1. Tense Changes: When reporting what someone else has said, the tense of the main verb often changes. The tense is typically shifted one step back.
| Original Tense of Main Verb |
Tense in Reported Speech |
| Present Simple |
Past Simple |
| Present Continuous |
Past Continuous |
| Present Perfect |
Past Perfect |
| Present Perfect Continuous |
Past Perfect Continuous |
| Past Simple |
Past Perfect |
| Past Continuous |
Past Perfect Continuous |
| Past Perfect |
Past Perfect |
| Past Perfect Continuous |
Past Perfect Continuous |
| Future (will) |
Conditional (would) |
| Future (going to) |
Conditional (was/were going to) |
| Modal Verbs (can, must, etc.) |
Change into past modals (could, had to, etc) |