Some students have asked about Reported Speech, a really tough matter. It is used when we want to reported what another person has said. There's always a backshift of sentences, apart from when the sentence is still true. Examples:
Present to Past
direct speech: I go to school.
indirect speech: She said that she went to school.
Present Continuous to Past Continuous
direct speech: Is he working until so late?
indirect speech: He asked me if he was working until so late.
Past Perfect to Past Perfect
direct speech: When did you find the wallet?
indirect speech: He asked us when we had found the wallet.
Present Perfect to Past Perfect
direct speech: I've already done my homework.
indirect speech: I told my mother that I had already done my homework.
Present Perfect Continuous to Past Perfect Continuous
direct speech: James has been working on his project since yesterday.
indirect speech: He said that he had been working on his project since the day before.
Imperative to Infinitive
direct speech: Buy me some packages of milk, please.
indirect speech: She told me to buy her some packages of milk.
Will to Would
direct speech: I'll be home in about half an hour.
indirect speech: He said he would be in home in about an hour.
Can to Could
direct speech: I can do this activity.
indirect speech: You said you could do the activity.
I've provided some links for you all to learn more and practice, such as English Hilfen, and exercises 1,and exercises 2, English Learner exercises and Web2 exercises. So, that's all by far. Bye!
*Image credits from http://english1na.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/reported-speech.gif
