Reported speech | examples and exercises When direct speech is changed into reported speech , with a reporting verb in the past , the verb tense , the pronouns and the time-phrase may all have to be changed to indicate the time shift to the past : • 'We'll be getting married this year,' he said, (direct speech) • He says (that) they'll be getting married this year. (reported speech with a present reporting verb) • He said (that) they would be getting married that year. (reported speech with a past reporting verb) It is usually better style to use more precise reporting verbs than say or tell when turning (usually informal ) direct statements into (usually more formal) reported ones. Examples are: advise, apologise, congratulate, promise, remind. The modals should, would, could, ought and might do not change tense in reported speech, and neither do the second and third conditionals. With a reported second or third conditional, that i...
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