Mastering Reported Speech: Tense Transformations
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Reported Speech: Tense Transformations
Understanding how tenses change when converting direct speech to reported speech is crucial for accurate and effective communication. This document provides a clear breakdown of these transformations.
| Direct Speech | → | Reported Speech |
|---|---|---|
| Present | → | Past |
| "I work in Argentina" | He said that he worked in Argentina | |
| "I am doing my job" | He said that he was doing his job | |
| Past | → | Past Perfect |
| "We saw a good film on TV" | He said they had seen a good film on TV. | |
| "I was dancing with Mary" | He said he had been dancing with Mary | |
| Present Perfect | → | Past Perfect |
| "I have done this before" | She said that she had done that before | |
| "I have been doing this for two years" | He said that he had been doing that for two years | |
| Future | → | Conditional |
| "I will visit my mother" | He said that he would visit his mother | |
| "I will be flying to Spain" | He said that he would be flying to Spain | |
| Future Perfect | → | Conditional Perfect |
| "I will have arrived there by 5 pm" | He said he would have arrived here by 5 pm | |
| "I will have been selling books for two years" | He said that he would have been sellingbooks for two years |
Present → Past
- John: "I work in Argentina"
John: "Yo trabajo en Argentina" - He said that he worked in Argentina
El dijo que trabajaba en Argentina - Kelly: "I don't like fish"
Kelly: "No me gusta el pescado" - She said she didn't like fish
Ella dijo que no le gustaba el pescado - Joe: "I am doing my job"
Joe: "Estoy haciendo mi trabajo" - He said that he was doing his job
El dijo que estaba haciendo su trabajo - Pam and Tim: "We are living in New York"
Pam y Tim: "Estamos viviendo en Nueva York" - They said that they were living in New York
Ellos dijeron que estaban viviendo en Nueva York
Past → Past Perfect
- Dan: "We saw a good film on TV"
Dan: "Vimos una buena película en la televisión" - He said that they had seen a good film on TV
El dijo que habían visto una buena película en la televisión - He said that he had been dancing with Mary
El dijo que había estado bailando con Mary - Rick and Amy: "We weren't looking for Tom"
Rick y Amy: "No estábamos buscando a Tom" - They said that they hadn't been looking for Tom
Ellos dijeron que no habían estado buscando a Tom
Present Perfect → Past Perfect
- Kim: "I have done this before"
Kim: "He hecho esto antes" - She said that she had done that before
Ella dijo que había hecho eso antes - Nick: "I haven't heard from Dean"
Nick: "No he sabido nada de Dean" - He said that he hadn't heard from Dean
El dijo que no había sabido nada de Dean
Future → Conditional
- Tom: "I will visit my mother"
Tom: "Visitaré a mi madre" - He said that he would visit his mother
el dijo que visitaría a su madre - Mark: "I won't listen to you"
Mark: "No te escucharé" - He said that he wouldn't listen to me
El dijo que no me escucharía
Future Perfect → Conditional Perfect
- Jim: "I will have arrived there by 5 pm"
Jim: "Para las 5 pm habré llegado allí"