Reported Speech

When we communicate that someone else said something, we seldom repeat exactly the words they used. Instead, we use phrases like "He said (that) …" followed by the message.

However, the tense of the verb in the message changes from the tense of the original verb. 
In general, the rules are:

the present tense becomes the past:	work becomes worked
the past tense becomes the past perfect:	worked becomes had worked
the present perfect becomes the past perfect:	have worked becomes had worked
the past perfect is unchanged:	had worked is unchanged
will becomes would:	will work becomes would work
can becomes could:	can work becomes could work
must becomes had to:	must work becomes had to work
have to becomes had to:	have to work becomes had to work

---

EXAMPLES:

"I work hard."	He said he worked hard.
"I worked hard."	He said he had worked hard.
"I have worked hard."	He said he had worked hard.
"I will work hard."	He said he would work hard.
"I am going to work hard."	He said he was going to work hard.
"I am working hard."	He said he was working hard.
"I was working hard."	He said he had been working hard.
"I have been working hard."	He said he had been working hard.
"I had worked hard."	He said he had worked hard.
"I will be working hard."	He said he would be working hard.
"I can work hard."	He said he could work hard.
"I must work hard."	He said he had to work hard.
"I have to work hard."	He said he had to work hard.

---

QUESTIONS

When a person asks a question, we report it using the verb "to ask" plus IF.

"Do you work hard?"

He asked me IF  I worked hard.

COMMANDS

When a person gives a command, we report it using the verb "to tell".

"Work harder!"

He told me to work harder.

RECENT STATEMENTS

When we report something that is still true, we don't have to shift the verb:

"We are hungry."

They said they are hungry.

GENERAL STATEMENTS

When someone often says something, we can make a general report of it using the present tense of the verb to say. The verb does not shift.

"I play tennis very well."	He says he plays tennis very well.
"I will win the tourney."	He says he will win the tourney.

GENERAL TRUTH

When reporting a general truth, we don't have to shift the verb:

"Water freezes at 0° Centigrade."

He said water freezes at 0° Centigrade.