What do we backshift?

1. Verbs in “(that)-clauses”
Grandma: “I have some gingersnaps for you.”
“Grandma said that she had some gingersnaps for me.”

2. Context Words (e.g., pronouns, time references…)

Grandma: “Bugs eat everything in my garden!”
“Grandma said that bugs ate everything in her garden.”

3. Modals
Grandma: “Your Uncle Jeff may be coming over.”
“Grandma said that my Uncle Jeff might be coming over.”
 ((A. Less often:
reported verb is sometimes in the
1. present, “says,” when the original
Backshifting statement is still relevant or true
at the time of reporting.
VERBS Whatever tense was used in the
original statement will not be
changed when reporting, e.g.,
B. ca. 95% of the time the Instructor: “The exam is difficult.”
reporting verb is in simple (still relevant / true)
past tense “said” “The instructor says that the exam
and verb in original is difficult.” ))
statement = shifts one
tense back in time
(backshifts) when reported.
Original statement: Detlef:
“I have never seen her
before.”
Reported statement:
“Detlef said that he had
never seen her before.
2.
Backshifting
CONTEXT
WORDS

Grandma: “Bugs eat

everything in my
garden!”
“Grandma said that
bugs ate everything
in her garden.”
3.
Backshifting
MODALS

Grandma: “Your
Uncle Jeff may be
coming over.”
“Grandma said
that my Uncle Jeff
might be coming
over.”
 Modals: Example #12
“The traffic was so heavy that I
couldn’t cross the road.”

Reported: “They said that the traffic

was so heavy that they weren’t able
to cross the road.”

Mixed Example #1
“Nothing grows in my
garden. It never gets any
sun.”

Reported:
“Dave said nothing grew in
his garden because it never
got any sun.”
Original Question:
Rob: “When are you coming to visit?”
Reported Question:
“Rob asked me when I was coming to visit.”
NOTE: Word order in the
reported question is that of a regular
SVO declarative sentence.
(subject verb object).
 PATTERNS CATEGORY 1:
THAT-CLAUSE

Up until this point, the Reader has primarily focused on the reporting
verb “said” followed by a “that-clause” in which the verb in the original
statement needs to be backshifted.

“Detlef said that he had never seen her before.”

The “that” is optional. You can also simply leave it out: “Detlef said he had never seen her before.”
But, there are other clause patterns, too….
Sometimes we don’t always use the word “said” to report speech, but use
different words which carry a certain connotation about the person’s
statement.
PATTERNS CATEGORY 2:
TO-INFINITIVE CLAUSE

Original statement: Ben: “No way! I am not paying for anything!”

Reported statement “Ben refused to pay his share of the bill.”

Only the reporting verb is in the past. You do not backshift anything else.
And last there is:
PATTERNS CATEGORY 3:
“-ING”-CLAUSE (gerund clause)

Original statement: “I didn’t take the last cookie!”

Reported statement “Jen denied taking the last cookie.”

Only the reporting verb is in the past.

You do not backshift anything else.
Each of the 3 categories has SUB-PATTERNS, which deviate in a
small way from its main pattern:
1. That-Clause (original): reporting verb + (that)clause
2. That-Clause (variation): reporting verb + object + (that)clause
3. To-Infinitive (original): reporting verb + infinitive
4. To-Infinitive (var. 1): reporting verb + (object) + infinitive
5. To-Infinitive (var. 2): reporting verb + object + infinitive
6. To-Infinitive (var. 3): report. verb + object + inf. + complement
7. Gerund-Clause (orig.): report. verb + (preposition) + gerund
8. Gerund-Caluse (var.): report. verb + object + prep. + gerund
Translating
Reported
Speech
into
Particular
Patterns
 First you’re asked to look
up the pattern for the
respective verbs which fit
into the sentences, and
use the correct forms.

Then you need to find the

two choices of reporting
verbs in the patterns, and
see which one fits the
sentence.
Careful: Don’t guess!

Grammar Codes in Learner’s

Dictionaries also show you the pattern.
This info. is helpful to know for
Academic Writing 1.
The last two exercises:
interpret the connotation /
sentiment of the original
statement and use an appropriate
reporting verb, avoiding “said.”

e.g., #9 (115)
“Remember to write your
mother” 
“She reminded me to write my
mother.”

or, #11 (116)

“I’m easily the best tennis player
at the college.”
“Mimi bragged about being
The best tennis player at the
college.”
 A few notable points in Exam Practice “Karl & Hans”
You need to read the entire excerpt to understand the context.
Karl and Hans don’t know each other. Hans is a journalist in town. There
is a crowd of people gathered for the festivities of a royal wedding. This
knowledge impacts the choices you’ll make when correcting.
(6) Manche warten seit Tagen.
The key word here is “seit” – this is an indication that we will use the
pattern since/for + present perfect/present perfect progressive.
You’ll also need to decide whether the “seit” represents “since” or
“for”. “For” is often an indication to use present perfect progressive.
(12) Vor zehn Jahren habe ich meine Wohnung verkauft.
Again, an obvious clue is the indication of a point in time in the past.
You need to be careful because the German allows Perfekt, whereas in
English the present perfect cannot be used here.
(13) The word “dauernd” is indicating an ongoing, progressive situation.
(20) Here you see a spontaneous suggestion from the context, but
there is also the clue word “gleich” – which indicates that the future
situation was not pre-planned.
(36) Normally the default for “denken” (cognitive verb would be simple)
however this is a case of active cognition so you would translate it into
past progressive (he’s explaining a past frame situation).
 The activity CARDS: change to - to-infinitive or gerund-clause
Reported Speech Patterns: Correct or Incorrect?
(Don’t guess! Correct it if needed and write down pattern #)
Original Statement: “You are not allowed to enter my house!”
1. “He forbade me to enter his house.”

Original Statement: “Don’t forget to check the oil!”

2. “She reminded me checking the oil.”

Original Statement: “I bet I can beat you in chess!”

3. “He challenged me to a game of chess.”
Original Statement: “Get off my lawn!”
4. “He commanded me getting off his lawn.”

Original Statement: “I’ll help!”

5. “He offered helping me.”

Original Statement: “Please let me use the car!”

6. “She begged me using the car.”

Original Statement: “I’ll go back to the store.”

7. “She volunteered going back to the store.”
Original Statement: “You can do those dishes over there.”
8. “She instructed me doing the dishes.”

Original Statement: “I’m picking them up.”

9. “She intended picking them up.”

Original Statement: “I swear I won’t say anything.”

10. “He swore not to say anything.”
Original Statement: “Come on! Let’s skip the movie on Netflix and go to class.”
11. “She persuaded me to skip the movie…and go to class.

Original Statement: “Ok. I’ll do it.”

12. “She agreed doing it.”

Original Statement: “I promise I’ll be good.”

13. “He promised being good.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Now on to practice with using the given reporting verb
with the given “gerund-clause.”
 The activity CARDS: practice with reporting statement connotations
Make up a name/pronoun (e.g., Ann).
Put given reporting verb in the past ( e.g., regretted).
Finish by using the gerund of original verb in the sentence (e.g., saying).
EXAMPLE:
Original Statement: “Oh man. I shouldn’t have said that to the teacher.”
1. form sentence using: to regret + gerund
(Ann regretted saying that to the teacher.)

Original Statement: “By the way, I visited Grandma last weekend.”

2. form sentence using: to mention + gerund
Original Statement: “Wow. You did a great job on your speech!”
4. form sentence using: to congratulate + me + on + gerund

Original Statement: “You fool! You let the dog out!”

5. form sentence using: to blame + him + for + gerund

Original Statement: “Ann stole the cookie!”

6. form sentence using: to accuse + me + of + gerund

Original Statement: “I didn’t say that!”

7. form sentence using: to deny + gerund
Original Statement: “I stole the cookie!”
8. form sentence using: to admit + gerund

Original Statement: “I’m sorry that I forgot it.”

9. form sentence using: to apologize + for + gerund

Original Statement: “You take the last piece of cake!”

10. form sentence using: to insist + on (prep) + gerund
Thank You – we’re nearing the halfway point in the G1
Reader … just a couple more Units…