Reported Speech
Statements
I don't want a party on my birthday. \(\to\) I told my wife that I didn't want a party on my birthday.
The weather was extremely bad. \(\to\) The pilot commented the weather had been extremely bad.
Normal statements use that between the the reported speech and who the speaker is. However, that can be omitted.
Questions
Are you Scottish? \(\to\) She asked if I was scottish.
Do you want a table near the window? \(\to\) The waiter asked whether we wanted a table near the window.
What do you want for your birthday? \(\to\) My friend asked me, what I wanted for my birthday.
Who have you invited? \(\to\) Jim asked, who we had invited. (not "Jim asked, who had we invited")
A yes-or-no question gets transformed by using if or wheather.
If a wh-word (like what, where,...) is present, it gets used instead of if or wheather.
Importantly, the sentence structure is subject + verb.
Backshift
Because what the quoted person said was in the past, the verbs are backshifted by one tense to reflect that.
| Original Tense | Backshifted Tense |
|---|---|
| present simple | past simple |
| present continuouse | past continuouse |
| present perfect simple | past perfect simple |
| present perfect continuouse | past perfect continuouse |
| past simple | past perfect simple |
| past continuouse | past perfect continuouse |
| future (will) | future-in-the-past (would) |
| past perfect | past perfect (no change) |
If what the person said is still true, then the no backshifting is necessary. (eg. I'm going to get married next year \(\to\) She said, she is going to get married next year. In this case no backshifting is necessary if it is still the same year)