Direct and indirect speech

When the reporting verb is in the past (said, told), the tense inside usually moves one step back: Present Simple → Past Simple (reads → read), Present Continuous → Past Continuous (is reading → was reading), am/is → was, are → were, do/does → did, will → would, am/is/are going to → was/were going to. Time and place words change too: today → that day, tonight → that night, now → then, tomorrow → the next day, here → there, this → that, these → those. After told we name the listener: She told me that ... ; after said we do not: She said that ... . If the information is still true, the tense can stay the same.