Changes in Tenses

Reporting verb in Present tense or Future tense

If the reporting verb (or principal verb) is in the present tense or the future tense, then we do not change the tense of the direct speech/reported speech.

She says, “Mak was a teacher”.
She says that Mak was a teacher. (Mak was a teacher - reported speech, no change in tense)

He will say, “I am not the culprit”.
He will say that he is not the culprit. (he is not the culprit - reported speech, no change in tense)

Reporting verb in Past tense

When the reporting verb is in the past tense (and the reported speech is not an idiom/phrase etc.), all tenses of the direct/reported speech are changed into the corresponding past tenses. That is:

• Case 1: Simple present ($V_1$/do/does) is changed to Simple past ($V_2$/did).
• Case 2: Simple past ($V_2$/did) is changed to Past perfect (had + $V_3$).
• Case 3: Past perfect (had + $V_3$) is not changed.

Case 1: Simple present becomes Simple past

A simple present ($V_1$/$V_{s/es}$/do/does) becomes a simple past ($V_2$/did).

Type 1

‘am/is/are’ is changed to ‘was/were’

Direct speech: He said, “I am fine.” (I am fine – simple present tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he was fine. (he was fine – simple past tense)

Type 2

‘it is + time + subject + $V_2$’ is changed to ‘it was + time + subject + $V_2$’

Direct speech: He said, “It is time we left.” (It is time – simple present tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) it was time we left. (it was time – simple past tense)

Type 3

‘subject + has/have + to + $V_1$’ is changed to ‘subject + had + to + $V_1$’

Direct speech: He said, “I have to study.” (I have to study – simple present tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he had to study. (he had to study – simple past tense)

Type 4

‘subject + do/does + not + have + to + $V_1$’ is changed to ‘subject + did + not + have + to + $V_1$’

Direct speech: He said, “I do not have to study.” (I do not have to study – simple present tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he did not have to study. (he did not have to study – simple past tense)

Case 2: Simple past becomes Past perfect

Simple past ($V_2$/did) is changed to Past perfect (had + $V_3$).

Type 1

‘was/were’ is changed to ‘had been’

Direct speech: He said, “I was an engineer.” (I was an engineer – simple past tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he had been an engineer. (he had been an engineer – past perfect tense)

Type 2

‘$V_2$’ is changed to ‘had $V_3$’

Direct speech: He said, “I saw Mark.” (I saw Mark – simple past tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he had seen Mark. (he had seen Mark – past perfect tense)

Type 3

‘Did + subject + have + to’ is changed to ‘if/whether + subject + had had + to + $V_1$’

Direct speech: He said, “Did you have to play?” (Did you have to play? – simple past tense)
Indirect speech: He asked (that) whether he had had to play. (he had had to play – past perfect tense)

Type 4

‘had + to + $V_1$’ is changed to either:

• ‘had had + to + $V_1$’ (preferred) or
  
• ‘had + to + $V_1$’ (i.e. no change)

Direct speech: He said, “I had to work.” (I had to work – simple past tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he had had to work. (he had had to work – past perfect tense, more preferred)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he had to work. (he had to work – simple past tense, less preferred)

Case 3: Past perfect is not changed.

Past perfect (had + $V_3$) is not changed.

Direct speech: He said, “I had played cricket with Mark.” (I had played cricket – past perfect tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he had played cricket with Mark. (he had played cricket – past perfect tense)

Let’s see some more cases.

Case 4: Present continuous becomes Past continuous

Present continuous (is/am/are) is changed to Past continuous (was/were)

Direct speech: He said, “I am playing cricket.” (I am playing cricket – present continuous tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he was playing cricket. (he was playing cricket – past continuous tense)

Case 5: Past continuous becomes Past perfect continuous

Past continuous (was/were) is changed to Past perfect continuous (had been $V_4$)

Direct speech: He said, “I was playing cricket with Mark.” (I was playing cricket – past continuous tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he had been playing cricket with Mark. (he had been playing cricket – past perfect continuous tense)

Case 6: Past perfect continuous is not changed

Past perfect continuous (had been $V_4$) is not changed

Direct speech: He said, “I had been playing cricket with Mark.” (I had been playing cricket – past perfect continuous tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he had been playing cricket with Mark. (he had been playing cricket – past perfect continuous tense)

Let’s see some more cases.

Case 7: Present perfect becomes Past perfect

Present perfect (has/have + $V_3$) is changed to Past perfect (had + $V_3$).

Direct speech: He said, “I have played cricket.” (I have played cricket– present perfect tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he had played cricket. (he had played cricket – past perfect tense)

Direct speech: He said, “I have seen the episode before.” (I have seen – present perfect tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he had seen the episode before. (he had seen – past perfect tense)

Case 8: Present perfect continuous becomes Past perfect continuous

Present perfect continuous (has/have been $V_4$) is changed to Past perfect continuous (had been $V_4$)

Direct speech: He said, “I have been playing cricket.” (I have been playing cricket– present perfect continuous tense)
Indirect speech: He said (that) he had been playing cricket. (he had been playing cricket – past perfect continuous tense)

Exceptions to general rules

Exception 1

Tenses in case of permanent situation or universal truth:

If the reporting verb is in ‘past’, and the reported speech is still relevant (i.e. a universal truth/phrase/idiom/habitual action/historical fact).

In such a case, we can often choose whether to keep the original tenses or change them.

If the reporting verb is in the past tense, we prefer past tense (over present tense) in the reported clause in the following cases:

• we are not sure that what we are reporting is necessarily true
• a situation may not still exist now
• when we are reporting objectively

Compare the following sentences:

Jim told me that he has three cars. (told – reporting verb in past tense; has – verb in the reported clause in present tense; it suggests that what is being reported is indeed true, i.e. Jim do have three cars.)

Jim told me that he had three cars. (told – reporting verb in past tense; had – verb in the reported clause in past tense; it suggests that what is being reported is either not true, or that situation no more exits, i.e. either Jim never had three cars, or he once had three cars, but not now.)

Exception 2: Tenses in case of instant action/action-reaction

In case of instant action or action–reaction, there will be no change in tense.

Direct Speech: The event manager said, “As soon as Katy Perry started dancing everybody stood in praise.”
Indirect Speech: The event manager said that as soon as Katy Perry started dancing everybody stood in praise.

Direct Speech: Jim said to Dwight, “when you opened the window, the wind came in.”
Indirect Speech: Jim told Dwight that when he opened the window, the wind came in.

Exception 3: Tenses in case of two ongoing actions in the past

In case of two ongoing actions in the past, there will be no change in tense.

Direct Speech: Monika said, “while I was playing badminton some boys and girls were booing me”.
Indirect Speech: Monika said that while she was playing badminton some boys and girls were booing her. (we have changed the pronoun but not the tense)

Direct Speech: Mragank said to Mayank, “while I was looking at you, you were looking at someone else.”
Indirect Speech: Mragank told Mayank that while he was looking at him, he was looking at someone else.

Exception 4: Tenses in case of helping verbs

In case of modal verbs, there will be no change in tense.

Direct Speech: He said, “There used to be a small school near my house.”
Indirect Speech: He said that there used to be a small school near his house. (we have changed the pronoun but not the tense)

Direct Speech: Parshuram said, “I would rather die than give the secret away to enemy.”
Indirect Speech: Parshuram said that he would rather die than give the secret away to enemy.

Exception 5: Tenses in case of certain structures

In case of the following patterns, there will be no change in tense.

Pattern 1

Subject + had + $V_3$ + …….. + before + Subject + $V_2$ + ………….

Direct Speech: They said, “We had played tennis ball cricket for some time before we played leather ball cricket”.
Indirect Speech: They said that they had played tennis ball cricket for some time before they played leather ball cricket.

Pattern 2

Subject + $V_2$ + ………..+ after + Subject + had + $V_3$ +…………..

Direct Speech: They said, “We played leather ball cricket after we had played tennis ball cricket for some time”.
Indirect Speech: They said that they played leather ball cricket after they had played tennis ball cricket for some time.

Pattern 3

By the time + Subject + $V_2$ + ………+ Subject + had + $V_3$ + …………

Annie said to Eva, “By the time you left Italy, I had married your friend.”
Annie told Eva that by the time she left Italy, she had married her friend.

Extra Books and Tools

If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.