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Backshift in Reported Speech
| He said: "I feel sad." | He said that he felt sad. |
In simple terms, the structure of reported speech is:
reporting clause [+ conjunction] + reported clause
| John said | [that] | he was hungry. |
| John's original words: "I am hungry." |
We sometimes change the tense of the reported clause by moving it back one tense. For example, present simple goes back one tense to past simple. We call this change "backshift".
When do we use backshift?
We use backshift when it is logical to use backshift. 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]:
- John just said that he is hungry.
But if yesterday John said "I am hungry" and I am now telling his sister, I would likely use backshift:
- Yesterday, John said that he was hungry.
[We hope that John has eaten since yesterday ;-] ]
So we use backshift SOMETIMES but not always. And WHEN we use backshift, here's how it works with these common tenses and modals:
| present simple | → | past simple |
| present continuous | → | past continuous |
| past simple | → | past perfect |
| present perfect | ||
| past continuous | → | past perfect continuous |
| can | → | could |
| may | might | |
| will | would | |
| shall | should |
We NEVER use backshift when the original words are:
- past perfect
- could
- might
- would
- should
Remember:
- If a situation is still true, backshift is optional.
- For a general truth there is no need for backshift.
FREE Podcasts 🔈 Many of these listening exercises have transcripts, vocabulary notes and comprehension questions.
Look at the following examples. See if you can understand when and why they use backshift:
| present simple* | He said, "I like coffee." | He said [that] he likes coffee. |
| He said [that] he liked coffee. | ||
| present continuous* | She said, "Moo is living here with us." | She said Moo is living there with them. |
| She said Moo was living there with them. | ||
| past simple | John said, "We bought a house last week." | John said they had bought a house the week before. |
| present perfect | Ram said, "I haven't seen Avatar." | Ram said he hadn't seen Avatar. |
| past continuous | Wayne said, "Were you watching TV when I called." | Wayne asked if I had been watching TV when he called. |
| past perfect** | Ati said, "I had never lived in Thailand before." | Ati told us that he had never lived in Thailand before. |
| can | She said, "Tara can't swim." | She said Tara couldn't swim. |
| She said Tara can't swim. | ||
| could** | He said, "Could you swim when you were three?" | He asked me if I could swim when I was three. |
| may | She said: "I may be late." | She said she might be late. [and she was late] |
| She said she may be late. [the time to be late has not yet arrived] | ||
| might** | She said, "I might come early." | She said she might come early. |
| will | She said, "I'll call you tomorrow." | She said she would call me the next day. |
| She said she will call me tomorrow. [tomorrow has not come] | ||
| would** | She said, "I wouldn't like to go." | She said she would not like to go. |
| shall | He said: "Shall I open the door?" | He asked if he should open the door. |
| should** | John said, "You should come here." | John said I should go there. |
| must | The kidnapper phoned me and said: "You must come here now." | The kidnapper phoned me and said I had to go there then. |
| Ati said, "I must find a job next year." | Ati said he must find a job next year. [next year hasn't come yet] | |
| have to | Tara said: "I have to do my homework." | Tara said she had to do her homework. |
| Tara says she has to do her homework. |
* if still true, change is optional [sometimes a matter of emphasis]
** never changes
Contributor: Josef Essberger
Dictionary, Tra Từ Trực Tuyến, Online, Translate, Translation, Dịch, Vietnamese Dictionary, Nghĩa Tiếng Việt
Dưới đây là những mẫu câu có chứa từ "back shift", trong bộ từ điển Từ điển Tiếng Anh. Chúng ta có thể tham khảo những mẫu câu này để đặt câu trong tình huống cần đặt câu với từ back shift, hoặc tham khảo ngữ cảnh sử dụng từ back shift trong bộ từ điển Từ điển Tiếng Anh
1. When progress stalls, step back, assess the reasons, shift gears, and accelerate action.
2. I'll bring a fresh bottle of milk back after I've done my shift.
3. Or, failing that, a policy shift rightwards that will win back UKIP voters.
4. For the evening shift, I'll leave at three and come back in the night. "
5. Weak trade winds allow warm water to shift back east, blocking cooler waters from surfacing
6. Another is to look at the image cross-eyed and then shift back to normal vision.
7. He works the day shift or night shift.
8. Disable a previous shift up or shift down.
9. Rotate the day shift and shift every week.
10. As the night shift leaves , the day shift arrives.
11. Engines with good torque back-up handle a wide load changes without the need to shift gear.
12. Firms are trying to shift the balance of power in the labour market back in their favour.
13. Shift work.
14. 12 When he came back home from his night shift, Jason tried to avoid wakening his family.
15. 16 Disable a previous shift up or shift down.
16. Are you on the shift or the day shift?
17. Unlimited shift up, and available to analyze shift report.
18. The night shift finished; the day shift take over.
19. As the night shift leave/leaves, the day shift arrive/arrives.
20. Shift capstan bars.
21. Left bit shift
22. A simulative shift box is designed to emulate the shift resistance and buffeting when shift position mismatches the engine speed.
23. A DET shift counter designed with the DET shift register is demonstrated.
24. Third Shift [after midnight
25. Not on my shift.
1. Shift work.
Làm việc theo ca.
2. Third Shift [after midnight
Ca thứ ba [sau nửa đêm
3. Not on my shift.
không phải trong ca trực của tôi.
4. It will never shift.
Gió liệu có thể đổi chiều được không đây?
5. Early shift at the Stowaway?
Ca đầu ở Kẻ Đi Lậu à?
6. So take my shift, alright?
Vậy nhận ca trực của anh được chứ?
7. I got the night shift.
Tôi trực ca đêm mà.
8. Shift change at 1 Police Plaza.
Sẽ có bàn giao ca làm việc tại trụ sở cảnh sát
9. yeah, i work the night shift.
Phải, anh làm ca đêm.
10. I'm, uh, starting a new shift.
Sắp có ca trực của tôi.
11. Sign me up for the graveyard shift!"
Hãy đăng ký cho tôi làm ca đêm!"
12. It's almost time for the next shift.
Đến giờ giao ca rồi
13. It will create a huge macroeconomic shift.
Nó sẽ tạo ra sự dịch chuyển trong cơ cấu kinh tế vĩ mô.
14. TINA DIDN'T SHOW UP FOR HER SHIFT.
Tina không xuất hiện ở ca trực.
15. Night shift won't like it, but fuck'em.
Ca đêm không thích vụ này đâu nhưng kệ đi.
16. Can the same paradigm shift happen for bugs?
Liệu có thể có sự chuyển hoá tương tự xảy ra với sâu bọ?
17. Droitwich also broadcasts a low bit-rate data channel, using narrow-shift phase-shift keying of the carrier, for Radio Teleswitch Services.
Droitwich cũng phát một kênh dữ liệu tốc độ bit thấp, dùng kiểu điều chế ma-níp dịch pha băng hẹp cho dịch vụ Radio Teleswitch. ^ “About LWCA”.
18. The driver's been unreachable since his shift began.
Không liên lạc được với tay lái xe kể từ lúc hắn bắt đầu ca làm việc.
19. Twice in one emergency shift, I missed appendicitis.
Hai lần trong một ca trực cấp cứu, tôi không chẩn đúng bệnh viêm ruột thừa.
20. Your Honor, the wind seems about to shift.
Đô đốc, gió sắp sửa đổi chiều rồi.
21. No, it was sort of a career shift.
Không, đó là sự chuyển hướng nghề nghiệp.
22. CA: A shift from knowledge, rote knowledge, to meaning.
Tức là thay đổi từ kiến thức, học vẹt sang học theo kiểu hiểu ý nghĩa.
23. Imagine Alice and Bob shared a secret shift word.
Hãy tưởng tượng Alice và Bob cùng chia sẽ một chữ chuyển bí mật
24. You work the late shift, some shit-hole diner.
Cô em làm ca đêm trong cái tiệm ăn tởm lợm nào đó.
25. The longer the shift word, the stronger the cipher.
Chữ chuyển càng dài, thì mật mã đó càng mạnh [ khó phá đuợc ] hơn.