1. REPORTED SPEECH
Direct speech Reported speech
He said He said (that)*
“She works with me”. She worked with him.
(Simple present) (Simple past)
“She is working with me”. She was working with him.
(Simple past) (Past perfect)
“She was working with me” She had been working with him.
(past progressive) (Past perfect progressive).
“She will work with me”. She would work with him.
(Past progressive) (Past perfect progressive)
“She will work with me” She would work with him.
(Simple Future) (Simple conditional)
“She can/may work with me”. She could/might work.
(Simple present) (Simple past)
*that – it may be omitted
2. Some other changes:
Today That day
Yesterday The day before
Last night The night before
Now Then
Here There
Tomorrow The next day
This That
This, that The
This, these It, them
When it’s an order, you use the infinitive.
For example:
Direct Speech: He said: “Close the door”.
Reported Speech: He told me to close the door.
Direct Speech: He said: “Don’t close the door”.
Reported Speech: He told me not to close the door.
3. When you are reporting a question, you put the sentence in the affirmative making all the
appropriated changes.
For example: She said: Where is Bill? – She asked where Bill was.
He said: “Is Mary here?” – He asked if Mary was there.
Should, Could, Must, Might e would don’t change.
For example: She said: -“I could go”. She said that she could go.
In sentences that present suggestions:
a) The verb that introduces the reported speech is to suggest
b) The expression “let’s” is changed to “we should”.
For example:
He said: “Let’s take her to the park”. He suggested (that) we should take her to the park.