The document discusses the rules for changing verbs and other elements when reported speech is introduced by a past tense verb. It provides examples of how the tense of verbs, pronouns, adjectives, time and place expressions change in reported speech. Questions, commands, requests and suggestions are also discussed, along with how they are introduced in reported speech using different verbs like "ask", "order" and "suggest".

1. REPORTED SPEECH

2. When the Indirect Speech is introduced by a
verb in the past tense, verbs in the Indirect
Speech have to be CHANGED into a
corresponding past TENSE .
Let’s have a look at the changes:
1. Present Simple:
‘I never eat meat’, he explained
Past Simple:
He explained that he never eat meat.

3. 2. Present Continuous:
‘I’m waiting for Ann’, he said
Past Continuous:
He said (that) he was waiting for Ann.
3. Present Perfect simple:
‘I have found a flat’, she said
Past Perfect Simple:
She said (that) she had found a flat.
4. Present Perfect Continuous:
‘I’ve been waiting for ages’, he said.
Past Perfect Continuous:
He said (that) he had been waiting for ages.

4. 5. Past Simple:
‘I took it home with me’ she said.
Past Perfect Simple:
She said (that) she had taken it home with
her.
6. Past Continuous:
‘I was looking for a flat for months’ he said
Past Perfect Continuous:
He said he had been looking for a flat for
months

5. 7. Future simple:
‘ I’ll go to Paris some day’, she said
Would:
She said (that) she would go to Paris some
day.
8. Future Continuous:
‘ I’ll be using the car myself on the 24th”, she
said.
Conditional Continuous:
She said (that) she would be using the car
herself on the 24th.

6. 9. Can
‘I can swim very well’, he said.
Could:
He said (that) he could swim very well.
10. May
‘We may go to the cinema’, Peter explained.
Might:
Peter explained that they might go to the cinema.
11. Must/have to
‘You must be back at nine o’clock’ her mother said.
Had to (when “must” means obligation)
Her mother said (that) she had to be back at nine o’clock.
‘He must live near here because I’m always running into him’,
she said.
Must (when it means ‘logical deduction’)
She said (that) he must live near there because she was
always running into him.

7. NO changes: Past Perfect Simple, Past
Perfect Continuous, Might, Should,
Ought to, Would. There are no changes
as we have nothing more remote.

8. B) PRONOUNS and ADJECTIVES also
change:
1.‘I have forgotten the combination of my
safe’, he said
He said (that) he had forgotten the
combination of his safe.
2. ‘She is coming this week’, he said
He said (that) she was coming that week.
3.’I have bought these pearls for my mother’,
she said.
She said that she had bought those pearls for
her mother.

9. C) Expressions of TIME and PLACE also
change
DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH
1- now 1- then
2- today 2- that day
3- tonight 3- that night
4- yesterday 4- the day before/ the previous day
5- last week/ 5- the previous week/month/year.
month/ year the week/month/year before
6-a year/ month/ 6- a year/ month/ week before
week ago the previous year/month/week.

10. DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH
7- the day before 7- two days before
yesterday
8- tomorrow 8- the next/following day
9- next week/month/ 9- the following week/
year month/year.
10- the day after 10- in two days’ time
tomorrow 11- there
11- here 12- that
12- this 13- those
13- these

11. REPORTING QUESTIONS:
Some useful introductory verbs: ask (Ind. object), enquire,
wonder, want to know. We have to be careful with word
order:
A) WH- QUESTIONS:
1- ‘Where is she going?’, he said
He wanted to know where she was going.
2- ‘Where does she live?’, he said
He enquired where she lived.
3- ‘What are you doing?’, he said
He asked me what I was doing.
4- ‘How are you?’, he said
He wanted to know how I was.
5- ‘What have you got in your bag?’, she said
She asked what I had got in my bag.
6- ‘Why didn’t you put on the brake?’, he said
He enquired why I hadn’t put the brake.

12. B) YES/NO QUESTIONS:
We use “if” or “whether” to introduce them.
1- ‘Do you know Bill?, he said
He asked me if I knew Bill.
2- ‘Are you tired?, he said
He wanted to know if I was tired.
3- ‘Does this train stop at York?’, the
passenger asked
The passenger asked if that train stopped at
York.

13. REPORTING COMMANDS, REQUESTS, ADVICE
We introduce them with verbs such as: advise, ask,
beg, encourage, invite, order, remind, request, tell,
warn + ind. object +(not) to inf.
1- He said, ‘Don’t walk in the ice. It isn’t safe’.
He warned us not to walk in the ice as it wasn’t safe.
2- ‘Here are the car keys, You’d better wait in the
car’, he said to her.
He gave me the car keys and advised me to wait in
the car.
3- ‘Please, please, don’t tell anyone’, she said.
He begged me not to tell anyone.

14. 4- ‘Come in and look around. There is no
obligation to buy’, said the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper invited us to come in and
look around and said there was no
obligation to buy
5- ‘Remember to switch off when you have
finished’,
he said.
He reminded us to switch off when we had
finished.

15. SUGGESTIONS: Suggest + verb-ing /
that ... should
1- ‘Let’s have a rest’, said Tom
Tom suggested having a rest.
Tom suggested that we should have a rest.
2- ‘Let’s not fight over this’, she said
She suggested not fighting over that.
She suggested that we should fight over that.
3-‘Why don’t we take a taxi?’, he said
He suggested taking a taxi.
He suggested that we should take a taxi.

16. SOME OTHER POINTS TO REMEMBER:
1- ‘Thank you’, he said
He thanked me.
2- ‘If you don’t pay the ransom, we’ll kill the boy’, said the
kidnappers.
The kidnappers threatened to kill the boy if we didn’t pay the
ransom.
3- ‘Would you like my torch?’ I said holding it out.
I offered him my torch.
4- ‘No, thanks, I have one of my own’, he said
He thanked me but refused it saying he had one of his own.
5- ‘I’ll pay’, he said
He offered to pay.
6- ‘I’m sorry, I’m late’, I said
I apologized for being late.