Reported speech looks like a memory game: memorise a table, shift every tense back one step, done. That is why so many learners get it slightly wrong even after years of study.
The truth is quieter. Reported speech is about time and point of view, not about a chart. Once you see what is actually moving, the shifts stop feeling random.
What reported speech actually does
Direct speech quotes the exact words. Reported (or indirect) speech folds those words into your own sentence, from your own position in time and space.
Direct: Maria said, “I am tired.”
Reported: Maria said she was tired.
Notice what changed. The quotation marks vanished. “I” became “she” because you are no longer Maria. And “am” became “was” because you are reporting it later, from a distance.
That last part is the piece everyone calls backshift.
Tense backshift: pulling the verb one step back
When your reporting verb is in the past (said, told, asked), the reported verb usually steps one tense further into the past. You are looking back at a moment that has already gone.
The core shifts
Present becomes past. “I work from home.” → She said she worked from home.
Present continuous becomes past continuous. “I am waiting.” → He said he was waiting.
Past simple becomes past perfect. “I saw Alex.” → She said she had seen Alex.
Present perfect becomes past perfect. “I have finished.” → He said he had finished.
The modal shifts
Three modals do the same one-step move, and these are the ones that catch people out:
will → would: “I will call you.” → She said she would call me.
can → could: “I can help.” → He said he could help.
may → might: “I may be late.” → She said she might be late.
Some modals simply don’t move, because they have no further-back form. Should, would, could, might and must usually stay put.
Pronouns, time and place move too
Backshift gets all the attention, but the small words shift just as reliably — and forgetting them is what makes a sentence sound off.
Pronouns follow the speaker
If Sam says “my keys” and you report it, they become his keys. The pronoun tracks whose mouth the words are in now, which is yours.
Time words move into the past
Because you are reporting later, “now” is no longer now.
Direct: “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Reported: She said she would see me the next day.
Place words shift with your position
Here becomes there, and this becomes that, because you are reporting from somewhere else.
Direct: “Leave it here.”
Reported: He told me to leave it there.
Say or tell? Pick by who’s listening
This trips up more people than backshift does. The rule is short: tell needs a person straight after it; say does not.
So you can say She told me, but never “She said me”. And you say He said hello, not “He told hello”. If you want the deeper dive on those two, we have a whole post on say vs tell; here we’re only using them to introduce the reported clause.
Reported questions: drop the drama
Questions change shape more than statements do, and this is where the neat sentences fall apart.
Two things happen. The word order goes back to normal statement order, with no inversion, and the question mark disappears, because a reported question isn’t a question any more. It’s a statement about a question.
Yes/no questions use if or whether
Direct: “Are you coming?”
Reported: She asked if I was coming.
Not “She asked was I coming”. The verb sits after the subject, just like in any ordinary sentence.
Wh- questions keep the question word
Direct: “Where do you live?”
Reported: He asked where I lived.
See how “do you live” straightens out into “I lived”? The auxiliary do drops away and the word order relaxes.
When you can skip the backshift
Here is the part the tables never mention. Backshift is not compulsory when the thing said is still true right now.
If a fact hasn’t expired, you can leave the present tense alone.
“The office opens at nine.” → She said the office opens at nine. (It still opens at nine, so no shift needed.)
You can backshift it. She said the office opened at nine is also fine. But keeping the present tense signals the fact is current, so pick the version that matches reality.
The same holds for general truths and things that haven’t changed:
“Water boils at 100 degrees.” → He said water boils at 100 degrees.
And if your reporting verb is in the present or future (she says, he’ll tell you), there’s no backshift at all, because you aren’t looking back in time.
“I’m hungry.” → She says she’s hungry.
Frequently asked questions
Is backshift ever wrong to use?
No, using it is always grammatically safe. But for facts that are still true, keeping the present tense sounds more natural and shows the information is current.
Do I always need “that” in reported speech?
No. “She said that she was tired” and “She said she was tired” are both correct. In everyday English, most people drop “that”.
How do I report a command or request?
Use “tell” or “ask” plus “to” and the verb. “Sit down” becomes “She told me to sit down”; “Please wait” becomes “He asked me to wait”.