Reported Speech Present Simple Exercises

When we report what someone said in the present simple, the verb shifts one step back to the past simple. This is called backshift. "I work in London" becomes "She said she worked in London." The helper verb do/does disappears entirely — "He doesn't like fish" becomes "She said he didn't like fish." This mirrors the way past simple normally works: no helper verb in positive statements, "didn't" in negatives.

Pronouns also change to match the new speaker's perspective: I becomes he/she, my becomes his/her, and we becomes they. The verb be follows the same backshift pattern: "I am tired" becomes "He said he was tired," and "They are ready" becomes "She said they were ready." Irregular verbs shift normally — "I have a car" becomes "She said she had a car." Remember that the third-person -s disappears once the verb moves to past simple because past simple has no third-person ending. This is often tested in exams like Cambridge B1 Preliminary and B2 First.