Out-of-date-reporting

Direct speech	Reported speech
Present simple “I want to go to bed early,” he said.	Past simple He said (that) he wantedto go to bed early.
Present continuous “She is feeding the baby,” he said.	Past continuous He said (that) she was feeding the baby.
Present perfect “I have boughta new dress,” she said.	Past perfect She said (that) she had bought a new dress.
Past simple “I finished work early,” Alex said.	Past simple or past perfect Alex said (that) he (had) finished work early.
Past continuous “I was planning to call you later,” she said.	Past continuous or Past perfect continuous She said (that) she was planning/ had been planning to call me later.
Future (will) “I will talk to you tomorrow,” she said.	Conditional (would) She said (that) she would talk to me the next day.

The sequence of tenses is not observed in Object Clauses when:
• a general truth or scientific law is expressed:	Copernicus concluded that the earth goes round the sun.
• something habitual, customary, or characteristic is represented:	We asked a bank clerk when the bank closes.
• in newspaper and magazine articles:	It was announced in Cairo yesterday that the election will be heldin June

Nearness	Distance
Now this	then, at this time, immediately that	last week	the week before, the previous week
today, tonight	that day, that night	next week	the week after, the following week
yesterday	the day before, the previous day	two days ago	two days before
tomorrow	the next day, the following day	here	there
this week	that week	come	go

We can use the verbs say and tell both in direct and reported speech.

Tell is always followed by a personal object ( told me ).

Say is used with or without a personal object. When used with a personal object it is always followed by the preposition to (said to me).

Study the following examples:

Direct speech	Reported speech
He said, “I’m Ted.”	He said (that) he was Ted.
He said to me, “I’m Ted”.	He said to me that he was Ted.
He told me, “I’m Ted”.	He told me that he was Ted.

Say and tell are also used with the following expressions: