REPORTED SPEECH

We use the Reported Speech when we want to report what someone else said before.

 

Direct speech	Reported speech
"I always drink coffee". She said.	She said that she always drank coffee.

-       Although the most common verbs are say, tell and ask, we can use verbs such as  explain, promise, say, tell, suggest...

-       It is not neccesary to change the verb tense if the verb in the direct speech is in the present.

-       that can be omited.

-       When we make a sentence in Reported Speech, the verb moves a step backwards in time:

Direct speech	Reported speech
present simple I am happy I sleep	past simple He said he was happy He said he slept
present continuos I am feeling happy I am sleeping	past continuos He said he was feeling happy He said he was sleeping
past simple I was happy I slept	past perfect He said he had been happy He said he had slept
present perfect I have been happy I have slept	past perfect He said he had been happy He said he had slept
present perfect continuos I have been feeling happy I have been sleeping	past perfect continuos He said he had been feeling happy He said he had been sleeping
future I will be happy I will sleep	simple conditional He said he would be happy He said he would sleep
future perfect I will have been happy I will have sleep

CAN I can sleep	COULD He said he could sleep
MAY I may sleep	MIGHT He said he might sleep
WILL I will sleep	WOULD He said he would sleep
MUST I must sleep	HAD TO He said he had to sleep