Unit 45. Reported speech (1)

Now you tell someone else what Tom said (in reported speech):

Tom said (that) his parents were very well.

Tom said (that) he was going to quit his job.

Tom said (that) Ann had bought a new car.

Tom said (that) he couldn’t come to the party on Friday.

Tom said (that) he wanted to go on vacation, but he didn’t know where to go.

Tom said (that) he was going away for a few days and would call me when he got back.

The simple past (I did) can usually stay the same in reported speech, or you can change it to the past perfect (I had done): did —> did or had done

direct —Tom said “I woke up feeling sick and so I stayed in bed.”

reported —Tom said (that) he woke (or had woken) up feeling sick and so he stayed (or had stayed) in bed.

For reported speech see also Units 46 and 48b.