In newspapers, magazines, and books, you will often see quoted or direct speech:

–They said, "We have no record of this transaction."

–He stated, "I don't know what happened."

In spoken English, reported or indirect speech will be used instead:

–They said that they had no record of this transaction.

–He stated that he didn't know what happened.

In reported or indirect speech, no quotation marks are used and the subject of the main clause and the dependent clause are the same.

Here are some rules for tense usage in indirect speech:

1. If the main verb of the sentence is in the past (said, reported, stated, etc.), the verb in the dependent clause will also be in the past.

2. Here is a chart indicating typical transformations:

QUOTED IN–>REPORTED IN

simple present–>simple past
present progressive–>perfect progressive
present perfect–>past perfect
simple past–>past perfect
future–>conditional

EXAMPLES

–I said, "She reads the paper everyday."
–>I said she read the paper everyday.

–I said, "She is reading the paper everyday."
–>I said she was reading the paper....

–I said, "She has read the paper everyday."
–>I said she had read the paper....

–I said, "She read the paper everyday."
–>I said she had read the paper....

–I said, "She will read the paper everyday."
–>I said she would read the paper....

In reported speech, an imperative will change to an infinitive. Furthermore, say will be replaced by a form of tell:

–He said, "Show me your passport."
–>He told me to show my passport.

Examples of Direct and Indirect Speech

• He said, "I'm going to California."
• He said that he was going to California.