Kilo Lingo

Ch 23 · Lesson 8

Reported speech: tense backshift

becomes : after a past reporting verb the present becomes the imperfect, the preterite the pluperfect, the future the conditional. After nothing moves.

The short version

A present reporting verb shifts nothing

.

He says he is tired.
Why?

The backshift is the past reporting verb's job alone. slides back a step; does not move at all. Learners who have just learned the rule over-apply it and . Check the tense of the reporting verb first, then decide whether anything shifts.

When the reporting verb is in the past, the tense of what was said moves back one step:

as it was saidas it is reportedWhat do the colours mean?
  • . - . - He said he was tired.
  • . - . - He said he would come.

The backshift at a glance

SaidReportedEnglish
. .He said he was tired.
. .He said he had arrived late.
. .He said he had finished.
. .He said he would come.
. .He said he used to work a lot.
. .He said he would go with you.

The last two rows do not move: the imperfect and the conditional are already a step back, so there is nowhere further to go.

How each tense moves

Put the moment he spoke on a time line, and each reported tense says where things stood from there:

  • habĂ­a llegado: done before he spoke (pluperfect)

  • dijo que: the moment he spoke

  • estaba cansado: true as he spoke (imperfect)

  • vendrĂ­a: still ahead when he spoke (conditional)

Timeline from past to now, with now marked.

SaidReportedExample
presentimperfect .
preteritepluperfect .
perfectpluperfect .
futureconditional .
imperfectstays .
conditionalstays .

In speech, the preterite often stays as it was: . is common and correct. And when what was said is still true, or still ahead, the present and the future can stay:

  • . - He said he's a doctor. (he still is)
  • . - He said he'll come on Monday. (Monday is still to come)

The shifted forms are never wrong, so make them your default.

Dice que: nothing moves

as it was saidas it is reportedWhat do the colours mean?

The backshift belongs to the past reporting verb. Report in the present and the original tense stays exactly as it was said:

Reporting verbSpanishEnglish
present .He says he's tired.
past .He said he was tired.
present .He says he arrived late.
past .He said he had arrived late.

The tense of the reporting verb, not the original sentence, decides whether anything moves.

Going further: Que is never dropped and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.

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Lesson 8 of 27 in this chapter

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