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  

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.

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 suggestb) 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.