Reported Speech
With tense changes
Tenses are moved into the past after a past tense reporting verb.The past perfect remains the same.
"I'm leaving."------Jane said she was leaving.
"No,I hadn't forgotten."--------Greg said that he hadn't forgotten.
Main verb changes only
In complex sentences, only the first verb is changed.
"I was walking home when I saw the accident."
James said he had been walking home when he saw the accident.
Reference words
Some words referring to persons, places and time change in reported speech.
this-that,these-those,now-then,here -there,yesterday-the day before/the previous day,today- that day, tomorrow-the next day/the following day/the day after
Without tense changes:
1.Present tense reports
If the reporting verb is in the present tense, there is no change.
Brenda says ,' I'm arriving soon.'
Brenda says she's arriving soon.
2.Past tense reports
If the reported words are'always true', there is no change.
Harry told me that he still likes you.
If a message is being repeated immediately, there is no change.
Mary said she's too busy to come.
Questions
Yes/No questions are reported using if. The verb is not put into a question form, and there is no question mark.
'Do you know the rules of the game?'
Charles asked me if I knew the rules of the game.
Wh-questions are reported with the question word. There is no question mark.
'Where are we going?'
I asked Sue where we were going.
Paraphrase
Often it is impossible or necessary to report every word spoken.
'Excuse me, could you tell me the time?
He asked me what the time was.