Reported speech tense changing chart
Direct Speech (Original Statement) | Indirect Speech (Reported Speech) | Tense Change |
Present Simple: “I like ice cream.” | He said that he liked ice cream. | Present Simple ➡️ Past Simple |
Present Continuous: “She is watching TV.” | She said that she was watching TV. | Present Continuous ➡️ Past Continuous |
Present Perfect: “They have finished the project.” | They said that they had finished the project. | Present Perfect ➡️ Past Perfect |
Present Perfect Continuous: “He has been working here for five years.” | She said that he had been working there for five years. | Present Perfect Continuous ➡️ Past Perfect Continuous |
Past Simple: “She visited her parents last weekend.” | He said that she had visited her parents the previous weekend. | No change in tense (already past) |
Past Continuous: “We were studying when he called.” | They said that they were studying when he called. | No change in tense (already past) |
Past Perfect: “She had already left when I arrived.” | He said that she had already left when he arrived. | No change in tense (already past) |
Future Simple: “I will call you later.” | She said that she would call me later. | Future Simple ➡️ Conditional (would + base verb) |
Future Continuous: “They will be waiting for us.” | He said that they would be waiting for us. | Future Continuous ➡️ Conditional Continuous (would be + base verb + -ing) |
Future Perfect: “She will have finished by noon.” | She said that she would have finished by noon. | Future Perfect ➡️ Conditional Perfect (would have + past participle) |
Future Perfect Continuous: “I will have been working here for five years.” | He said that he would have been working there for five years. | Future Perfect Continuous ➡️ Conditional Perfect Continuous (would have been + base verb + -ing) |
direct Speech (Original Statement) | Indirect Speech (Reported Speech) | Tense Change |
Simple Tenses | ||
Present Simple: “She sings well.” | He said that she sang well. | Present ➡️ Past |
Past Simple: “They visited Paris last year.” | She said that they had visited Paris the previous year. | No change in tense (already past) |
Future Simple: “I will meet him tomorrow.” | He said that he would meet him the next day. | Future ➡️ Conditional |
Continuous Tenses | ||
Present Continuous: “They are studying for the exam.” | She said that they were studying for the exam. | Present Continuous ➡️ Past Continuous |
Past Continuous: “I was cooking dinner.” | They said that I was cooking dinner. | No change in tense (already past) |
Future Continuous: “She will be waiting for you.” | He said that she would be waiting for you. | Future Continuous ➡️ Conditional Continuous |
Perfect Tenses | ||
Present Perfect: “He has finished his homework.” | They said that he had finished his homework. | Present Perfect ➡️ Past Perfect |
Past Perfect: “She had already left when I arrived.” | He said that she had already left when he arrived. | No change in tense (already past) |
Future Perfect: “She will have completed the task by then.” | She said that she would have completed the task by then. | Future Perfect ➡️ Conditional Perfect |
Perfect Continuous Tenses | ||
Present Perfect Continuous: “We have been waiting for hours.” | She said that they had been waiting for hours. | Present Perfect Continuous ➡️ Past Perfect Continuous |
Future Perfect Continuous: “I will have been working here for five years.” | He said that he would have been working there for five years. | Future Perfect Continuous ➡️ Conditional Perfect Continuous |
How to changing tense in reported speech
Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is used to relay what someone else has said without quoting them directly. When converting direct speech (the original statement) into reported speech, the tense of the verbs often changes to reflect the shift in time perspective. Here’s a breakdown of how different tenses change when reported indirectly:
Simple Tenses
- Present Simple
- Direct Speech: “I like ice cream.”
- Indirect Speech: He said that he liked ice cream.
- Tense Change: Present Simple ➡️ Past Simple
- The present simple “like” changes to past simple “liked” when reporting the statement indirectly.
- Past Simple
- Direct Speech: “She visited her parents.”
- Indirect Speech: He said that she had visited her parents.
- Tense Change: No change in tense (already past)
- The past simple tense remains unchanged when reporting the statement indirectly.
- Future Simple
- Direct Speech: “I will call you later.”
- Indirect Speech: She said that she would call me later.
- Tense Change: Future Simple ➡️ Conditional (would + base verb)
- The future simple “will call” changes to conditional “would call” when reported indirectly.
Continuous Tenses
- Present Continuous
- Direct Speech: “She is watching TV.”
- Indirect Speech: She said that she was watching TV.
- Tense Change: Present Continuous ➡️ Past Continuous
- The present continuous “is watching” changes to past continuous “was watching” in reported speech.
- Past Continuous
- Direct Speech: “We were studying.”
- Indirect Speech: They said that they were studying.
- Tense Change: No change in tense (already past)
- The past continuous tense remains unchanged when reporting the statement indirectly.
- Future Continuous
- Direct Speech: “They will be waiting.”
- Indirect Speech: He said that they would be waiting.
- Tense Change: Future Continuous ➡️ Conditional Continuous (would be + base verb + -ing)
- The future continuous “will be waiting” changes to conditional continuous “would be waiting” when reported indirectly.
Perfect Tenses
- Present Perfect
- Direct Speech: “They have finished the project.”
- Indirect Speech: They said that they had finished the project.
- Tense Change: Present Perfect ➡️ Past Perfect
- The present perfect “have finished” changes to past perfect “had finished” in reported speech.
- Past Perfect
- Direct Speech: “She had already left.”
- Indirect Speech: He said that she had already left.
- Tense Change: No change in tense (already past)
- The past perfect tense remains unchanged when reporting the statement indirectly.
- Future Perfect
- Direct Speech: “She will have finished.”
- Indirect Speech: She said that she would have finished.
- Tense Change: Future Perfect ➡️ Conditional Perfect (would have + past participle)
- The future perfect “will have finished” changes to conditional perfect “would have finished” in reported speech.
Perfect Continuous Tenses
- Present Perfect Continuous
- Direct Speech: “He has been working here.”
- Indirect Speech: She said that he had been working there.
- Tense Change: Present Perfect Continuous ➡️ Past Perfect Continuous
- The present perfect continuous “has been working” changes to past perfect continuous “had been working” in reported speech.
- Future Perfect Continuous
- Direct Speech: “I will have been working here.”
- Indirect Speech: He said that he would have been working there.
- Tense Change: Future Perfect Continuous ➡️ Conditional Perfect Continuous (would have been + base verb + -ing)
- The future perfect continuous “will have been working” changes to conditional perfect continuous “would have been working” in reported speech.