Backshifting

Question

I was talking to a native speaker a couple of hours ago and here's what she said during the conversation.He said he likes when I smile.Shouldn't it be 'liked'? Why did she choose 'likes'?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

whatchadoinShouldn't it be 'liked'? Why did she choose 'likes'?

She wanted to make you believe that he always did and forever into the future will like her smiles.

Backshifting is used for things that happen at the same time (in the past) of the reported speech.

He said "I like this hamburger because it's juicy and thick."
He said that he liked the hamburger because it was juicy and thick.

But now, in the present time (reading the sentence), that hamburger is all gone. There are no quote marks to indicate a change of the time of reading back to the past event.

He said, "I like when you smile."
He said that he likes when I smile.

So tomorrow when I smile, he will like it.

Whatchadoin · Answer

I've read that backshifting is always correct and I always do it. Does that make me sound like a non-native English speaker?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

whatchadoinI've read that backshifting is always correct and I always do it. Does that make me sound like a non-native English speaker?

Probably not. It is quite a subtle point.

1. My second grade teacher said, "The universe is very large."
2. My second grade teacher said that the universe was very large.

The second might sound a bit odd; almost like the universe used to be large, but now it's not?
Many native speakers would use the present, because "the universe is very large" is an unchanging truth. eg.

My second grade teacher said that the universe is very large. But I didn't realize HOW large until I studied cosmology.

No one will take notice if you do backshift the verb.

My second grade teacher said that the universe was very large. But I didn't realize HOW large until I studied cosmology.

Backshifting

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