![]() ![]() The kidnapper phoned me and said: "You must come here now." (the time to be late has not yet arrived) He asked me if I could swim when I was three. He said, "Could you swim when you were three?" Wayne asked if I had been watching TV when he called.Īti said, "I had never lived in Thailand before."Īti told us that he had never lived in Thailand before. Wayne said, "Were you watching TV when I called." John said they had bought a house the week before. John said, "We bought a house last week." See if you can understand when and why they use backshift: tenses and modals For a general truth there is no need for backshift.If a situation is still true, backshift is optional. ![]() We NEVER use backshift when the original words are: And WHEN we use backshift, here's how it works with these common tenses and modals: backshift So we use backshift SOMETIMES but not always. Yesterday, John said that he was hungry.So, for example, if two minutes ago John said "I am hungry" and I am now telling his sister, I might NOT use backshift (because John is still hungry):īut if yesterday John said "I am hungry" and I am now telling his sister, I would likely use backshift: We use backshift when it is logical to use backshift. For example, present simple goes back one tense to past simple. We sometimes change the tense of the reported clause by moving it back one tense. Reporting clause + reported clause reporting clause In simple terms, the structure of reported speech is: Grammar : Reported Speech : Backshift in Reported Speechīackshift in Reported Speech direct speech ![]()
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