Telling What Someone Said
Reported speech (also called indirect speech) is used when you report what someone said without using their exact words. When you shift to reported speech, the tenses usually go one step back in time.
Tense Backshift
Present Simple → Past Simple
“I live in Paris.”
→ She said she lived in Paris.
→ She said she lived in Paris.
Present Continuous → Past Continuous
“I’m working.”
→ He said he was working.
→ He said he was working.
Past Simple → Past Perfect
“I saw her.”
→ She said she had seen her.
→ She said she had seen her.
Will → Would
“I’ll help you.”
→ He said he would help me.
→ He said he would help me.
Can → Could
“I can swim.”
→ She said she could swim.
→ She said she could swim.
Must → Had to
“You must leave.”
→ He said I had to leave.
→ He said I had to leave.
Other Changes
now → then | today → that day
Time expressions shift too
here → there | this → that
Place words shift
I/we → he/she/they | my → his/her
Pronouns change perspective
Reporting Questions
“Where do you live?” → He asked where I lived.
No question mark, normal word order
“Are you tired?” → She asked if I was tired.
Yes/no questions → if/whether
💡 Memory Hack
The “one step back” rule
Every tense takes one step back in time: present → past, past → past perfect, will → would, can → could. Think of it like reporting from a time machine — you’ve travelled one day into the future to report what was said, so everything sounds one day older. Present becomes past, past becomes “even more past.”