B2 Grammar: Reported Speech I

Reported speech 1

Tense changes in reported speech

If the reporting verb (said, told, admitted, warned, etc.) is in the past, make the following tense changes:

• present simple → past simple: I live in Berlin. → She said she lived in Berlin.
• present continuous → past continuous: I’m watching TV. → He said he was watching TV.
• present perfect → past perfect: I’ve seen the film already. → She said she had seen the film already.
• past simple → past perfect: I missed the concert. → He told me he had missed the concert.
• Will → would: I’ll phone you soon. → She promised she would phone me soon.

These modal verbs also change:

• can → could: I can understand German, but I can’t speak it. → She said she could understand German but she couldn’t speak it.
• may → might: I may give the book to John. → The teacher suggested he might give the book to John.
• must → had to: I must cook supper. → Tanya said she had to cook supper.

The following modal verbs do not change in reported speech: could, would, should, might, ought to and used to.

Would doesn’t change: I would prefer to study in London. → She said that she would prefer to study in London.

Must usually changes to had to: You must read this text for the next lesson. → My teacher told me I had to read the text for the following lesson.

Must doesn’t change:

• When it’s negative: You mustn’t tell Katya our secret. → Ana told Stefan he mustn’t tell Katya their secret.
• When it expresses a deduction: Arturo must still be asleep. → She said that Arturo must still be asleep.

Note: If the reporting verb is in a present tense, no tense changes are necessary: I’ll help you with your homework. → She says she’ll help me with my homework.

Questions in reported speech

To report a question, make the following changes.

• Change the word order in the questions to the same as a normal sentence.
• Make the same tense changes as above.
• Use the same question words (when, where, how, etc.).
• Use a full stop (.), not a question mark (?): How long have you been living in London? She asked me how long I had been living in London. When can I phone you? Abdulllah asked Magdi when he could phone him.
• The auxiliary verbs do, does and did are not used; the question has the same form as a normal sentence: What time does the lesson start? Ludmila asked what time the lesson started.
• Yes/No questions use if or whether; Can I come to your party? Aniela wanted to know whether she could come to our party.

Verbs and phrases used o introduce reported questions: ask, wonder, want to know, enquire.

Pronoun, adjective and adverb changes in reported speech

We usually make the following changes:

• You → he / she / they: I spoke to you earlier. → He said he had spoken to her earlier.
• Your → his / her / their: our →their: I’ll come to your house later. → He promised that he would come to her house later.
• This / that (pronouns) → it: You should give this to Joan. → She told him he should give it to Joan.
• This / that work (etc.) → the work; these / those cars (etc.) → the cars: This work is very good. → She told him the work was very wood.
• Today / this week / this month / this year → that day / that week / that month / that year.
• Tomorrow / next month / next year → the next / the following day / month / year.
• Yesterday / last week / month / year: the day before / the previous day / the previous week / month / year; the week / month / year before.
• Here → there.