Six shifts that went wrong
Six sentences. One error each.
1. She said she will call me the next day. — the call has not happened and the day has passed
2. He said he can’t come on Friday. — reported a week later
3. They said we must submit it by Monday. — reporting an instruction from last month
4. She said she would would prefer to wait.
5. He said he might had left it at the office.
6. She asked me where did I live.
A transcript and its report
What was said, on Tuesday
"We will publish the full review in June. We can’t give a date beyond that. Staff must be consulted first, and that may take several weeks. It might already have been circulated internally — I’d have to check. I used to think these things moved faster."
How it was reported, on Friday
The trust said on Tuesday that it would publish the full review in June, and that it could not give a date beyond that. Staff had to be consulted first, it said, and that might take several weeks. The review might already have been circulated internally; the spokesperson said he would have to check. He added that he used to think such things moved faster.
Four questions about what changed between the two texts.
1. will → ?
2. must be consulted → had to be consulted. Why not must?
3. Three modals did not change at all. Which?
4. Why did those three not change?
The shifts, the refusals, and the choice
Modals that move
| Direct | Reported | Example |
|---|---|---|
| will | would | "I’ll call." → She said she would call. |
| can | could | "I can’t come." → He said he couldn’t come. |
| may (possibility) | might | "It may rain." → She said it might rain. |
| must (obligation) | had to | "You must sign." → They said we had to sign. |
| shall (offer/future) | should / would | "Shall I wait?" → He asked whether he should wait. |
Modals that cannot move — they are already past forms
| Modal | Stays | Example |
|---|---|---|
| would | would | She said she would rather wait. |
| could | could | He said he could swim before he could walk. |
| might | might | She said it might already have been sent. |
| should, ought to, had better | unchanged | He said we should check. |
| used to | unchanged | He said he used to think it was faster. |
| must (deduction) | usually unchanged | She said he must have left already. |
And now the part that is a choice. Backshift is not compulsory. You may leave the original tense when the content is still true and you are content for the reader to treat it that way.
She said the unit closes at eight. — still the case, and the writer is not distancing.
She said the unit closed at eight. — the ordinary reporting distance, and, in the right context, rather more than that.
The unshifted version is normal for general truths, for arrangements that still stand, and for reports made minutes later. The shifted version is never wrong — which is why learners use it every time and lose the signal entirely.
The other things that move
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| now · today · tomorrow · yesterday | then · that day · the next day · the day before |
| here · this · these | there · that · those |
| ago · last week · next month | before · the previous week · the following month |
| Questions: "Where do you live?" | No inversion, no do: She asked where I lived. |
| Yes/no questions: "Are you coming?" | if or whether: She asked whether I was coming. |
| Commands: "Don’t wait." | tell / ask somebody not to: She told me not to wait. |
Five questions.
1. "You must wear a helmet." Reported a year later:
2. "He must be at lunch." Reported:
3. "Water boils at 100 degrees," he said. Which is more natural?
4. "Are you coming?" she asked. Reported:
5. Your colleague said two minutes ago: "The meeting is at three." You turn to somebody else:
Shifting on purpose
Eight gaps. Some shift, some cannot, and two are a choice the sentence explains.
The spokesperson said the trust publish the review in June, and that it give a date beyond that. Staff be consulted first, and that take several weeks. He said the review already have been circulated, and that he have to check. He added that he to think such things moved faster. Because the closure is still in force, the report says the unit at eight every evening.
Rewrite each using the word given.
"I’ll send it tomorrow," she said on Monday. WOULD
"You must submit the form by Friday," they told us last month. HAD
"Where did you find it?" he asked. ASKED
"Don’t say anything yet," she said to me. TOLD
"Are you free on Thursday?" he asked. WHETHER
"He must have missed the train," she said. MUST
The transcript
Task card · Pairs · 10 minutes · Speaking and reporting
A speaks for ninety seconds about their plans for the next month, in the first person. B then reports it to a third person, or to the room.
Ninety seconds each way, then two minutes of checking, twice.
- Speaker: include at least one will, one can’t, one might, one obligation must, and one thing that is still true today.
- Reporter: report it. Shift what has to shift; leave unshifted anything still standing, and be ready to say why.
- Speaker: check the report. Where the reporter shifted something still true, ask what that implied about you.
- Swap and repeat.
The question that matters. When a reporter shifts a fact that is still true, the effect is small and real: it reads as though the writer is holding the claim at arm’s length. Ask about each one. Most of the time the reporter did not intend anything at all — which is the point.
What was shifted that need not have been
Two questions.
1. How much did your partner backshift?
2. What does shifting a still-true fact signal to a reader?
Move it, or choose not to
Two questions. Twenty seconds.
1. Why do would, could and might not change?
2. When may you leave the original tense?
Next. Twenty-six minutes presenting a real story to people whose job is to ask you who said what, and how you know.