| 
Direct speech | 
Indirect speech | |
| Present simple She said, “It’s cold.” | 
› | 
Past simple  She said it was cold. | 
| 
Present continuous  She said, “I’m teaching English online.” | 
› | 
Past continuous  She said she was teaching English online. | 
| 
Present perfect simple  She said, “I’ve been on the web since 1999.” | 
› | 
Past perfect simple She said she had been on the web since 1999. | 
| 
Present perfect continuous  She said, “I’ve been teaching English for seven years.” | 
› | 
Past perfect continuous  She said she had been teaching English for seven years. | 
| 
Past simple  She said, “I taught online yesterday.” | 
› | 
Past perfect  She said she had taught online yesterday. | 
| 
Past continuous  She said, “I was teaching earlier.” | 
› | 
Past perfect continuous  She said she had been teaching earlier. | 
| 
Past perfect  She said, “The lesson had already started when he arrived.” | 
› | 
Past perfect  NO CHANGE – She said the lesson had already started when he arrived. | 
| 
Past perfect continuous She said, “I’d already been teaching for five minutes.” | 
› | 
Past perfect continuous  NO CHANGE – She said she’d already been teaching for five minutes. | 
| 
will She said, “I’ll teach English online tomorrow.” | 
› | 
would She said she would teach English online tomorrow. | 
| can She said, “I can teach English online.” | 
› | 
could She said she could teach English online. | 
| 
must She said, “I must have a computer to teach English online.” | 
› | 
had to  She said she had to have a computer to teach English online. | 
| 
shall She said, “What shall we learn today?” | 
› | 
should She asked what we should learn today. | 
| 
may She said, “May I open a new browser?” | 
› | 
might She asked if she might open a new browser. | 
