Reported Speech with Backshift (present → imperfect)

Module 11 gave you the SAFE rule - keep the reported tense (Είπε ότι είναι κουρασμένος, present kept). B2 adds the other half: when the reporting verb is PAST, Greek MAY shift a reported PRESENT back into the matching IMPERFECT - «Είπε ότι ήταν κουρασμένος», «Είπε ότι δούλευε». This shifting-back is called BACKSHIFT, and both versions are good Greek. The difference is PERSPECTIVE: the kept present reports the words as still live (a plain window onto what was said); the shifted imperfect anchors the situation in that past moment (true THEN, perhaps not now). The shift needs no new form - it is the imperfect you built in Module 6 (είναι → ήταν, δουλεύει → δούλευε). English is FORCED into the shift (“said he WAS tired”); Greek only OPTIONALLY takes it - retention is never wrong.