Reported Speech: Reported Statements

Hello friends!
This post is about  reported speech.What is    reported speech ? This is the way to to give the general meaning of someone's  saying,but not the exact words.
"I love you, Mary!" whispered John. (direct speech)
 John told Mary that he loved her. (reported speech)

Reported Statements

There are some important rules one should remember to report someone's words:
1.Reported statements are usually introduced with the verbs say ( that) or tell (that).
Say is used with or without a personal object. When used with a personal object, it is always followed by the preposition to :

 
She said  that... / She said to me that... ;
Tell is always followed by a personal object without to:
He told me that....
2.When the reporting verb (told, said,informed,etc. ) is used in the Past tense the verbs in the reported speech must be changed  into Past forms according to the table:
Present Simple ---> Past Simple
Ann said: "I live in London".  Ann said that she lived in London.
Present Continuous ---> Past Continuous
"Danny is playing in his room,"  Jane told me. Jane told me that Danny was playing in his room.
Present Perfect ---> Past Perfect
"Mummy,we have laid the table!" the girls said. The girls told  their mother that they had laid the table.
Past Simple ---> Past Perfect
"I saw Betty two days ago" Michael said. Michael said that he had seen  Betty two days before.
Present Perfect Continuous ---> Past Perfect Continuous
" I have been working hard recently", Bob said. Bob said that he had been working hard recently.
Future Simple ---> Future -in- the- Past
"I'll help you,"Liz said to me.  Liz said that she would help me.

3. The time words and expressions must be  changed when the reporting verb is used in the Past tense:
now---> at that time,then
today, tonight ---> that day, that night
yesterday ---> the day before, the previous day
tomorrow ---> the next day, the following day
this / these ---> that/ those
last week ---> the week before,the previous week
next week ---> the week after,the following week
ago ---> before
here ---> there

Now you can check yourself!
Rewrite  these statements in reported speech

 And Sally called back and asked how I felt,
And she said: "I know how to help -
Get over Alice".
She said: "Now Alice is gone,
But I'm still here,
You know I've been waiting
For twenty-four years..."

Sally said that she knew how to help. She advised me to get over Alice ( this rule will be learnt next time) She told me that Alice was gone but she was  there and she had been waiting for that for 24 years.

It's time to enjoy the amaizing song:

Smokie - Living Next Door To Alice

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