Reported Speech

Rules to follow:

1. Do not change the tense if the introductory verb is in the present tense.

eg. He says," I am tired."
He says that he is tired.

2. Change the tense if the introductory verb is in the past tense.

eg. He said," I am sick."
He said that he was sick.

3. Do not change the tense if the statement expresses a general truth or when the action is still on-going.

eg. Tim explained, "Water is in the liquid state."
Tim explained that water is in the liquid state.

4. Change the following words:

now - then
today - on that day
tomorrow - the next day
yesterday - the previous day
next week - the following week
last week - the previous week
ago - before
here - there
this/ these - that/ those