🧑‍🎓 Do we always need to backshift in reported speech? ENGLISH IN CONTEXT 👀

"He said he was sorry" or "He said he is sorry" — which is correct?
Both can be, but textbooks often don't explain this very well. In this video I look ...at backshift in reported speech: what it is, when we use it, and when we don't have to. Many learners have been taught they must always backshift, and some textbooks even mark it as a mistake not to. But whether you backshift or not usually depends on what you're focusing on: the original moment of speaking, or the present relevance of what was said. Often, either is perfectly correct.

What this video covers:

What backshift is and how it works
When backshift is the natural choice
When you can leave the verb in the same tense
Why "both are correct" is often the right answer
What good grammar books say — and what some textbooks get wrong

For a more detailed treatment, see my Spotlight on English video on reported speech and backshift https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0kkmbg2N9M

I'm John R. Yamamoto-Wilson — formerly Professor of English Literature at Sophia University, Tokyo, with a PhD from the University of Cambridge. These videos are aimed at intermediate learners of English, and at the teachers who work with them.

📌 Part of the English in Context series — intermediate grammar points that textbooks often explain poorly or get wrong. Click here for the complete series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzVb6yL_jY6_sKngAN_gYB8w-KC20AGP4

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It hasn’t rained or hasn’t been raining for a week | both correct? ENGLISH IN CONTEXT

🧑‍🎓 Do we always need to backshift in reported speech? ENGLISH IN CONTEXT 👀

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It hasn’t rained or hasn’t been raining for a week | both correct? ENGLISH IN CONTEXT