When I use reported/indirect speech when dealing with some sentence that states a general fact or is still true, the present tense can be retained, right? As in:
- I told him that I work for HP.
But can I retain other tenses as well, given they represent an ongoing situation?
- He asked how long we've been together, and I told him we've been married for two years.
Is use of the present perfect here even correct?
Also, is it possible to use both past and present forms, when only one part of a sentence is still true?
- Mr. Brown asked why you were absent, and I told him that was because you are ill.
And
- Mike asked me why you didn't come to the party with me, and I explained to him that you had been working hard for the past two weeks, and once you're free, all you want to do now is get some rest.
I feel like I should use present perfect rather than past perfect, but not being sure, I left it that way.
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