Grammar explanation ; 'I travel a lot in my job.' Jamila said that she travelled a lot in her job. ; 'We lived in China for five years.' She told me they'd lived ...
DIRECT QUOTE: INDIRECT (REPORTED) SPEECH: SIMPLE PRESENT changes to SIMPLE PAST "I work at Toyota." "I don't work at Honda." "I am a manager." "I'm not a salesman." He said he worked at Toyota. He said he didn't work at Honda. He said he was a manager. He said he wasn't a salesman.: PRESENT PROGRESSIVE changes to PAST PROGRESSIVE
03.03.2013 · Reported speech involves back-shifting; the changing of a present tense to a paste tense: He said, "I know she is coming" He said that he knew she was coming. But if the verb in direct speech is already in past tense, we don't always back …
Normally, the tense in reported speech is one tense back in time from the tense in direct speech: She said, "I am tired." = She said that she was tired.
Some modal verbs in reported speech also shift back in time just like tenses do. After modal verbs we can also use the perfect tense of the verbs. We use them in a hypothetical, past sentence.. The most commonly used modals that change tense in reported speech are: must (when expressing obligation) ⇒ had to, can ⇒ could, may (when expressing possibility) ⇒ …
Reported Speech: He says (that) he likes burgers. You don't need to change the tense, but you do need to switch the 'person' from 'I' to 'he’. You also need to change words like 'my' and 'your'. But, in case the reporting verb is in the past tense, then change the tenses in the reported speech itself.
The most commonly used modals that change tense in reported speech are: must (when expressing obligation) ⇒ had to, can ⇒ could, may (when expressing possibility) ⇒ might, may (when expressing permission) ⇒ could, will ⇒ would and shall ⇒ should. For example:
Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream. We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'. (As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English.
* doesn't change. Occasionally, we don't need to change the present tense into the past if the information in direct speech is still true (but this is only for things which are general facts, and even then usually we like to change the tense): Direct speech: The sky is blue. Reported speech: She said …
Direct speech: The sky is blue. Reported speech: She said (that) the sky is/was blue. These modal verbs do not change in reported speech: might, could, would, should, ought to: We explained, "It could be difficult to find our house." = We explained that it could be difficult to find our house. She said, "I might bring a friend to the party."
Exercise 2 – Requests (negative) Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note the change of pronouns in some sentences. "Don't touch it," she said to him. "Don't do that again," he said to me. "Don't talk to me like that," he said. "Don't repair the computer yourself," she warned him. "Don't let him in," she said. "Don't go out without me ...
The tense doesn’t have to be changed in this case of reported speech. But of the reporting verb is in the past tense , we do change the tense of the sentence. Browse more Topics under Transformation Sentences