Tense Changes in the Reported Speech:

Reported Statements:

Direct speech		Reported speech
Present Simple “I know about it,” he said.	He said (that)	Past Simple he knew it.
Present Continuous “I am writing a test now,” he said.	He said (that)	Past Continuous he was writing a test then.
Present Perfect “I have bought a car today”, he said.	He said (that)	Past Perfect he had bought a car that day.
Past Simple “I saw the film yesterday”, he said.	He said (that)	Past Perfect he had seen the film the day before.
Past Continuous “I was waiting for Ann here”, he said.	He said (that)	Past Perfect Continuous he had been waiting for Ann there.
Future (will/shall) “I will call you tomorrow”, he said.	He said (that)	Would (should) he would call me the next day.
Past Perfect “I had done it by 9 o’clock”, he said.	He said (that)	Past Perfect he had done it by 9 o’clock.
Past Perfect Continuous “I had been cooking dinner for 2 hours before you came”, he said.	He said (that)	Past Perfect Continuous She had been cooking dinner for 2 hours before I came.
Can May Must		Could Might Had to

Changes of some words and time expressions:

Direct speech	Reported speech
Now Today, tonight Yesterday Tomorrow This week Last week Next week Ago Two days ago Here This year These days	Then, at that moment That day, that night, The day before yesterday, the previous day The next day, the following day That week The week before, the previous week The week after, the following week Before Two days before There That year Those days

Примечание: в условном предложении с союзом условия «если», союз остается и предложение не являетсе вопросительным!!!

“If you ask Bill, he will help you when he has free time”, said my mother.

My mother said (that) if I asked Bill, he would help me when he had free time.

Exercises:

1 Some tenses/forms do not change when direct speech becomes indirect:

1 I couldn't get into the house because I had lost my key, so I had to break a window,' he

said.

2 'The mirror is there so that you can see yourself when you are dancing,' the instructress

told him.

3 I wrote to him the day before yesterday. I wonder why he hasn't rung up,' she said.

4 If the ground is dry on the day of the race, my horse might win,' said the owner.

5 'You'd better slow down. There's a speed limit here,' she said to me. (Use advise.)

6 If Tom wants seats, he'd better apply early,' she said.

7 'We walked 50 miles last night to see the Minister and protest about our rents being

raised. He was very polite and promised to do what he could for us,' said one of the

tenants.

8 'They should put traffic lights here, otherwise there'11 be more accidents,' she said.

9 It's time we began training for our next match,' the coach said to them.

10 If you leave home at six, you should be here by nine,' he said to me.

11 If it rains this afternoon it will be too wet to play the match tomorrow,' the captain said.

12 I meant to plug in the electric blanket but I plugged in the electric kettle by mistake. I'm always doing silly things like that,' she told her guest.

13 I was intending to do it tomorrow,' he said, 'but now I don't think I'll be able to.'

14 'Bill should do very well at the university, Mrs. Smith,' said the headmaster. 'He's done

very well here.'

15 I don't think your father likes me,' said the young wife. 'You mustn't think that,' said her husband; 'it is just that he is old and finds it hard to get used to new people.' (Leave mustn't unchanged. )

16 'The steak is overdone again. I'm not complaining; I'm just pointing it out,' said her husband. 'I wish you'd stop pointing things out,' said his wife.

17 'They couldn't open the safe on the spot so they carried it away with them,' the night

watchman reported.

18 If you saw my father, you'd recognize him at once. He is the most extraordinary-looking man,' she said to me.

19 I found an old Roman coin in the garden yesterday,' he said, 'and I'm going to take it to the museum this afternoon.'

20 He said, I got out of my boat, leaving the engine running, but while I was standing on the quay the gears suddenly engaged themselves and the boat went straight out of the harbor with no one on board.'

2. Translate from Russian into English:

1 Анна сказала, что они пригласили своих друзей на пикник.

2 Он сказал, что не любит футбол.

3 Она сказала, что заедет к нам завтра.

4 Том сказал, что он читает интересный журнал.

5 Майк сказал, что когда он занимается он всегда выключает свет.

6 София сказала Николаю, что ему придется делать доклад в субботу.

7 Дети сказали Андрею, что учительница поставила ему хорошую оценку.

8 В письме он написал, что принимал участие в трудной, но интересной работе.