Modal verbs in reported speech

The first sentence of each row is direct speech. The second one is reported speech.

The modals will and can change in the reported speech. But I am not sure what to do with should.

"I will go to Europe." — He said he would go to Europe.

"I can play the guitar." — He said he could play the guitar.

"I should go to college." — He said he [should] go to college.

Answer

The word you're looking for is shall; but you've got it backwards. Shall is the strong (more definite--this isn't about tense) form of should. So, it should be more like this:

"I will go to Europe." — He said he would go to Europe.

"I can play the guitar." — He said he could play the guitar.

"I **shall** go to college." — He said he [should] go to college.

Here's another way to phrase that:

I *think I should* go to college.

I'm not sure whether you're asking about American or British English, but in American English, shall is very uncommon. It's much more frequently used in the UK.

Americans would be more likely to use should for both forms; but we sometimes use ought to, must, or have got to instead.