REPORTED SPEECH

1. Uses

We use it to report what another person said, but we don't use exactly the same words.

Direct speech                        Reported speech

'It's a good car.'                      He said it was a good car.

 'I've had it for two years.'      He told me he'd had it for two years.

 We can use both say and tell as reporting verbs.

* If we mention who we're talking to, we use tell + indirect object (me, him, the man, etc.).

               He told me it was a good car.

* If we don't mention who we're talking to, we use say.

  He said it was a good car.

 2. How verbs change in Reported Speech

Direct  Speech (He said,“…’’ )	Indirect Speech (He said (that)...)
Present Simple “She likes dancing”	Past Simple He said (that) she liked dancing.
Present continuous: “I’m reading”	Past continuous He said (that) he was reading.
Past Simple  “They went there”	Past Perfect He said (that) they had gone there.
Past Continuous  “I was listening to him”	Past Perfect Continuous  He said (that) he had been listening to him.
Present Perfect  “I’ve read this book”	Past Perfect She said (that) she had read that book.
Present Perfect Continuous "We have been working all day."	Past Perfect Continuous She said they had been working all day.
Past perfect: “I had done it.”	NO CHANGE He said (that) he had done it.
Future WILL “I’ll send you a copy.”	WOULD He promised he would send me a copy.
Future:  am/is/are going to .. “He is going to sell his house.”	Was/Were going to... He said (that) he was going to sell his house
Modal: CAN “You can come if you want.”	Modal: COULD He said that I could go if I wanted.
Modal: MUST (obligation) “You must be home before 6pm”	HAD TO He said that I had to be home before 6pm.
MODAL: MAY “I may not be at home.”	MODAL: MIGHT She said (that) she might not be at home.
Modals: would, could, should, might, ought to “It shouldn’t give you any trouble”	NO CHANGE He said it shouldn’t give me any trouble.

3. Other changes

- Pronouns and possessive adjectives:
“My name’s Lyn” She said her name was Lyn
- this –that (the)
“We’re meeting this evening” They said they were meeting that evening
- these –those
-  here -there
- now –at that time/then
-  today -that day
- tonight -that night
- yesterday -the previous day / the day before
- tomorrow -the following day/the day after/the next day
- next week -the following week
- last night -the previous night / the night before
- two days ago, a week ago, etc. -two days before, the week before, etc.