1. Simple present Simple past
"I always drink coffee",
she said
She said that she always
drank coffee.
Present continuous Past continuous
"I am reading a book", he
explained.
He explained that he was
reading a book
Simple past Past perfect
“I broke the glass", he
admitted
He admitted (that) he had
broken the glass.
Present perfect Past perfect
"I have been to Spain", he
told me.
He told me that he had
been to Spain
REPORTED STATEMENTS
2. Past perfect Past perfect
"I had just turned out the
light," he explained.
He explained that he had
just turned out the light.
Present perfect
continuous
Past perfect continuous
They complained, "We
have been waiting for
hours".
They complained that they
had been waiting for
hours.
Past
continuous
Past perfect
continuous
"We were living in
Paris", they told me.
They told me that they
had been living in Paris.
3. Future Present conditional
"I will always love you",
he promised
He promised that he would
always love her.
Future continuous Conditional continuous
She said, "I'll be using the
car next Friday".
She said that she would be
using the car next Friday.
Can Could
“We can solve the
problem", they insisted
They insisted (that) they
could solve the problem.
May Might
"I may be late” He
warned us.
He warned us (that) he
might be late.
4. Must Had to
“We must leave now"
he explained.
He explained that he had to
leave then .
We don’t need to change the verb form :
•if the reporting verb is in the present, or if the original statement
was about something that is still true, e.g.
“ The currency in Argentina is the peso”
The teacher told us that the currency in Argentina is the peso
When the sentences we are reporting contains the modals:
Would, could, might, ought to, should or must when it is used
for deduction:
I could come tomorrow” she said
He said that he could come the next day
5. Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Here
Now
This /that
Today
This morning
There
Then
These/those
That day
That
morning
Ago
Yesterday
Last
week
Before
The day before /the previous day
The week before/ the previous
week
Next week
Next
month
The following week /The week
after The following month/ the
month after
TIME EXPRESIONS
6. QUESTIONS
Use the same word order as in
statements Change the tenses as
in statements
There is no questions mark unless the introductory
phrase is a question:
Use the Wh-word in Wh-questions
Present Past
When does the film start? He asked me When the film
started. He wanted to know when
the film started
Use if / whether for Yes/ no
questions Present perfectPast
perfect
Have you done
your
The teacher asked if /whether we
had
7. Must use whether (not if) when we are asking someone
to make a choice:
Prese
nt
Pas
t
“Do you want tea or
coffee?”
He asked me whether I
wanted tea or coffee.
May use polite introductory
phrases like: I wonder if you,
could you tell me…
Don’t change the tense
Present
“What’s the
time?”
I wonder if you could tell me What
the time is?.
8. REQUESTS AND
ORDERS
We often use verbs like: ask, tell+object+to-infinitive:
We don’t chance tenses
“Will you be quiet,
please?”
The teacher asked me to be
quiet. The teacher told me to be
quiet.
We use not before the to-infinitive to report negative
requests or orders:
“Please don’t interrupt The manager asked /told me not to
the meeting" interrupt the meeting
10. verb +object
+infinitive
Verb+infinitive verb (that)
advise agree admit
encourage decide agree
invite offer decide
remind promise deny
warn refuse explain
threaten insist
promise
recommend
suggest
Examples: Jack
encouraged me to
look for a new job.
They invited all their
friends to attend the
presentation.
Examples: She
offered to give him a
lift to work.
My brother refused to
take no for an
answer.
Examples: Tom
admitted (that) he
had tried to leave
early.
She agreed (that) we
needed to reconsider
our plans.
12. 1. Verbs followed by'if' or 'whether' + clause:
ask
know
remember
say
see
SUMMARY OF REPORTING
VERBS
13. 2. Verbs followed by a that-
clause:
add
admit
agree
announce
answer
argue
boast
claim
comment
complain
confirm
consider
deny
doubt
estimate
explain
fear
feel
insist
mention
observe
persuade
propose
remark
remember
repeat
reply
report
reveal
say
state
suggest
suppose
tell
think
understand
warn
14. 3. Verbs followed by either a that-clause or a
to- infinitive:
decide
expect
guarantee
hope
promise
swear
threaten
4. Verbs followed by a that-clause containing should
(but note that it may be omitted, leaving a subject +
zero- infinitive):
advise
beg
demand
insist
prefer
propose
recommend
request
suggest
15. 5. Verbs followed by a clause starting with a
question word:
decide
describe
discover
discuss
explain
forget
guess
imagine
know
learn
realise
remember
reveal
say
see
suggest
teach
tell
think
understand
wonder
6. Verbs followed by object + to-
infinitive
advise
ask
beg
command
forbid
instruct
invite
teach
tell
warn