1. Reported Speech

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

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.)

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