REPORTED
SPEECH
TENSE
CHANGES
Normally, the tense
in reported speech is one tense back in time from the tense in direct
speech:
She said, "I
am tired." 
She said that she was tired.
The changes are
shown below:
|
Simple
present
|
|
Simple
past
|
|
"I always drink
coffee", she said
|
|
She said that she always
drank coffee.
|
|
Present
continuous
|
|
Past
continuous
|
|
"I am
reading a book", he explained.
|
|
He explained that he was
reading a book
|
|
Simple
past
|
|
Past
perfect
|
|
"Bill arrived
on Saturday", he said.
|
|
He said that Bill had
arrived on Saturday
|
|
Present
perfect
|
|
Past
perfect
|
|
"I have
been to Spain", he told me.
|
|
He told me that he had
been to Spain
|
|
Past
perfect
|
|
Past
perfect
|
|
"I had
just turned out the light," he explained.
|
|
He explained that he had
just turned out the light.
|
|
Present
perfect continuous
|
|
Past
perfect continuous
|
|
They complained, "We have
been waiting
for hours".
|
|
They complained that they
had been waiting for hours.
|
|
Past
continuous
|
|
Past
perfect continuous
|
|
"We were
living in Paris", they told me.
|
|
They told me that they had
been living in Paris.
|
|
Future
|
|
Present
conditional
|
|
"I will
be in Geneva on Monday", he said
|
|
He said that he would
be in Geneva on Monday.
|
|
Future
continuous
|
|
Conditional
continuous
|
|
She said, "I'll
be using the car next Friday".
|
|
She said that she would
be using the car next Friday.
|
NOTE:
1. You do not need
to change the tense if the reporting verb is in the present, or if the
original statement was about something that is still true, e.g.
He says he
has missed the train but he'll
catch the next one.
We explained that it is very difficult
to find our house.
2. These modal verbs do not change in reported speech:
might, could, would, should, ought to, e.g.
We explained
that it could be difficult to find
our house.
She said that she might bring a
friend to the party.
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