Dimensiones De Concrecion Metodologica

Direct speech |   | Indirect speech |
Present simple
She said, "It's cold." | › | Past simple
She said it was cold. |
Present continuous
She said, "I'm teaching English online." | › | Past continuous
She said she was teaching English online. |
Present perfect simple
She said, "I've been on the web since 1999." | › | Past perfect simple
She said she had been on the web since1999. |
Present perfect continuous
She said, "I've been teaching English for seven years." | › | Past perfect continuous
She said she had been teaching English for seven years. |
Past simple
She said, "I taught online yesterday." | › | Past perfect
She said she had taught online yesterday. |
Past continuous
She said, "I was teaching earlier." | › | Past perfect continuousShe said she had been teaching earlier. |
Past perfect
She said, "The lesson had already started when he arrived." | › | Past perfect
NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had already started when he arrived. |
Past perfect continuous
She said, "I'd already been teaching for five minutes." | › | Past perfect continuous
NO CHANGE - She said she'd already been teaching for five minutes. |
Modalverb forms also sometimes change:
Direct speech |   | Indirect speech |
will
She said, "I'll teach English online tomorrow." | › | would
She said she would teach English online tomorrow. |
can
She said, "I can teach English online." | › | could
She said she could teach English online. |
must
She said, "I must have a computer to teach English online." | › | had to
Shesaid she had to have a computer to teach English online. |
shall
She said, "What shall we learn today?" | › | should
She asked what we should learn today. |
may
She said, "May I open a new browser?" | › | might
She asked if she might open a new browser. |
!Note - There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.
Direct speech | Indirect speech |
"I might go to thecinema", he said. | He said he might go to the cinema. |
You can use the present tense in reported speech if you want to say that something is still true i.e. my name has always been and will always be Lynne so:-
Direct speech | Indirect speech |
"My name is Lynne", she said. | She said her name was Lynne. orShe said her name is Lynne. |
You can also use the present tense if you aretalking about a future event.
Direct speech (exact quote) | Indirect speech (not exact) |
"Next week's lesson is on reported speech ", she said. | She said next week's lesson is on reported speech |
Expressions of time if reported on a different day |
this (evening) | › | that (evening) |
today | › | yesterday ... |
these (days) | › | those (days) |
now | › | then |
(aweek) ago | › | (a week) before |
last weekend | › | the weekend before last / the previous weekend |
here | › | there |
next (week) | › | the following (week) |
tomorrow | › | the next/following day |
In addition if you report something that someone said in a different place to where you heard it you must change the place (here) to the place (there).
For example:-
At work | Athome |
"How long have you worked here?" | She asked me how long I'd worked there. |
ronoun change In reported speech, the pronoun often changes.For example:
Me | You |
"I teach English online." | She said she teaches English online. |

Reporting Verbs
Said, told and asked are the most common verbs used in indirect speech.
We use asked to report questions:-
For example: I askedLynne what time the lesson started.
We use told with an object.
For example: Lynne told me she felt tired.
!Note - Here me is the object.
We usually use said without an object.
For example: Lynne said she was going to teach online.
If said is used with an object we must include to ;
For example: Lynne said to me that she'd never been to China.
!Note - We usually use told.
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