REPORTED SPEECH: CHANGE OF TIME AND PLACE
Time/place references change when using reported speech
Example
- "I will see you here
tomorrow",
she said.
She
said that she would see me there
the next day.
The most common of these changes are shown below:
| Today | that day | |
|
"I saw him today", she said. |
She said that she had seen him that day. |
|
| Yesterday | the day before | |
|
"I saw him yesterday", she said. |
She said that she had seen him the day before. |
|
| The day before yesterday | two days before | |
|
"I met her the day before yesterday", he said. |
He said that he had met her two days before. |
|
| Tomorrow | the next/following day | |
|
"I'll see you tomorrow", he said |
He said that he would see me the next day. |
|
| The day after tomorrow | in two days time/ two days later | |
|
"We'll come the day after tomorrow", they said. |
They said that they would come in two days time/ two days later. |
|
| Next week/month/year | the following week/month/year | |
|
"I have an appointment next week", she said. |
She said that she had an appointment the following week. |
|
| Last week/month/year | the previous/week/month/year | |
|
"I was on holiday last week", he told us. |
He told us that he had been on holiday the previous week. |
|
| ago | before | |
|
"I saw her a week ago," he said. |
He said he had seen her a week before. |
|
| this (for time) | that | |
|
"I'm getting a new car this week", she said. |
She said she was getting a new car that week. |
|
| this/that (adjectives) | the | |
|
"Do you like this shirt?" he asked |
He asked if I liked the shirt. |
|
| here | there | |
|
He said, "I live here". |
He told me he lived there. |
Other changes:
In general, personal pronouns change to the third person singular or plural, except when the speaker reports his own words:
- I/me/my/mine,
you/your/yours
him/his/her/hers - we/us/our/ours, you/your/yours
they/their/theirs:
-
He said: "I like your new car."
He told her that he liked her new car. - I said: "I'm going
to my friend's house."
I said that I was going to my friend's house.
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