Question

If the reporting verb is in present or future tense, then will there be no change in the tense of reported speech. Justify.

Answer 1

Explanation:

The reporting verb is normally in the past tense as we are reporting what somebody “said”. But it doesn’t have to be. We can find examples with it in virtually any tense.

If it’s in the present simple, this is generally because it’s something the original speaker habitually says or believes - “You say I’m crazy”.

If it’s in the future tense, then it’s something the “reporter” thinks the original speaker will say - “You’ll say I’m crazy, but I want to do it anyway.”

Here are some examples in other tenses:

“Are you saying it’s not true?”

“You were saying that time is running out.”

“They’ve said they can’t deliver that early.”

“He’d said he couldn’t do it.”

“They might say they want to help.”