “gesellschaft,” and as confetti rained down onstage, Nihar crossed his arms in an “X” to emulate the signature move of one of his inspirations, the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant.

Sanil said his own inspiration came from more than a love of words — he also owed his success to support from his parents, his school, his friends and his community. And he had advice for any future competitors who might think that age is an advantage.

“If I’m this young, it doesn’t matter about your age,” Sanil said. “You just need to work hard, and you might make it.”