Reported Speech

Direct Speech Indirect Speech Certain words and expressions change

according to the meaning of the
sentence.

Present Simple Past Simple (Present now then

Simple) today that day
Present Continuous Past Continuous tonight that night
Present Perfect Past Perfect here there
Present Perfect Continuous Past come go
Perfect Continuous last week the week before
Past Simple Past Perfect next week the week after
Past Continuous Past Perfect ago before
Continuous yesterday the day before
Future Simple would +bare infinitive tomorrow the next day

To report a question we use

Remember: affirmative word order.

am was
e.g.
is was “Who knocked on the door?” she asked.
are were She asked him who knocked on the door.
es/s ed
have/has had “Have you got any money?” she asked.
do/does did He asked if (whether) she had any money.
can could
V1 V2 “What time does the bus leave?” Do you
V2 had + V3 know what time the bus leaves?
was/were had+ V3
“Will he be out of the office for long?”
was Ving had +been + Ving
Have you any idea if he will be out of the
office for long?

Study these examples:

“I’ll buy a new bike.” He promised to buy a new bike.

“No, I won’t go.” She refused to go.
“You ought to stay in bed.” He advised me to stay in bed.
“I’m sorry I forgot your birthday.” She apologized for forgetting (having forgotten)
my birthday.
“Let’s listen to some music.” He suggested listening to some music./ He suggested
we listened to music