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.
The changes are shown below:
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 the light.
|
Present perfect continuous |
=> |
Past perfect continuous |
They complained, "We have been waiting for hours".
|
|
They complained that they had been waiting for hours.
|
Past continuous |
=> |
Past perfect continuous |
"We were living in Paris", they told me.
|
|
They told me that they had been living in Paris.
|
Future |
=> |
Present conditional |
"I will be in Geneva on Monday", he said
|
|
He said that he would be in Geneva on Monday.
|
Future continuous |
=> |
Conditional continuous |
She said, "I'll be using the car next Friday".
|
|
She said that she would be using the car next Friday.
|
NOTE:
1. 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.
2. These modal verbs do not change in reported speech:
might, could, would, should, ought to, e.g.
- We explained that it could be difficult to find our house.
- She said that she might bring a friend to the party.