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.