## Step 3 - Grammar

Let's look at ......reported speech.
When do we use reported speech? Sometimes someone says a sentence.
This we call a direct speech. For example:

We also can use the indirect/reported speech:
The federal justice minister said that throwing children or teenagers into prisons designed for adults made no sense.
We use reported speech (or indirect speech) when we say what someone said in the past: It makes no sense. ➨ He said it made no sense.
You can use that after the reporting verb. It doesn’t change the meaning:
He said it made no sense ➨ He said that it made no sense.

Change the tense!
When we report what someone said, we often put the main verb of the direct speech back one tense. Take a look at these examples:

Tense | One tense back | Direct speech | Reported speech
1. present simple | past simple | I like milk. | She said (that) she liked milk.
2. present continuous | past continuous | I am living in Amsterdam. | She said (that) she was living in Amsterdam.
3. present perfect | past perfect | I haven't seen Masja. | She said (that) she hadn't seen Masja.
4. past simple | past perfect | I bought a car. | She said (that) she had bought a car OR She said (that) she bought a car.
5. will | would | 'll see you later. | She said (that) she would see me later.
6. can | could | I can speak perfect English. | She said (that) she could speak perfect English.

Change in pronoun!
You might also need to change the pronoun.
e.g.:
Direct speech: “I’ve visited London many times”, she said.
Reported speech: She said she had visited London many times.
Rewrite these sentences using reported speech.

1. She said, ‘I play tennis every week”.
2. They said, “We’re watching TV”.
3. He said “I’ve finished my homework”.
4. She said “I’ll help you, Mum!”
5. Margie said “I can ride a bike”
6. The team coach said ‘We won the last match and we’ll win the next one”.