TENSE CHANGES WHEN

USING REPORTED
SPEECH
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.

Phrase in Direct Speech Equivalent in Reported Speech

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
Phrase in Direct Speech Equivalent in Reported Speech

Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous

They complained, "We have been waiting for hours". They complained that they had been wait

Past continuous Past perfect continuous

"We were living in Paris", they told me. They told me that they had been living in

Future Present conditional

"I will be in Geneva on Monday", he said. He said that he would be in Geneva on M

Future continuous Conditional continuous

She said, "I'll be using the car next Friday". She said that she would be using the car n

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.

These modal verbs do not change in reported speech: might, could, would, should, ought to:

 We explained, "It could be difficult to find our house." = We explained that it could be
difficult to find our house.
 She said, "I might bring a friend to the party." = She said that she might bring a friend to
the party.

CHANGE OF PRONOUN IN INDIRECT SPEECH

RULES FOR THE CHANGE OF PRONOUN IN INDIRECT
SPEECH
The pronoun (subject) of the reported speech is changed according to the pronoun of
reporting verb or object (person) of reporting verb (first part of sentence). Sometimes the
pronoun may not change.

1. First person pronoun in reported speech i.e. I, we, me, us, mine, or our, is changed
according to the pronoun of reporting verb if pronoun in reporting verb is third person
pronoun i.e. he, she, it, they, him, his, her, them or their.
Examples:
Direct speech: She said, “I live in China”
Indirect speech: She said that She lived in China.
Direct speech: They said, “we love football”
Indirect speech: They said that they loved football.
2. First person pronoun in reported speech i.e. I, we, me, us, mine, or our, is not changed if
the pronoun (Subject) of reporting is also first person pronoun i.e. I or we.
Examples:
Direct speech: I said, “I write a book”
Indirect speech: I said that I wrote a book.
Direct speech: We said, “we did our job”
Indirect speech: We said that we did our job.
3. Second person pronoun in reported speech i.e. you, yours is changed according to
the person of object of reporting verb.
Examples:
Direct speech: She said to him, “you are handsome”
Indirect speech: She said to him that he was handsome.
Direct speech: He said to me, “you are the main guest of the party”
Indirect speech: He said to me that I was the main guest of the party.
4. Third person pronoun in reported speech i.e. he, she, it, they, him, his, her, them or
their, is not changed in indirect speech.
Examples:
Direct speech: They said, “he will leave us for good”
Indirect speech: They said that he would leave us for good.
Direct speech: You said, “they are waiting for the train”
Indirect speech: You said that they were waiting for the train.
Changes in time and adverbs in indirect speech
Time and adverbs are changed in indirect speech.
Examples:
Direct speech: He said, “I will meet mother tomorrow”
Indirect speech: He said that he would meet mother the next day.
Direct speech: She said, “I am pleased now”
Indirect speech: She said that she was pleased then.
Direct speech: He said, “I like this magazine”
Indirect speech: He said that he liked that magazine.

COMMON RULES FOR CHANGE OF PRONOUN IN INDIRECT SPEECH

Today - changes into that day/the same day
Tomorrow - changes into the next day/the following day
Yesterday - changes into the day before/the previous day
Next week/month/year - changes into the following week/month/year
Last week/month/year - changes into the previous week/month/year
Now/just - changes into then
Ago - changes into before
Here - changes into there
This - changes into that
English grammar direct and indirect speech
Indirect speech for interrogative sentence
Indirect speech for modals
Indirect speech for exclamatory and imperatice sentence
Indirect speech for all tenses