B1 Grammar
B1 Grammar
Reported speech (range of tenses)
Reported speech (range of tenses)
Reported speech (range of tenses)
Reported Speech
Use:
Use reported speech to talk about what another person said in the past.
Eve: ‘I went to the party on Friday night’.
James: ‘Eve said that she had gone to the party on Friday night’.
Form:
1) When reporting speech, the verb in the sentence may shift to a past tense.
am / is / are
changes to
was / were
“I am fine.”
She said that she was fine.
present simple
changes to
past simple
“I like it.”
He said he liked it.
present continuous
changes to
past continuous
“She’s sleeping.”
He said that she was sleeping.
will
changes to
would
“I’ll be there.”
You said that you’d be there.
can
changes to
could
“I can come to the meeting.”
You said that you could come to the meeting.
past simple
changes to
past perfect
“I did the shopping.”
Tom said that he had done the shopping.
present perfect
changes to
past perfect
“I’ve read that book.”
I told him that I’d read the book.
past continuous
changes to
past perfect continuous
“She was walking home alone.”
He said that she had been walking home alone.
present perfect continuous
changes to
past perfect continuous
“I’ve been working,”
I told him that I’d been working.
2) To report speech, use He / She / I said (that) ...
You can also use He / She told me (that)...; I told him / her (that)...
3) Don’t use quotation marks (“) when reporting speech.
4) References to times in the past also may need to change when using reported speech, if that time is no longer the same.
this morning / week / month
→
that morning / week / month
yesterday
→
the previous day
last week / month
→
the previous week / month
ago
→
earlier / previously
tomorrow
→
the following day
next week / month
→
the following week / month