Mastering Reported Speech: Tense and Word Shifts
Classified in English
Written on in 
English with a size of 3.38 KB
Rules for Converting Direct to Reported Speech
Tense Shifts in Reported Speech
When converting direct speech into reported speech, the tense usually shifts backward (known as backshift), provided the reporting verb (e.g., said) is in the past tense. The following table illustrates these changes:
| Direct Speech Tense | Direct Speech Example | Reported Speech Tense | Reported Speech Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | He lives in the street. | Past Simple | She said that he lived in the street. |
| Present Continuous | "He is living..." | Past Continuous | She said that he was living... |
| Past Simple | "He lived..." | Past Perfect Simple | She said that he had lived... |
| Past Continuous | "He was living..." | Past Perfect Continuous | She said that he had been living... |
| Present Perfect Simple | "He has lived..." | Past Perfect Simple | She said that he had lived... |
| Present Perfect Continuous | "He has been living..." | Past Perfect Continuous | She said that he had been living... |
| Past Perfect Simple | "He had lived..." | Past Perfect Simple (No Change) | She said that he had lived... |
| Past Perfect Continuous | "He had been living..." | Past Perfect Continuous (No Change) | She said that he had been living... |
| Future Simple | "He will live..." | Conditional Simple | She said that he would live... |
Changes to Modals and Other Words
Modal Verb Transformations
Certain modal verbs change when moving from direct to reported speech:
- can → could
- may → might
- must/have to → must/had to (Must often remains must or changes to had to depending on context.)
- will → would
Shifts in Time, Place, and Demonstratives
Words referring to proximity in time or place must be adjusted to reflect the distance from the reporting moment:
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
| now | then |
| today | that day |
| tonight | that night |
| yesterday | the previous day / the day before |
| last week | the previous week / the week before |
| a month ago | the previous month / a month before |
| tomorrow | the following day / the next day |
| next week | the following week / the next week |
| here | there |
| this | that |
| these | those |