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We usually introduce reported statements with "reporting verbs" such as "say" or "tell":
He said (that)...
He told me (that)...
When we report a statement, we can say "He said that..." or simply "He said...". Both
are possible. "He said that..." is more formal.
When we use our own words to report speech, there are one or two things that we
sometimes change:
There are sometimes other things too that we may need to change, such
as time or place. Look at these examples:
reported Jane said (that) she had been sick the day
statement before.
tense place
change change
Notice that in the above example, we do not change the tense. Usually, with the present
simple, if something is still true now - she still works in London - we don't need to
change it.
We use backshift SOMETIMES but not always. And WHEN we use backshift, here's
how it works with these common tenses and modals:
present perfect
can → could
may might
will would
shall should
We NEVER use backshift when the original words are:
past perfect
could
might
would
should
Remember:
Look at the following examples. See if you can understand when and why they use
backshift:
present simple* He said, "I like coffee." He said (that) he likes coffee.
present She said, "Moo is living here She said Moo is living there with
continuous* with us." them.
past simple John said, "We bought a John said they had bought a
house last week." house the week before.
present perfect Ram said, "I haven't seen Ram said he hadn't seen Avatar.
Avatar."
past continuous Wayne said, "Were you Wayne asked if I had been
watching TV when I called." watching TV when he called.
past perfect** Ati said, "I had never lived Ati told us that he had never lived
in Thailand before." in Thailand before.
can She said, "Tara can't swim." She said Tara couldn't swim.
may She said: "I may be late." She said she might be late. (and
she was late)
might** She said, "I might come She said she might come early.
early."
will She said, "I'll call you She said she would call me the
tomorrow." next day.
would** She said, "I wouldn't like to She said she would not like to go.
go."
Ati said, "I must find a job Ati said he must find a job next
next year." year. (next year hasn't come yet)
have to Tara said: "I have to do my Tara said she had to do her
homework." homework.
time (now, tomorrow)
place (here, this room)
She said, "I saw Mary yesterday." She said she had seen Mary the day before.
He said: "My mother is here." He said that his mother was there.
Don't confuse time with tense. "Tense" is the grammatical form of the verb that in the
reported clause we sometimes shift back (backshift). "Time" refers to the actual time
that something happens, such as "today" or "now" or "5 weeks ago".
Time words
If we report something around the same time, then we probably do not need to make
any changes to time words. But if we report something at a different time, we need to
change time words. Look at these example sentences:
He said: "It was hot yesterday." → He said that it had been hot the day before.
He said: "We are going to swim tomorrow." → He said they were going to
swim the next day.
Here is a list of common time words, showing how you change them for reported
speech:
last night the night before/ the previous night, on Sunday night
Place words
If we are in the same place when we report something, then we do not need to make any
changes to place words. But if we are in a different place when we report something,
then we need to change the place words. Look at these example sentences:
Here are some common place words, showing how you change them for reported
speech:
here there
this that