'I'd tried everything without success, but this new medicine is great.' He told me it had been raining all day.She told me they'd lived in China for five years.When we backshift, past simple usually changes to past perfect simple, and past continuous usually changes to past perfect continuous. Jamila said that she travelled a lot in her job.When we backshift, present simple changes to past simple, present continuous changes to past continuous and present perfect changes to past perfect. Present simple, present continuous and present perfect We also may need to change other words that were used, for example pronouns. worked) than the tense originally used (e.g. In indirect speech, we often use a tense which is 'further back' in the past (e.g. Indirect speech: Daniel said that he worked in a bank. direct speech: 'I work in a bank,' said Daniel. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech. Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said. Indirect speech: He said he'd phone me the next day. Indirect speech: He said he'd worked as a waiter before becoming a chef.ĭirect speech: 'I'll phone you tomorrow,' he said. Indirect speech: She said she loved the Toy Story films.ĭirect speech: 'I worked as a waiter before becoming a chef,' he said. Look at these examples to see how we can tell someone what another person said.ĭirect speech: 'I love the Toy Story films,' she said.
