Change the tenses, pronouns, expressions of time and place to rewrite the sentences from the direct to reported speech.
Direct and indirect speech Exercises with answers and grammar rules.
In the reported speech we usually change tenses (one tense back), pronouns, time and place.
"I admire you," said Sarah.
Sarah said she admired me.
"We came back yesterday," they told me.
They told me they had come the day before.
"Peter has put it here," he thought.
He thought that Peter had put it there.
"I'm afraid that your parents won't like me," said George.
George said he was afraid that my parents wouldn't like him.
How to avoid the shift of tenses:
It is simple to avoid shift of tenses in the reported speech if you use the reporting verb in the present simple tense instead of the past simple tense.
"I admire you," said Sarah.
Sarah says she admires me.
"I'm afraid that your parents won't like me," said George.
George says that he is afraid that my parents won't like him.