Grammar Focus:

Direct speech       ›         Indirect speech


Present simple 
"It's cold."
› Past simple 
She said it was cold.


Present continuous 
"I'm teaching English online."
› Past continuous 
She said she was teaching English online.


Present perfect simple 
"I've been on the web since 1999."
› Past perfect simple 
She said she had been on the web since 1999.


Present perfect continuous 
"I've been teaching English for seven years."
› Past perfect continuous 
She said she had been teaching English for seven years.


Past simple 
"I taught online yesterday."
› Past perfect 
She said she had taught online yesterday.


Past continuous 
"I was teaching earlier."
› Past perfect continuous 
She said she had been teaching earlier.


Past perfect 
"The lesson had already started when he arrived."
› Past perfect 
NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had already started when he arrived.


Past perfect continuous
"I'd already been teaching for five minutes."
› Past perfect continuous 
NO CHANGE - She said she'd already been teaching for five minutes.




Modal verb forms also sometimes change:


will 
"I'll teach English online tomorrow."
› would 
She said she would teach English online tomorrow.


can 
"I can teach English online."
› could 
She said she could teach English online.


must 
"I must have a computer to teach English online."
› had to 
She said she had to have a computer to teach English online.


shall 
"What shall we learn today?"
› should 
She asked what we should learn today.


may 
"May I open a new browser?"
› might 
She asked if she might open a new browser.

Reporting Verbs:

advise

encourage

invite

remind

warn

agree

decide

offer

promise

refuse

threaten

admit

agree

decide

deny

explain

insist

promise

recommend

suggest

deny

recommend

suggest

accuse

blame

congratulate

apologize

insist

Examples:


Jack encouraged me to look for a new job.
They invited all their friends to attend the presentation.