Did you catch how the verb ‘look’ changes to ‘looked’ when converting from direct to reported speech? This is because of a rule called backshifting (or backshift of tenses). Here’s why this happens: • In reported speech, if the reporting verb ("said," "told," etc.) is in the past tense, you usually shift the tense of the verb in the original quote one step back in time. • So, present simple ("look") becomes past simple ("looked"), present continuous becomes past continuous, present perfect becomes past perfect, etc. Example: • Direct: He said, "You look tired." • Reported: He said (that) I looked tired. Why do we do this? • It shows that the statement was made in the past. • It helps clarify that you are reporting what someone said, not what is true right now. It’s not just grammar—it’s how we keep stories straight.📝 #EnglishTips #GrammarHack #EnglishEnjoyed #LearnEnglish #BritishEnglish #LanguageLearning #EnglishGrammar #EnglishVocabulary #RefinedReels