Syntax

Reported thoughts

When we want to report what someone thought, we can use the phrase She/He thought that....

• "I am in Turkey." (direct thought)
• She thought that she was in Turkey. (reported thought)

• "We have waited for this train long enough."
• They thought that they had waited for that train long enough.

• "I'll wait another five minutes."
• He thought that he would wait another five minutes.

When we change from direct thought to reported thought, we also need to change tenses, pronouns and some other words when necessary.

Tenses

When reporting past thoughts, we move the thought one tense into the past.

Direct thoughts	Reported thoughts
present simple "I am in Turkey."	past simple She thought that she was in Turkey.
present continuous "We are talking to her brother."	past continuous They thought that they were talking to her brother.
present perfect "We have waited for this train long enough."	past perfect They thought that they had waited for that train long enough.
past simple "I lost the ticket on Friday."	past perfect He thought that he had lost the ticket on Friday.
will "I'll wait another five minutes."	would He thought that he would wait another five minutes.
can "I can go to Turkey by train."	could She thought she could go to Turkey by train.

Pronouns and other words

We change pronouns from I to he/she, we to they, etc., when we change from direct to reported thought. We sometimes need to change words that refer to place and time when we change from direct to reported thought.

• "I am very happy today." (direct thought)
• She thought that she was very happy that day. (reported thought)

• "I am staying here until next Friday.”
• She thought that she was staying there until the following Friday.

Direct thoughts	Reported / be required thoughts
this	that
here	there
now	then
today	that day
yesterday	the day before
tomorrow	the day after
last Friday	the Friday before
next Friday	the Friday after