Reported speech: "He said he loved her"

[Daemon99]

I have a question on reported speech.

Say, there's this following sentence in direct speech.

He said, "I love you"

When I convert it into reported speech, it becomes

He said he loved her. (from what I read in a grammar book)

Should it be 'he loved her' even if he still loves her?

Should it not be, "He said he loves her"?
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Non-native speaker of English
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I intend to live forever - so far, so good.

[Alan]

Hi,

Both are possible. If you say 'he loved', you are exactly reporting his words. If you say: 'he loves her', you are reporting what he still feels.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Saying It Twice

[Daemon99]

Thanks a lot Alan. You sure give a different perspective on things.
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Non-native speaker of English
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I intend to live forever - so far, so good.