Reported speech: statements

Reported Statements

When do we use reported speech? Sometimes someone says a sentence, for example "I'm going to the cinema tonight". Later, maybe we want to tell someone else what the first person said.

Here's how it works:

We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'.  If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the sentence:

• Direct speech: I like ice cream.
• Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.

We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'.

(As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)

But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the 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.

Exercise 1: Reported Statements 6 (Present Simple)

Exercise 2: Reported Statements Mix