Backshift of tenses

from to
Simple Present Simple Past
Simple Past
Present Perfect Past Perfect
Past Perfect
will would
Progressive forms
am/are/is was/were
was/were
has been had been
had been

Backshift of tenses
from
Peter: "I work in the garden."
Peter: "I worked in the garden."
Peter: "I have worked in the garden."
Peter: "I had worked in the garden."
Peter: "I will work in the garden."
Peter: "I can work in the garden."
Peter: "I may work in the garden."
Peter: "I would work in the garden."
(could, might, should, ought to)
Progressive forms
Peter: "I'm working in the garden."
Peter: "I was working in the garden."
Peter: "I have been working in the garden."
Peter: "I had been working in the garden."
to
Peter said that he worked in the garden.
Peter said that he had worked in the garden.
Peter said that he would work in the garden.
Peter said that he could work in the garden.
Peter said that he might work in the garden.
Peter said that he would work in the garden.
(could, might, should, ought to)
Peter said that he was working in the garden.
Peter said that he had been working in the garden.

If the sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it as well.

Peter: "I worked in the garden yesterday."

Peter said that he had worked in the garden the day before.

Shifting of expressions of time

this (evening) that (evening)

today/this day that day
these (days) those (days)
now then
(a week) ago (a week) before
last weekend the weekend before / the previous weekend
here there
next (week) the following (week)
tomorrow the next/following day

Exercise 1:
Example: Peter: "I clean the black shoes."
Peter told me that ____________________________

Answer: Peter told me that he cleaned the black shoes.

1) John: "Mandy is at home."
John said that _____________________________________.
2) Max: "Frank often reads a book."
Max told me that __________________________________.
3) Susan: "I'm watching TV."
Susan said to me that ______________________________.
4) Simon: "David was ill."
Simon said that __________________________________.
5) Peggy: "The girls helped in the house."
Peggy told me that _________________________________.
6) Richard: "I am going to ride a skateboard."
Richard said to me that ______________________________.
7) Stephen and Claire: "We have cleaned the windows."
Stephen and Claire told me that ________________________.
8) Charles: "I didn't have time to do my homework."
Charles remarked that _______________________________.
9) Mrs Jones: "My mother will be 50 years old."
Mrs Jones told me that _______________________________.
10) Jean: "The boss must sign the letter."
Jean said that _______________________________________

Exercise 2: Finish the sentences using Reported speech. Always change the tense, although
it is sometimes not necessary.
Example: Peter: "I cleaned the black shoes yesterday."
Peter told me that _________________________________
Answer: Peter told me that he had cleaned the black shoes the day before.

1) Emily: "Our teacher will go to Leipzig tomorrow."

Emily said that __________________________________________.
2) Helen: "I was writing a letter yesterday."
Helen told me that _______________________________________.
3) Robert: "My father flew to Dallas last year."
Robert told me that ______________________________________.
4) Lisa: "Tim went to the stadium an hour ago."
Lisa said that ___________________________________________.
5) Patricia: "My mother will celebrate her birthday next weekend."
Patricia said that ________________________________________.
6) Michael: "I am going to read a book this week."
Michael said to me that ___________________________________.
7) Jason and Victoria: "We will do our best in the exams tomorrow."
Jason and Victoria told me that _____________________________.
8) Andrew: "We didn't eat fish two days ago."
Andrew remarked that _____________________________________.
9) Alice: "I spent all my pocket money on Monday."
Alice complained that _____________________________________.
10) David: "John had already gone at six."
David said that ___________________________________________.