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Intermediate

Reported Speech

Saying what someone else said

Tenses shift back one step in reported speech

Present becomes past — past becomes past perfect.

📊 Tense backshift
Direct speech Reported speech
am/is/are → was/were
will → would
can → could
have done → had done
did → had done
💬 Examples
She said 'I am tired.' → She said she was tired.
am shifts back to was in reported speech
📝 am → was
He said 'I will go.' → He said he would go.
will shifts back to would
📝 will → would
Time expressions also change

Now becomes then — today becomes that day.

💬 Examples
He said 'I will call you tomorrow.' → He said he would call me the next day.
tomorrow becomes the next day
📝 tomorrow → the next day
She said 'I saw you yesterday.' → She said she had seen me the day before.
yesterday becomes the day before
📝 yesterday → the day before
Questions in reported speech use statement word order

No question mark — no inversion of subject and verb.

💬 Examples
He asked 'Where do you live?' → He asked where I lived.
no inversion in reported questions
📝 no inversion in reported question
She asked 'Are you coming?' → She asked if I was coming.
use if for yes/no reported questions
📝 if/whether for yes-no questions