REPORTED SPEECH: CHANGE OF TIME AND PLACE

Time/place references change when using reported speech

Example

• "I will see you here tomorrow", she said.  She said that she would see me there the next day.

The most common of these changes are shown below:

Today		that day
"I saw him today", she said.		She said that she had seen him that day.
Yesterday		the day before
"I saw him yesterday", she said.		She said that she had seen him theday before.
The day before yesterday		two days before
"I met her the day before yesterday", he said.		He said that he had met her two days before.
Tomorrow		the next/following day
"I'll see you tomorrow", he said		He said that he would see me the next day.
The day after tomorrow		in two days time/ two days later
"We'll come the day after tomorrow", they said.		They said that they would come in two days time/ two days later.
Next week/month/year		the following week/month/year
"I have an appointment next week", she said.		She said that she had an appointmentthe following week.
Last week/month/year		the previous/week/month/year
"I was on holiday last week", he told us.		He told us that he had been on holidaythe previous week.
ago		before
"I saw her a week ago," he said.		He said he had seen her a week before.
this (for time)		that
"I'm getting a new car this week", she said.		She said she was getting a new carthat week.
this/that (adjectives)		the
"Do you like this shirt?" he asked		He asked if I liked the shirt.
here		there
He said, "I live here".		He told me he lived there.

Other changes:

In general, personal pronouns change to the third person singular or plural, except when the speaker reports his own words:

• I/me/my/mine, you/your/yours  him/his/her/hers
• we/us/our/ours, you/your/yours  they/their/theirs:

• He said: "I like your new car."  He told her that he liked her new car.
• I said: "I'm going to my friend's house."  I said that I was going to my friend's house.