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Pastsimple Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Reported speech: To shift or not to shift

The teacher said that ice melts at 32 F. - That's pretty obvious but what about:

Lucy said that she first met / had first met her husband in a supermarket.

I'm pretty sure that it's not necessary to shift the tense but which is more natural / common? With or without the tense shift?

And what about:

Lucy said that she first met / had first met her husband in 2003.

Here, I'd surely use the past simple. I'm not sure whether the past perfect would be natural at all here (because of the date).

Thanks in advance, as always.
  

Top answer

When the original statement has the simple past tense, the backshifted version is often unnecessary (I hesitate to say never necessary), but it's never wrong, either. In your examples, the simple past is the most common, in my opinion. Note that the past perfect serves as the backshifted tense of both the simple past and the present perfect.

— CalifJim

  • When the original statement has the simple past tense, the backshifted version is often unnecessary (I hesitate to say never necessary), but it's never wrong, either.
  • In your examples, the simple past is the most common, in my opinion.
  • Note that the past perfect serves as the backshifted tense of both the simple past and the present perfect.
  • " She said that she had seen that movie.
  • " She said that she had seen that movie (in 2003).
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1 Answers
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When the original statement has the simple past tense, the backshifted version is often unnecessary (I hesitate to say never necessary), but it's never wrong, either. In your examples, the simple past is the most common, in my opinion.

Note that the past perfect serves as the backshifted tense of both the simple past and the present perfect.

"I've seen that movie."
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