Reported statements

We usually introduce reported statements with "reporting verbs" such as "say" or "tell":

He said (that)... He told me (that)...

When we report a statement, we can say "He said that..." or simply "He said...". Both are possible. "He said that..." is more formal.

pronouns may need to change to reflect a different perspective tense sometimes has to go back one tense (eg, present becomes past) - this is called backshift

direct statementHe said,"I am sick."

He said (that)he was sick.

Typical reporting verbs for statements: say, tell, mention, inform

He said that...

He said...

He told me that...

He told me...

He mentioned that...

He informed me that...

In reported statements, we can use either 'say' or 'tell'. The meaning is the same, but the grammar is different. For example:

Direct speech:

John: "I'll be late".

Reported speech:

John said (that) he would be late.

OR

John told me (that) he was going to be late.

With 'tell' we NEED the object (e.g. 'me', 'you', 'her').

With 'say' we CAN'T use the object (e.g. 'me', 'them', 'us').

So we CAN'T say:

“John said me that he would be late.” “John told that he would be late.”

When we report something, we may need to make changes to:

time (now, tomorrow) place (here, this room)

here

today

this morning

yesterday

tomorrow

next week

next month

⇒ that day

⇒ there

⇒ the following week

⇒ the day before

⇒ the following month

⇒ the next day

⇒ that morning