Present Or Past Reporting Verb Version Dilemma In Reported Speech

Question

I can't figure out where-when I should use these versions. Grammar book says, if the reporting verb is present simple, use "say-tell" and don't change the tense. For example....

direct speech: “I like ice cream”
reported speech: She says she likes ice cream

If the reporting verb is past, use backshift....

direct speech: “I like ice cream”
reported speech: She said she liked ice cream

The thing I cant understand is, when we report an expression that has already said, it is always a part of "past" and it seems to me that I should always use past reporting verb version. As you know, no tense change option is also available in past reporting verb version when the reported situation is still true. For example....

direct speech: “I am a student (2 years ago)
reported speech: She said she is a student. (now she is still student)

So why do we have present reporting verb version???

Please explain when we should prefer present reporting version and when we should prefer the past reporting verb version.

Thanks

Murat guler · Accepted Answer

Update

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Your grammar book is correct.

Direct speech is a quote - what a person says. It does not matter when the person speaks:

Tomorrow I will say, "I am hungry." (I am going on a religious fast for three days.)
I say, "I am hungry."
I have said many times before, "I am hungry."
Last week I said, "I am hungry."

Because the quote is literally the words that come out of a person's mouth, we do not change it - it is a fixed expression.

Reported speech is different. It is not the identical words from a person's mouth. So we adjust the tense. If the tense of the main verb is past, then the tense of the quoted verb is "back-shifted" so that the time frames match.

Tomorrow I will say that I am hungry, because I will be on a fast.
I am telling you that I am hungry now! Let's stop working and get some lunch. (I am hungry and I want my friend to come with me to lunch.)
It is after noon now. You said at noon yesterday that your were hungry. Aren't you hungry now? (Note, that this means he was hungry at the time he spoke yesterday.)

Two years ago she said that she was a student. (This sentence gives us no information that she is a student now.)

It is true that it is not right to use the present for an action that is completed:

She says that she likes ice cream. - This is a statement of opinion. The action "say" is habitual, it is not an event. Here is an example:

She says that she likes ice cream. But when we go to the restaurant and order desert, she always orders cake even though ice cream is on the menu. I don't believe what she says.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi,
I'm from Turkey. I have 2 questions about reported speech. If you answer my questions, I'll be glad.
My questions are:
"When do we use reporting verb in the present simple?"
"Do we change time and place expressions when the reporting verb is in the present simple?"

Thanks.

Present Or Past Reporting Verb Version Dilemma In Reported Speech

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