I told her that I was working on my thesis.However, if you are the person or one of the people who spoke, then the pronouns don't change. Alina told me they'd played tennis for their school.'We played tennis for our school,' said Alina. Bob said that he enjoyed working in his garden.'I enjoy working in my garden,' said Bob. Pronouns also usually change in indirect speech. Pronouns, demonstratives and adverbs of time and place She said she's broken her arm, so she won't be at work this week.He told me he's working in Italy for the next six months.'I'm working in Italy for the next six months.' Jenny told me that she goes to the gym next to my house.This might happen when the speaker has used a present tense.

If what the speaker has said is still true or relevant, it's not always necessary to change the tense. He said he'd tried everything without success, but the new medicine was great.'I'd tried everything without success, but this new medicine is great.' He told me it had been raining all day.She told me they'd lived in China for five years.When we backshift, past simple usually changes to past perfect simple, and past continuous usually changes to past perfect continuous. Jamila said that she travelled a lot in her job.When we backshift, present simple changes to past simple, present continuous changes to past continuous and present perfect changes to past perfect. Present simple, present continuous and present perfect We also may need to change other words that were used, for example pronouns. worked) than the tense originally used (e.g. In indirect speech, we often use a tense which is 'further back' in the past (e.g. Indirect speech: Daniel said that he worked in a bank. direct speech: 'I work in a bank,' said Daniel. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech. Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said. Indirect speech: He said he'd phone me the next day. Indirect speech: He said he'd worked as a waiter before becoming a chef.ĭirect speech: 'I'll phone you tomorrow,' he said. Indirect speech: She said she loved the Toy Story films.ĭirect speech: 'I worked as a waiter before becoming a chef,' he said. Look at these examples to see how we can tell someone what another person said.ĭirect speech: 'I love the Toy Story films,' she said. EnglishScore Tutors: personal online English tutors.English Online: 100% online teacher-led course.LearnEnglish Subscription: self-access courses.

Reported speech exercises pdf