📝 Created by: El Arby Ameur | 📅 August 2026 | 🌐 lesson.tn

📖 Estimated reading time: 8 minutes | Word count: ~1200 words

📖 Reported Speech Rules: Tense, Pronoun, Time Changes

Level: B1-B2 | Focus: Backshifting, Pronouns, Time/Place Changes

Grammar Reported Speech reported speech rules grammar

1. Tense Changes (Backshifting)

Present Simple → Past Simple: "I work" → He said he worked.
Present Continuous → Past Continuous: "I am working" → He said he was working.
Present Perfect → Past Perfect: "I have worked" → He said he had worked.
Past Simple → Past Perfect: "I worked" → He said he had worked.
Future (will) → Would: "I will work" → He said he would work.
can → could: "I can swim" → He said he could swim.
may → might: "I may come" → He said he might come.
must → had to: "I must go" → He said he had to go.

2. Pronoun Changes

I → he/she
you → I/he/she/they
we → they
my → his/her
your → my/his/her/their
our → their

3. Time and Place Changes

now → then
today → that day
tonight → that night
yesterday → the day before
tomorrow → the next day
here → there
this → that
these → those
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