Reported Speech Questions Medium
The role of tense backshifting in reported speech is to accurately convey the original speaker's intended meaning while adjusting the verb tenses to reflect the change from direct speech to indirect speech. Tense backshifting involves changing the tense of the verb in reported speech to match the tense that would have been used if the statement had been made directly. This helps to maintain the chronological order of events and ensure that the reported speech is grammatically correct. By backshifting the tense, the reported speech remains consistent with the time frame of the reporting verb or the context in which it is being reported.