Reported speech

When we report what someone said, we usually move the tense one step back into the past (backshift): present simple becomes past simple, present continuous becomes past continuous, present perfect and past simple become past perfect, will becomes would, can becomes could, and may becomes might. We also change pronouns to match the new speaker and adjust time and place words: now becomes then, today becomes that day, tomorrow becomes the next day, here becomes there. For statements we use 'say' (without an object) or 'tell + somebody'. Reported questions use normal statement word order (subject before verb) with no question mark; yes/no questions are introduced by 'if' or 'whether', and wh-questions keep the question word. Commands and requests are reported with 'tell/ask + somebody + to-infinitive' (negative: 'not to'). For example: She said, "I am tired." becomes 'She said that she was tired.'