Reported  speech
  * Direct speech: I like ice cream.
  * Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.

                                               Tense

                                           Direct Speech

                                          Reported Speech

present simple

I like ice cream

She said (that) she liked ice cream.

present continuous

I am living in London

She said (that) she was living in London.

past simple

I bought a car

She said (that) she had bought a car OR She said (that) she bought a car.

past continuous

I was walking along the street

She said (that) she had been walking along the street.

present perfect

I haven't seen Julie

She said (that) she hadn't seen Julie.

past perfect*

I had taken English lessons before

She said (that) she had taken English lessons before.

will

I'll see you later

She said (that) she would see me later.

would*

I would help, but...

She said (that) she would help but...

can

I can speak perfect English

She said (that) she could speak perfect English.

could*

I could swim when I was four

She said (that) she could swim when she was four.

shall

I shall come later

She said (that) she would come later.

should*

I should call my mother

She said (that) she should call her mother

might*

I might be late

She said (that) she might be late

must

I must study at the weekend

She said (that) she must study at the weekend OR She said she had to study at the weekend

* doesn't change.

Occasionally, we don't need to change the present tense into the past if the information in direct
speech is still true (but this is only for things which are general facts, and even then usually we
like to change the tense):
  * Direct speech: The sky is blue.
  * Reported speech: She said (that) the sky is/was blue.

·         The direct question is the present simple of 'be'. We make the question form of the
present simple of be by inverting (changing the position of)the subject and verb. So, we need to
change them back before putting the verb into the past simple.

·         Here are some more examples:

                                          Direct Question

                                         Reported Question

Where is the Post Office, please?

She asked me where the Post Office was.

What are you doing?

She asked me what I was doing.

Who was that fantastic man?

She asked me who that fantastic man had been.


Reported requests

Direct Request

                                     Reported Request

Please help me.

                                     She asked me to help her.

Please don't smoke.

                                     She asked me not to smoke.

Could you bring my book tonight?

                                     She asked me to bring her book that night.

Could you pass the milk, please?

                                     She asked me to pass the milk.

Would you mind coming early tomorrow?

                                     She asked me to come early the next day.

To report a negative request, use 'not':
  * Direct speech: Please don't be late.
  * Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.

Direct Order

            Reported Order

Go to bed!

            He told the child to go to bed.

Don't worry!

            He told her not to worry.

Be on time!

            He told me to be on time.

Don't smoke!

            He told us not to smoke.


Time expressions in reported speech. Here's a table of some possible conversions:

now

          then / at that time

today

          yesterday / that day / Tuesday / the 27th of June

yesterday

          the day before yesterday / the day before / Wednesday / the 5th of December

last night

          the night before, Thursday night

last week

          the week before / the previous week

tomorrow

          today / the next day / the following day / Friday