REPORTED SPEECH

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.