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Reported speech
Introduction
She said (that) she lived in London.
Definition
When we tell someone what another person said earlier, we don't usually repeat the direct speech that we heard.
She said, "I live in London." 
She said (that) she lived in London. 
Construction
In reported speech, we use one tense back in time from the tense in the direct speech.
| Direct speech |
| Reported [indirect] speech |
| Present simple
I prefer coffee.
| Past simple
She said she preferred coffee. | |
| Present continuous
I'm reading a great book.
| Past continuous
He told me he was reading a great book. | |
| Past simple
I went to Japan.
| Past perfect simple
She said she'd been to Japan. | |
| Past continuous
We were watching TV.
| Past perfect continuous
She said they'd been watching TV. | |
| Present perfect simple
I've finished the report.
| Past perfect simple
He told me he'd finished the report. | |
| Present perfect continuous
I've been writing a report.
| Past perfect continuous
He said he'd been writing a report. | |
| Past perfect simple
I'd always wanted to go to Italy.
| Past perfect simple (no change)
She said she'd always wanted to go to Italy. | |
| Past perfect continuous
I'd been discussing it with my boss.
| Past perfect continuous (no change)
He said he'd been discussing it with his boss. | |
| Future simple
I'll email you.
| Would + bare infinitive
He told me he'd email me. | |
| Future continuous
We'll be visiting the new plant.
| Would be + present participle
She said they'd be visiting the new plant. | |
| Going to
I'm going to buy a new car.
| Was going to + bare infinitive
He said he was going to buy a new car. | |
| Present continuous for future
I'm having lunch with friends.
| Past continuous
She said she was having lunch with friends. | |
| Future perfect simple
I'll have finished it by 4 o'clock.
| Would have + past participle
She said she'd have finished it by 4 o'clock. | |
| Future perfect continuous
By May, I'll have been working here for two years.
| Would have been + present participle
He said that by May, he'd have been working here for two years. |
Exception
1) It isn't necessary to change the tense if something is still true or relevant.
| |
We're having lunch early today because Philippe said he's hungry. [still true]
But
We went to lunch early yesterday because Philippe said he was hungry. [no longer true]
They visited Paris and said it is a beautiful city.
She said the next meeting will be on Thursday. [Before Thursday, this is still true.]
She said the next meeting would be on Thursday. [After Thursday.]
Thierry phoned and told me that he'll be at the meeting this afternoon. He said he's just landed and he's getting a taxi straight here.
However, it is still grammatically correct to change the tense if you want to and you should always change the tense if you are taking an English test or exam.
2) In most cases, we can omit 'that'. He told me (that) he was going to Korea.
However, with some verbs, it is better to use 'that'. For example:
announce doubt imply
add estimate argue
point out complain mention
"The meeting will start at 10:00, and I expect everyone to be there."
He announced that the meeting would start at 10 and added that he expected everyone to be there.
"Let's wait until December. That's always the best time to launch this kind of product."
"No. This time, we should do it in the summer."
He pointed out that December was always the best time to launch that kind of product, but she argued that it would be better to do it in the summer.
"I don't think it will work."
He doubted that it would work.
"There were about 200 people at the conference."
She estimated that there had been about 200 people at the conference.
"The coffee is terrible here!"
She complained that the coffee was terrible there.
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Modals
We also need to change some modal verbs.
| Direct speech | Reported speech | |
| I can swim. | He said he could swim. | |
| All visitors must go to reception. | They told us that all visitors had to go to reception. | |
| You mustn't smoke in here. | We were told that we couldn't/weren't allowed to smoke in there | |
| What shall we do tonight? | She asked what we should do last night. | |
But some modals do not need to be changed - could, might, would, should, ought to, had better.
"I might go to the party."
She said she might go to the party.
Questions and requests
When reporting questions and requests, we use the verb 'ask'. For yes/no questions, we need to add 'if/whether'.
| Direct speech |
| Reported speech | |
| What do you want for lunch? | She asked me what I wanted for lunch.
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| Can I have a cheese sandwich, please?
| He asked for a cheese sandwich. | ||
| Where are you going on holiday? | He asked us where we were going on holiday. | ||
| Do you like tea? | He asked me if I liked tea. | ||
| Will you marry me? | He asked her to marry him. | ||
| Please don't eat all the chocolate! | She asked me not to eat all the chocolate. | ||
| Are you going to the party? | He asked whether I was going to the party. | ||