This applies to all of these expressions: If a day or two has passed, it would not be correct to say ‘yesterday’ and you would have to say ‘the day before’. ……and you mention this to somebody else on the same day, ‘yesterday’ applies and is still valid. The same applies to other parts of the sentence referring to Time and Place. You don’t need to say ‘…the following Christmas.’ Don’t let the grammar rules get in the way of logic! As a general rule, you can use your native language as a guide.

It’s not the same situation as Samantha’s holiday in Mexico, because the future arrangements are still valid. “He told me he’s going to spend Christmas with his in-laws.” In November you explain the situation to your wife: “I’m going to spend this Christmas with my in-laws” Imagine that your friend tells you this in October: None of this is written in stone, and depends on the logic of the sentence. “You must tell me.” – We told them that they had to tell me. “I can iron but I can’t sew.” – I told her I could iron but I couldn’t sew. “I’ll finish it tomorrow.” – She said that she would finish it tomorrow / the next day. WILL/WON’T (Shall, when similar to Will)– WOULD(n’t) “I haven’t been to South America.” – I told them that I hadn’t been to South America. “It was raining yesterday, so I didn’t do anything.” – He told me that it had been raining yesterday / the day before, so he hadn’t done anything. “I live in Spain but I am going back to England this weekend.” – He said that he lived in Spain, and that he was going back to England next / the following weekend. She told me that she was going to Mexico, and that she would be there for two weeks = Samantha: “I’m going to Mexico. She said that she had just come back from holiday in Riviera Maya the day before = Samantha: “I’ve just come back from Riviera Maya.”

The conversations with Samantha happened in the past: Jane saw Samantha, Samantha was in Mexico two weeks, and she left on the 7th, but what Samantha said changes tense:

JANE: Riviera Maya is in Mexico, stupid- and she was there for two weeks- she left on the 7th!! MARK: Oh? She told me that she was going to Mexico, and that she would be there for two weeks… She said that she had just come back from holiday in Riviera Maya. To make this clear, you must take one step back in the tense, from Present to Past, Past to Past Perfect, Future to Conditional, etc. When you are reporting what somebody has said, you are talking about a statement that has been made in the past. Let’s look at how to use it: AFFIRMATIVE / NEGATIVE SENTENCES His mother told him to sit down and not to make any noise. “Sit down and don’t make any noise!” This is DIRECT SPEECH “Where did you go last Saturday?” This is DIRECT SPEECHĭave asked me where I had gone last Saturday/the Saturday before. I told him that my name was Jonathan and I was from Kent. “My name is Jonathan and I’m from Kent.” This is DIRECT SPEECH

Reported speech negative exercises pdf