3. Past Simple and Past Continuous in time clauses do not normally change. The verb in the main clause can either remain unchanged or become the past perfect:

He said, ‘When I was living/lived with my friend I cleaned the flat. He said that when he was living/lived with his friend he usually cleaned/had usually cleaned the flat.

4. A past tense used to describe a state of affairs which still exists when the speech is reported remains unchanged.

She said, ‘I decided not to buy the house because it was in the industrial area. She said she had decided not to buy the house because it was in the industrial area.

5. Time and place expressions in reported speech

a) Adverbs and adverbial phrases of time and place change as follows:

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH
here	there
now	then, that day, at once, immediately, right away
today, tonight	that day, that night
this week / month / year	that week / month / year
tomorrow	the next day, the following day, the day after
the day after tomorrow	in two days’ time
next week / month / year	the next / the following week / month, year
yesterday	the day before, the previous day
the day before yesterday	two days before
last night	the previous night
last week / month / year	the previous week / month / year; the week / month / year before
ago	before
Also: this / these	that / those

b) But if the speech is made and reported on the same day these time changes are not necessary:

At breakfast this morning Dad said, ‘I’ll be late today.’

At breakfast this morning Dad said that he would be late today.

c) Of course it is necessary to make some logical changes if a speech is reported one or two days after it was made. On Monday Tom phoned Jane:

I’m returning the day after tomorrow. (i.e. on Wednesday)

If Jane reports his words on Tuesday she will say:

Tom said he was returning tomorrow.

If she reports them on Wednesday she will say:

Tom said he was returning today.

d) here becomes there only when it is clear what place is meant:

When they were leaving the library he said, ‘I’ll be here again

tomorrow.’

When they were leaving the library he said that he would be there again the next day.

But usually here has to be replaced by some phrase:

She opened the door and said to the dog, ‘Stay here!’

She opened the door and ordered the dog to stay beside the door.

Mother said, ‘Come here, children’.

Mother called the children.

6. Reported questions

1. When we turn direct questions into indirect speech, the reported clause is an ‘if’-clause (if the question is general) or a ‘wh’-word clause (if the question is special). Tenses, pronouns and possessive adjectives, and adverbs of time and place change as in statements. Word order in an indirect question is the same as in a statement. Do is not used. Question- marks are omitted.

“Do you work hard enough?” she asked him.

She asked him if he worked hard enough.

“Where do you work?” she asked him.

She asked him where he worked.

2. if or whether. Normally both are used to introduce a general question in the reported speech (if is more usual):

I wonder if/whether they would come in time.

But whether is used in the following cases:

a) When there is a choice, and both sides of an alternative are given: He asked me whether I was going to get there by train or by bus. b) whether or not: He asked, ‘Do you want me to help you or not?’ He asked whether or not I wanted him to help me or He asked if I wanted him to help me.

c) after prepositions and before to-infinitives: She wondered whether to leave now or wait. He can’t solve a problem of whether to marry her or her sister.

d) If the question contains a conditional clause. Otherwise there would be two ifs: She said, ‘If you have tome will you do it for me?’

She asked whether, if I had time, I’d do it for her.