Reported speech: Present & Past indirect forms

Both the Simple past and the Present perfect usually become Past perfect in reported speech:

• I sent 20 e-mails yesterday.
  He said he had sent 20 e-mails the day before.
• I have sent 20 e-mails today.
  He said he had sent 20 e-mails that day.

Or

• "The boss fired three employees last week."
  The boss's secretary told me that he had fired three employees the week before.
• "The boss has fired three employees this week."
  The boss's secretary told me that he had fired three employees that week.

Notice the time change:
"Yesterday" becomes "the day before"
"Today" becomes "that day"
"This month" becomes "that month"
"Now" becomes "then"
etc.

"Just" is often used for very recent events with the Present perfect in English.

• "Why are you laughing so much?" - "John has just told me a really funny story about a banana"
  Mary said John had just told her a funny story."

And often with the Simple past in American

• "John just told me a really funny story about a banana"
  Mary said John had just told her a funny story."

John told the story before Mary laughed so the Present perfect (or Simple past) become the Past perfect.

• Orders use the infinitive with all tenses:
  "Open the window please."
  He asked me to open the window
  He always asks me to open the window
  He has asked me to open the window
  etc.

In the negative:

• "Don't write in your textbooks!"
  The teacher told them not to write in their textbooks
  The teacher has told them not to write in their textbooks
  The teacher was telling them not to write in their textbooks
  etc.

In some cases of ongoing situations which are still true you don't have to change tenses (but you can):

• "Teachers don't hit children any more these days."
  He said teachers don't hit children any more.
  or
  He said teachers didn't hit children any more.

Even though "said" is in the past, the statement "teachers don't hit children" is clearly still true now so the present tense is acceptable.

However:

• Mary's teacher hit her this morning! I thought you said teachers didn't hit children any more!

This sounds better because the hypothesis is apparently not true any more.

The past perfect in reported speech:

• "I was excited because I had never driven a Ferrari before."
  Peter said he was excited because he had never driven a Ferrari before.

The tense stays in the Past perfect (There isn't a "super past perfect") so it stays the same.

Describing ongoing situations in the past:

• "When I worked for the company we had longer hours."
  She said that, when she worked for the company, they had longer hours."

In this historical context, there is no change.

Progressive forms:

• "John is fishing under the bridge."
  Mary told us John was fishing under the bridge
• "He's been fishing there for ages and he still hasn't caught anything!"
  Mary said he had been fishing there for ages and still hadn't caught anything.

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