REPORTED SPEECH

REPORTED SPEECH

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• We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. (Click here for more about using 'say' and 'tell'.) If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the sentence:
• Direct speech: I like ice cream.
• Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.
• We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'.
• (As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)
• But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech:
• Direct speech: I like ice cream.
• Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

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• The simple past tense shows that you are talking about something that has already happened. Unlike the past continuous tense, which is used to talk about past events that happened over a period of time, the simple past tense emphasizes that the action is finished.
• Wolfgang admired the way the light glinted off his silver medal.
• You can also use the simple past to talk about a past state of being, such as the way someone felt about something. This is often expressed with the simple past tense of the verb to be and an adjective, noun, or prepositional phrase.
• Wolfgang was proud of his hula hoop victory.
• The contest was the highlight of his week.