Reported speech: tenses
Tenses
1. Present Simple and Present Continuous
In general, present tenses in direct speech change to past tenses in reported speech.
Julia:
‘I live in London.’
‘I’m taking a course in German this year.’
- Julia said she lived in London.
- Julia said she was taking a course in German that year.
2. ‘Can’ and ‘Will’
‘Can’ and ‘will’ change to ‘could’ and ‘would’.
‘I can speak English and French.’
‘My German course will finish next year.’
- Julia said she could speak English and French.
- Julia said her German course would finish the following year.
3. Past Simple, Past Continuous and Past Perfect
PAST SIMPLE → PAST PERFECT
PAST CONTINUOUS → PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
PAST PERFECT – DOES NOT CHANGE
‘I finished my Master’s degree last year.’
‘I was reading your company’s website when I decided to send in my CV.’
- Julia said she had finished her Master’s degree the previous year.
- Julia said she had been reading the company’s website when she decided to send in her CV.
4. Present Perfect Simple and Continuous
These tenses change like this:
‘I have spent time in Japan.’
‘I have been working as a secretary for two years.’
- Julia said she had spent time in Japan.
- Julia said she had been working as a secretary for two years.
5. Past Modal Verbs
In general, past modal verbs don’t change.
Interviewer:
‘We should be in touch next week.’
‘We might have some more questions.’
- The interviewer said they should be in touch the following week.
- The interviewer said they might have some more questions.
| Note: It is not always necessary to change the tense. If the situation is still the same, you can leave verb in the original tense:
– ‘I can speak English and French.’
– ‘I finished my Master’s degree last year.’
|
‘Here and now’ words
When we change direct speech to reported speech, we may need to make other natural, logical changes:
1. Pronouns / Possessive Adjectives
‘I finished my Master’s degree last year.’
- Julia said she had finished her Master’s degree the previous year.
I → SHE
MY → HER
2. Time
LAST YEAR → THE LAST YEAR / THE PREVIOUS YEAR
‘I’m taking a course in German this year.’
- Julia said she was taking a course in German that year.
THIS YEAR → THAT YEAR
‘My German course will finish next year.’
- Julia said her German course would finish the following year.
NEXT YEAR → THE NEXT YEAR / THE FOLLOWING YEAR
3. Place
HERE → THERE
Julia:
‘I’ve been living here for six months.’
- Julia said that she had been living there / in that place for six months.
I’ll meet you here tomorrow for a coffee.’
- Julia said she would meet us at the cafe the following day for a coffee.
Other common changes include:
| Direct Speech | → | Reported Speech |
| today | → | that day / on Tuesday |
| yesterday | → | the previous day / the day before / on Monday |
| tomorrow | → | the next day / the following day / on Wednesday |
| now | → | then / at that time |