Tense change

As a rule when you report something someone has said you go back a tense: (the tense on the left changes to the tense on the right):

Direct speech		Indirect speech
Present simple She said, "It's cold."	›	Past simple She said it was cold.
Present continuous She said, "I'm teaching English online."	›	Past continuous She said she was teaching English online.
Present perfect simple She said, "I've been on the web since 1999."	›	Past perfect simple She said she had been on the web since 1999.
Present perfect continuous She said, "I've been teaching English for seven years."	›	Past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching English for seven years.
Past simple She said, "I taught online yesterday."	›	Past perfect She said she had taught online yesterday.
Past continuous She said, "I was teaching earlier."	›	Past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching earlier.
Past perfect She said, "The lesson had already started when he arrived."	›	Past perfect NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had already started when he arrived.

So and Such

A -We use so + adjective/adverb: so stupid / so quick/ so nice/  so quickly

• I didn't enjoy the book. The story was so stupid.

• I didn't enjoy the book. It was such a stupid story.

   We use such + noun:

Such a story / such people         
We use such + adjective + noun:

such a stupid story / such nice people

Note that we say such a..... (not 'a such...')

B. So and such make the meaning of an adjective (or adverb) stronger:

• It’s a lovely day, isn't it? It's so warm. (= really warm)

• He’s difficult to understand because he speaks so quickly.

Compare so and such in these sentences:

• I like Tom and Ann. They are so nice.

You can use so...that...:

• The book was so good that I couldn't put it down.

• I was so tired that I fell asleep in the armchair.

You can leave out that in sentences like this:

• I was so tired (that) I fell asleep.

• We enjoyed our holiday. We had such a good time. (= a really good time)

• I like Tom and Ann. They are such nice people, (not 'so nice people')

You can use such...that...:

• It was such a good book that I couldn't put it down.

• It was such lovely weather that we spent the whole day on the beach.

C/ We also use so and such with the meaning 'like this':

• I was surprised to find out that the house was built 100 years ago. I didn't realise it was so old. (As old as it is)

• I expected the weather to be much cooler. I didn't expect it to be so warm.

• I'm tired because I got up at 6 o'clock.  I don't usually get up so early.

 • I didn’t t realise it was such an old house

. • The house was so untidy. I've never seen such a mess. (= a mess like this)

Note the expression no such...:  

 • You won't find the word 'blid' in an English dictionary because there is no such word. (= this word does not exist)

D. We say: so long but such a long time:

• I haven't seen her for so long I've forgotten what she looks like.

so far but such a long way:

• I didn't know it was so far.

so much, so many but such a lot (of):

• Why did you buy so much food?

• I haven't seen her for such a long time. (Not 'a so long time')

• I didn't know it was such a long way.

• Why did you buy such a lot of food?