Reported Speech

NOTES ON REPORTED SPEECH

DIRECT SPEECH Exact words someone said.

REPORTED SPEECH Exact meaning of what someone said, but not the exact words.´poiuyyuip´

EXCEPTIONS

A) The reporting verb(said, told) is in the present, future or present perfect
“The weather is hot” she says. She says the weather is hot.
B) The speaker expresses general truths, permanent states or conditions“Water freezes at 0o C”, he said. He said water freezes at 0o C.
C) The speaker is reporting something immediately after it was said ( up to date)
“The hotel is awful”, he said He said the hotelis awful.
D) The reported sentence deals with unreal past, conditionals type2 (simple past o past prog)/ type 3 (pp or p.p.prog) or wish
“I wish I were rich”, she said. She said she wished shewere rich.
E) If the speaker expresses something to be believed to be true, the tenses may or may not change
“I love macaroni and cheese”, she said She said she loves/loved macaroni and cheese.F) If the speaker expresses something to be untrue, the tenses change.
“Jamaica is in Europe”, he said He said (that) Jamaica was in Europe.
G) When the reported sentence contains a time clause,the tenses remain unchanged.
“The car broke down while I was driving to work”, he said. He said the car had broken down while he was driving to work.
If the reported sentence is out of date, thetenses change, but if it is up to date, the tenses remain the same.
“He moved out a month ago”, he said. He said that he had moved out a month before.
“I am going to the cinema tonight”, shesaid. She said she is going to the cinema tonight.

The following changes are also made: 
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