English Grammar Step by Step

   In direct speech we repeat the original words that were said word for word. In reported speech, they undergo some changes:

   —Personal pronouns and possessives (adjectives and pronouns):
       He said, "I didn't witness the traffic accident."
       He said (that2) he hadn't witnessed the traffic accident.
       "We need a holiday: we need to recharge our batteries," they said.
       They said (that) they needed a holiday, as/since/because3 they needed to recharge their batteries.
       "It's not ours," they said.
       They said (that) it was not theirs.

   —Verb tenses4:
       present→past
       past→past perfect
       past perfect→past perfect
       future→conditional
       conditional→conditional
   We shall see this in more detail in the next sections. These changes are only possible if the introductory verb is in a past tense:
       "I want to go to her birthday party." (original words)
       He says (that) he wants to go to her birthday party.
       He said (that) he wanted to go to her birthday party.

   —Other changes:
   Rewrite the following in reported speech.


1  Example: (simple present→simple past)
   "I hate spaghetti," she said8.
   SHE said (that) SHE hated spaghetti.

a  "The train leaves in ten minutes," said the man9.
b  "This evening they play at home," he said. "Next week they play away."
c  "It's no use investing more money in the company," they said.
d  "I'm astounded to hear such remarks," she said.
e  "Stress underlies many diseases of modern times," she said.


2  Example: (present continuous→past continuous)
   "She's listening to some CDs," said his father.
   His father said (that) she was listening to some CDs.

a  "They're going from bad to worse," he said to me.
b  "Things are looking up," she said.
c  "You're always moaning and groaning," he said to them.
d  "She's wearing a pair of blue jeans and a black blouse," he said.
e  "I'm having an important appointment in fifteen minutes," she said.


3  Example: (present perfect→past perfect)
   "I've finished MY homework, mummy," he said.
   HE told his mother/HE said to his mother (that) HE had finished HIS homework.

a  "I have purchased a mansion," she told me.
b  "We have run ten kilometres so far," they answered.
c  "I haven't finished reading the book yet," she said.
d  "Your daughter has not come to class today, Mrs Smith," he said.
e  "It's the second time she hasn't come to class this week," he added.


4  Example: (present perfect continuous→past perfect continuous)
   "WE've been living in this house for twenty years," he replied.
   HE replied that THEY had been living in the/that house for twenty years.

a  "They have been trafficking in stolen goods for over ten years," he remarked.
b  "We have been walking for two hours without stopping," they said.
c  "He's been learning Arabic for two years," said his mother.
d  "It's been snowing for the last two hours," he said.
e  "They've been pulling my leg since I arrived here," she said angrily.


5  Example: (simple past→past perfect)
   "I had a car last year,' she said.
   SHE said that SHE had had a car the previous year.

a  "This morning I was late because I got stuck in heavy traffic," she said.
b  "We suffered a defeat against Germany," he said. "They won by two goals to one."
c  "He set his vicious dog on us," they said.
d  "We learnt a sharp lesson from this experience," they admitted.
e  "I didn't commit the crime," he declared.


6  Examples: (past continuous→past continuous or past perfect continuous; simple past→simple past or past perfect)
   (1)"MY parents were watching TV when I got home last night," he said.
   He said (that) HIS parents were watching TV when HE got home the night before.
   (2) "I was not looking where I was going when I crashed MY car into the wall," he said.
   HE said (that) HE was not looking where HE was going when HE crashed HIS car into a wall.
   (3) "They told ME the truth when I asked them about it," he said.
   He said (that) they (had) told HIM the truth when HE asked them about it.
   (4) "Don't take10 her words seriously: she was only teasing you,' they said to me.
   They told me not to take her words seriously, as she had only been teasing me.
   (5) "I was considering the idea of resigning, but I didn't (resign) because I got a pay increase," she said.
   SHE said (that) SHE had been considering the idea of resigning, but (that) SHE didn't (resign) because SHE got a pay increase/SHE said (that) SHE had been considering the idea of resigning, but (that) SHE hadn't (resigned) because SHE had got a pay increase.
   (6) "I didn't buy the car because it was too old," she said.
   SHE said that SHE hadn't bought the car because it was too old.

   In the first example, the past continuous tense is not put into the past perfect continuous because it would imply that "they were no longer watching TV when he got home". Note that after "when" (time clause), the verb ("got", "crashed" and "asked") is left unchanged. As for the main clause, it is very often left unchanged, too.

   Compare this with the following:
     "I felt drowsy after I took the medicine," he said.
     HE said (that) he (had) felt drowsy after HE had taken/he took the medicine.
   In this case, he could also have said: "I felt drowsy after I had taken the medicine." See unit 9, section 27.

   As for the fourth example, the past continuous form refers to an earlier action, since she was no longer teasing me when they told me not to take her words seriously. The same applies to the fifth instance. In the sixth example, "the car was still old" when this was reported, so it is not possible to use the past perfect here.

   More examples:
     "Chistopher Columbus discovered America in 1492," she said.
     She said (that) Chistopher Columbus discovered America in 1492
     "I was studying at the high school in 1980," she said.
     SHE said (that) SHE was studying at the high school in 1980. (She spent all the year studying there.)
     SHE said (that) SHE had been studying at the high school in 1980. (She did not spend all the year studying there. She probably did not even finish the year.)
     "I got top marks that year," she added.
     SHE added that SHE (had) got top marks that year.
     "I was doing the cooking while they were reading the newspaper," he said.
     HE said (that) HE had been doing/was doing the cooking while they were reading the newspaper.

a  "She was sitting on a bench when I saw her," he said.
b  "I was sunbathing when it started to cloud over," he said.
c  "I went out of the cinema before the film was over," he said. "I didn't like the film at all."
d  "The reason why we didn't buy the house was because it was in ruins," they said.
e  "It was also too far from the city centre," they added.


7  Examples: (past perfect→past perfect)
   "WE had never met before," she said.
   SHE said (that) THEY had never met before.

a  "I had never done such a thing in my life," he said.
b  "We'd always known that," they said.
c  "I had just left them at home," I said.
d  "I had always wanted a car like that," he said.
e  "We had always longed for a house of our own," she said.


8  Examples: (past perfect continuous→past perfect continuous)
   "I had been studying Swahili for nearly five years," he said.
   HE said that HE had been studying Swahili for nearly five years.

a  "We had been picking apples for over a month," they said.
b  "Somebody had been eating my homemade pastries," he said.
c  "They had been taking driving lessons recently," said their mother.
d  "Somebody had been giving secret information to the enemy," the colonel said.
e  "I had been teaching French for a long time," she said.


9  Examples: (can→could; may→might; will→would)
   "I can play the drums," she said.
   SHE said (that) SHE could play the drums.
   "I may be late tomorrow," she said.
   SHE said (that) SHE might be late the next day.
   "YOU'll get a payout of £1,000,000 if the building is burnt down," they assured us.
   THEY assured us (that) WE would/should get a payout of £1,000,000 if the building was burnt down.

a  "You can take the day off," said my employer.
b  "You may be right," he admitted.
c  "We won't do it again," they promised.
d  "They'll pay for it," the old man said angrily.
e  "I can't live without you, darling," he told his wife.


10 Examples: (could→could; had better→had better; might→might; ought to→ought to; should→should; used to→used to; would→would)
   "I could lend YOU the money," she said.
   SHE said (that) SHE could lend ME the money.
   "WE had better11 cancel OUR appointment," they said.
   THEY said that THEY had better cancel their appointment.
   "YOU might be wrong," he said.
   He said (that) I might be wrong.
   "They ought to help the poor," he said.
   He said (that) they ought to help the poor.
   "They should not take long," she said.
   She said that they should not take long.
   "I used to smoke a lot," he said.
   HE said that HE used to smoke a lot.
   "I would have done it," she said.
   SHE said (that) SHE would have done it.

a  "I wouldn't have left my car unlocked," she said.
b  "You might have been hurt," she said.
c  "They ought to have phone us up," said his mother.
d  "They could have got lost," he said.
e  "We used to play truant," they said.


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1  It is also called "indirect speech".
2  That can be left out after say and tell, and a few other verbs; but it cannot, after some others:
     "We can't live together, son," they explained.
     They explain to their son that they could not live together.
   Therefore, you had better not remove "that" if you are in doubt.
3  We often use a connector to link two sentences. The most common ones are and, as (since or because) and but.
4  This is called "back-shift".
5  Compare the following:
     "We'll meet here tomorrow," she said.
     She said (that) that we'd meet here today, but she still hasn't come. (I am in the same place that she said we would meet; she may have forgotten to come.)
     She said that we'd meet there today. (I am in another place, but I have a date with her today.)
     "The sun sets in the west," she said.
     She said that the sun sets in the west. (This is still true at the moment of reporting it.)

   Note also that in the first two examples above, we could have also said the following:
     She said (that) we will meet here today. (So we had better wait until she comes.)
     She said (that) we will meet there today. (So we must go there and wait until she comes.)
6  That and those are chiefly used in time expressions, otherwise the + a noun, it (that) or they/them (those), or another alternative often replaces that and those:
     "I'll do it this week," he said.
     He said (that) he would do it that week.
     "Where did you find these photographs," she said.
     She asked (me) where I had found the/those photographs.
     "This car is mine," he said.
     He said (that) the/that car was his/He said (that) the car (which was) in front of us was his.
     "I like these (ones)," he said.
     He said (that) he liked those ones/He showed me the ones he liked.
     "We'll give this to you tonight," they said.
     They said that they would give it/that to me that night.
7  This can also be applied to verbs like bring and come. Note that "bring it with me/us/you" and "come with me/us/you" remain unchanged:
     "Bring her with you, he said.
     He told me to bring her with me.
     "Bring her here by midnight," they said.
     They told me to take her there by midnight.
     "He brought me a bunch of flowers to hospital," she said.
     She said (that) he had brought her a bunch of flowers to hospital. (We take the place as a reference.)
     "Come here tomorrow," he said.
     He told me to go there the next day. (A different place where the speaker or listener is when this is reported.)
     Come to the cinema with us tomorrow," we said to them.
     We told them to come to the cinema with us the following day. (But "Go to the cinema with them," they said to us→They told us to go to the cinema with them the following day.)
     "Come into the house," she said.
     She asked me to come into the house. (She was in the house and said, "Come into the house." She asked me to go into the house would imply that she was outside the house and said, "Go into the house.")
     "She came into the bathroom," he said.
     He said (that) she had come into the bathroom. (Obviously, he was not inside the bathroom when she came in. We take the place as a reference.)
     "Will you come and see us when you move to the States?" we said.
     We invited/asked him/her/them to come and see us when we move to the States. (We will be soon in the United States of America.)
8  If we mention the person addressed, both tell and say to are possible: She told me/said to me (that) she didn't like spaghetti.
9  Compare the following:
     "The train leaves in ten minutes," the man said/said the man.
     "The plane is due to land in a few minutes," he said.
     "Do you use ear-plugs at night?" Mary asked/asked Mary.
     "I failed," Kim said sadly. (not said Kim sadly)
     "It is not worth twopence," Lesly told me. (not told Lesly me)
   If the subject of said, asked..., is a pronoun, we do not normally put the subject after the verb. If we have an object or an adverb after the verb, we cannot place the verb before the subject.
10  For imperatives, see section 14.
11  For had better, see unit 6, part 4, section 10.