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backshift. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
backshift, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
backshift in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
backshift you have here. The definition of the word
backshift will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
backshift, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From back + shift.
Noun
| Examples
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The sentence:
- Fred says "I play football".
becomes the sentence:
- Fred said that he played football.
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backshift (countable and uncountable, plural backshifts)
- (grammar) The changing of the tense of a verb from present to past in reported speech.
- (statistics) A function on a stochastic process whose value on any random variable is the preceding random variable in the process.
Verb
backshift (third-person singular simple present backshifts, present participle backshifting, simple past and past participle backshifted)
- (grammar, transitive) To change the tense of a verb from present to past in reported speech.