Indirect speech with unambiguous time references (‹reported speech› with backshift)
How it works
In English indirect speech (‹reported speech›), statements, questions, and commands that someone else said are reported. With unambiguous time references, the tenses are usually shifted back one step into the past (‹backshift of tenses›). For example, ‹present simple› becomes ‹past simple›: ‹He says, “I play football.”› becomes ‹He said (that) he played football.›. Time expressions such as ‹today›, ‹tomorrow› or ‹yesterday› often change: ‹today› becomes ‹that day›, ‹tomorrow› becomes ‹the next day›, ‹yesterday› becomes ‹the day before›. A shift is not always necessary, for example in statements that are always true. Indirect speech is usually introduced with ‹said (that)› or ‹told someone (that)›.
When converting to indirect speech, the tense usually shifts back one step into the past. Time expressions are adjusted accordingly. Example: ‹She said, “I will help you tomorrow.”› → ‹She said (that) she would help me the next day.›
An example
Convert: ‹Tom said, “I am reading a book now.”›
Try it yourself now
50 Exercises
To the learning unit →Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: English. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.