When the reporting verb is in the past — said, told, asked — the verbs inside the reported part shift one step back in time. This is called backshift.
The logic is simple: the moment of speaking is already in the past, so everything inside that moment moves one step further back to stay consistent.
The core shifts
| DIRECT | REPORTED | EXAMPLE |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | Past simple | "I live here." → He said he lived there. |
| Present continuous | Past continuous | "I am working." → She said she was working. |
| Present perfect | Past perfect | "I have seen it." → He said he had seen it. |
| Past simple | Past perfect | "I met Anna." → She said she had met Anna. |
| Past continuous | Past perfect continuous | "I was reading." → He said he had been reading. |
| will | would | "I will call." → She said she would call. |
| can | could | "I can swim." → He said he could swim. |
| may | might | "I may come." → She said she might come. |
| must (obligation) | had to | "I must leave." → He said he had to leave. |
Read this as a chain: every tense moves one notch to the left. Present becomes past, past becomes past perfect, will becomes would.
Past perfect stays put
The past perfect is already the furthest-back tense English has. It cannot shift any deeper, so it simply stays the same in reported speech.
The same is true for modals that are already past in form — would, could, should, might, ought to do not change. A full treatment of these modals is covered separately.
Past simple → past perfect is often optional
In textbook English, the past simple shifts to the past perfect. In everyday speech and informal writing, speakers very often leave the past simple unchanged — the meaning stays clear because the time reference is already in the past.
Both versions are accepted. Use the past perfect when you want to be precise about the order of events; stick with the past simple when the order is already obvious from context.
A note on must
Must is a special case. For present or future obligation, it shifts to had to.
For deduction ("he must be tired"), must usually stays unchanged, because it carries the speaker's conclusion rather than a rule about time.
When backshift does not happen
Backshift is tied to a past reporting verb. If the reporting verb is in the present — says, tells, is asking — the tenses inside stay exactly as they were.
There is also a case where backshift is optional even after a past reporting verb — when the reported statement is still true or describes a universal truth. The details of that exception are covered separately.
Common mistakes
Forgetting to shift after a past reporting verb
Over-shifting the past perfect
Wrong modal shift
Must → had to
Shifting will to willed
Treating the present reporting verb as past