Reported Speech - English for success

REPORTED SPEECH

CHANGE OF TIME AND PLACE REFERENCE

Time/place references are also changed in reported speech

Examples:
'I will see you here tomorrow', she said. She said that she would see me there the next day.

The most common of these changes are shown below:

Today		that day
'I saw him today', she said.		She said that she had seen him that day.
Yesterday		the day before
'I saw him yesterday', she said.		She said that she had seen him the* day before.*
The day before yesterday		two days before
'I met her the day before yesterday', he said.		He said that he had met her two days before.
Tomorrow		the next/following day
'I'll see you tomorrow', he said		He said that he would see me the next day.
The day after tomorrow		in two days time/ two days later
'We'll come the day after tomorrow', they said.		They said that they would come in two days time/ two days later.
Next week/month/year		the following week/month/year
'I have an appointment next week', she said.		She said that she had an appointment the following week.
Last week/month/year		the previous/week/month/year
'I was on holiday last week', he told us.		He told us that he had been on holiday the previous week.
ago		before
'I saw her a week ago,' he said.		He said he had seen her a week before.
this (for time)		that
'I'm getting a new car this* week', she said.*		She said she was getting a new car that* week.*
this/that (adjectives)		the
'Do you like this* shirt?' he asked*		He asked if I liked the* shirt.*
here		there
He said, 'I live here'.		He told me he lived there.

Other changes:
In general, personal pronouns change to the third person singular or plural, except when the speaker reports his own words:

I/me/my/mine, you/your/yours him/his/her/hers
we/us/our/ours, you/your/yours they/their/theirs:

He said: 'I like your new car.' He told her that he liked her new car.

I said: 'I'm going to my friend's house.' I said that I was going to my friend's house.

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.