Reported speech
DefinitionReported speech (also known as indirect speech) refers to a sentence reporting what someone has said. It is almost always used in spoken English.Reported speech doesn`t use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn`t have to be word for word.When we use reported speech, we are usually talking about the past (because obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too. For example:"I`m going to the cinema". He said he was going to the cinema.
Basic tense chartThe tenses generally move backwards in this way (the tense on the left changes to the tense on the right): present simple I`m a teacher.past simple He said he was a teacherpresent continuous I`m having lunch with my parents. past continuous. He said he was having lunch with his parents.present perfect simple I`ve been to France three times. past perfect simple He said he had been...