Every day you pass on what other people said. Your doctor gives you advice, and later your family asks what she said. Your boss makes an announcement, and a coworker who missed the meeting wants to know what he said. If you can only repeat the exact words with quotation marks in your voice, your English sounds stiff and sometimes confusing. Reported speech lets you retell someone's words naturally, from your own point of view, at a later time.

There is also a small danger without it. If you say 'She said she is tired' about a conversation from last week, the listener may think she is tired right now. Reporting correctly keeps the time of the story clear, so people understand exactly when things happened.

When you report a statement, you usually move the verbs one step back into the past. This move is called backshift. Why? Because you are speaking at a later time, and the original words belong to that earlier moment. The direct words 'I am tired' become 'She said (that) she was tired.' The word 'that' is optional in everyday speech: 'She said she was tired' is perfectly natural.

The pattern of backshift is regular. Present simple becomes past simple: 'I like coffee' becomes 'He said he liked coffee.' Present continuous becomes past continuous: 'I am working' becomes 'She said she was working.' Past simple and present perfect both usually become past perfect: 'I lost my keys' or 'I have lost my keys' both become 'He said he had lost his keys.' Will becomes would, can becomes could, and may becomes might: 'I will help' becomes 'She said she would help.'

Pronouns and time words often change too, because your point of view is different. 'I' may become 'he' or 'she.' 'My' may become 'his' or 'her.' 'Today' often becomes 'that day,' 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day,' 'yesterday' becomes 'the day before,' and 'here' becomes 'there.' So 'I will call you tomorrow' becomes 'He said he would call me the next day.'

Here is the useful exception: if the statement is still true now, you can keep the original tense. If your friend said 'I live in Osaka' and she still lives there, both 'She said she lives in Osaka' and 'She said she lived in Osaka' are correct. Backshift is required mainly when the situation has changed or when you want to keep the story clearly in the past.

Compare this with the simple past you already know. In a normal past sentence, you describe an action: 'She was tired.' In reported speech, you put that same past form inside a frame: 'She said that she was tired.' The frame verb 'said' sets the time, and everything inside follows it.

1. 1. He said he liked spicy food.

   Direct 'I like' backshifts to 'liked' after 'said.'

2. 2. She told me she was waiting for the bus.

   Present continuous 'am waiting' becomes past continuous 'was waiting.'

3. 3. My boss said the meeting would start at ten.

   'Will start' backshifts to 'would start.'

4. 4. They said they had visited Rome twice.

   Present perfect 'have visited' becomes past perfect 'had visited.'

5. 5. The doctor said I could go home the next day.

   'Can' becomes 'could,' and 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day.'

6. 6. She said she didn't eat meat.

   A negative statement: 'don't eat' backshifts to 'didn't eat.'

7. 7. He told us he had forgotten his umbrella.

   Past simple 'forgot' moves back to past perfect 'had forgotten.'

8. 8. Anna says she loves her new job.

   With present 'says,' there is no backshift at all.

9. 9. He said the shop closed at nine, so we hurried.

   A still-true fact can keep a simple form in the report.

10. 10. She said it might rain later that evening.

    'May' backshifts to 'might' in the reported version.

11. 11. I told him I was busy that day.

    'Today' from the original words becomes 'that day.'

12. 12. The teacher said water boils at one hundred degrees.

    General facts often stay in the present, even after 'said.'

13. 13. My neighbor said he had been ill the week before.

    'Last week' shifts to 'the week before' in reporting.

14. 14. Did she say she was coming to the party?

    A question about a report still uses backshifted 'was coming.'

The biggest mistake is forgetting to backshift when the moment has passed. Learners say 'She said that she is tired yesterday,' mixing a present verb with a past time word. That clash confuses the listener: 'is' points to now, but 'yesterday' points to the past. Say 'She said she was tired' instead. When your report is about a finished moment, move the verb back.

A second mistake is using 'said' and 'told' the same way. 'Say' does not take a person directly: 'She said me she was tired' is wrong. Use 'She told me she was tired' or 'She said (to me) that she was tired.' A simple memory trick: tell someone, say something.

A third mistake is forgetting to change pronouns and time words. If Maria says 'I will bring my laptop tomorrow,' the report 'Maria said I will bring my laptop tomorrow' sounds like you will bring your own laptop. The correct report is 'Maria said she would bring her laptop the next day.' Shift the point of view along with the verb.

• After 'said' or 'told,' move the verb one step into the past.
• Will becomes would, can becomes could, may becomes might.
• Tell needs a person: tell me, tell him. Say does not.
• Change 'I' and 'my' to match the new speaker's view.
• Tomorrow becomes the next day; yesterday becomes the day before.
• If the fact is still true now, you may keep the present tense.