Reported Speech

Tense changes Present Simple Past Simple “I agree”  He said he agreed. Present Continuous  Past Continuous “I’m leaving.”  She said she was leaving.

Past Simple  Past Perfect “I went to school yesterday.”  She said she had gone to school the previous day. Past Continuous  Past Perfect Continuous “I was walking home when I saw the accident.”  He said he had been walking home when he saw the accident. Will  would “I will always love you.”  He said he would always love me.

Reference words “I’ll see you here tomorrow”  He said he would see me there the next day. “I gave you this yesterday.”  She said she had given it to her the day before.

Without tense changes The reporting verb in present: e.g. She says she would come back later. The reported words are always true: e.g. Harry told me that he still likes you. If a message is being repeated immediately: e.g. Mary said she is too busy to come.

Reporting questions Yes/no questions are reported using if: e.g. “Do you like hamburgers?”  He asked me if I liked hamburgers. Wh- questions are reported using the question word: “Where are we going?”  I asked Sue where we were going.

Commands and requests Tell+ the infinitive (commands): “Go away!”  He told me to go away. Ask + infinitive (request): “Please help me”  He asked her to help him.

Other reporting verbs She suggested going to the beach. (suggest + vb+ing) She offered to give me a lift. (offer+ to+vb) She reminded me to call my mother. (remind+ object+inf.)

Paraphrase “Excuse me, do you think you could tell me the time?”  He asked me what the time was.