temporal shift & time words

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 16 in the category of REPORTED SPEECH is defined as:

events in the past with backshifts for tenses and words relating to time

Automatic searches for this are impossible but we can look in corpora for combinations of told * previous|following * _nnt since these all exist in the EGP examples.

previous|following * _nnt

1 FOLLOWING YEAR 62819

  The Guardian

Isis bomber Jamal al-Harith: from Manchester to Iraq via Guantánamo

His wife, Shukee Begum, told Channel 4 News the following year that she and her children had followed him there in a failed bid to persuade …

Feb 22, 2017

2 PREVIOUS YEAR 56792
3 FOLLOWING DAY 46320
4 PREVIOUS YEARS 38751
5 FOLLOWING WEEK 16156
6 PREVIOUS DAY 13506
7 FOLLOWING MORNING 13479
8 PREVIOUS MONTH 9945
9 FOLLOWING MONTH 9878
10 PREVIOUS WEEK 9661
11 FOLLOWING YEARS 8661
12 FOLLOWING SEASON 7688
13 PREVIOUS SEASON 7113
14 PREVIOUS NIGHT 6305
15 PREVIOUS SEASONS 4885
16 FOLLOWING DAYS 4780
17 FOLLOWING MONTHS 3809
18 FOLLOWING NIGHT 3645
19 PREVIOUS DAYS 3181
20 FOLLOWING WEEKS 3145
21 FOLLOWING WEEKEND 2944
22 PREVIOUS MONTHS 2827
23 FOLLOWING SUMMER 2789
24 PREVIOUS TIME 2479
25 PREVIOUS DECADE 2404
26 PREVIOUS WEEKS 2371
27 PREVIOUS EVENING 2344
28 PREVIOUS SESSION 2033
29 FOLLOWING TIMES 1912
30 FOLLOWING DECADES 1757
31 PREVIOUS DECADES 1737
32 PREVIOUS SUMMER 1601
33 PREVIOUS CENTURY 1520
34 PREVIOUS WEEKEND 1495
35 FOLLOWING EVENING 1479
36 PREVIOUS TIMES 1441
37 FOLLOWING DECADE 1428
38 FOLLOWING TIME 1046
39 FOLLOWING WINTER 950
40 PREVIOUS CENTURIES 893
41 FOLLOWING AFTERNOON 851
42 PREVIOUS NIGHTS 758
43 FOLLOWING HOURS 748
44 FOLLOWING CENTURIES 747
45 PREVIOUS SESSIONS 713
46 PREVIOUS WINTER 651
47 FOLLOWING CENTURY 635
48 FOLLOWING CHRISTMAS 424
49 FOLLOWING SESSIONS 401
50 FOLLOWING SESSION 371

Here, an advanced PELIC text from a grammar class really showcases a great variety of reported speech:

Korean,Female,5,g

She told me that her plans for the following vacation were [a] trip to California. She explained that she had wanted to go there for a long time. Also she reported that the weather of California is usually wonderful. Additionally, she admitted that her biggest pet peeve was winter and snow. When I asked the reason, she reminded me that she was from the country that doesn’t have winter. Finally she pointed out that she used to ride a bike when she was younger, but she didn’t’ do it anymore. She commented that she became timid as she grew up.

Another possible search, based on an example in the EGP is for:

_nnt _rt

1 YEARS NOW 136987
2 TIME NOW 47877
3 TIME AGAIN 42892
4 WHILE NOW 40508
5 MONTHS NOW 39204
6 NIGHT BEFORE 31411
7 YEAR NOW 28785

8 DAY BEFORE 24764

  The Guardian

How we met: ‘I stood there awkwardly, then told her I’d been bitten by a duck’

“The day before Christmas Eve, I told him I loved him and he said it back on Boxing Day,” says Emma. The following autumn, they bought a …

9 WEEKS NOW 20689
10 YEAR BEFORE 19503
11 TIMES BEFORE 17696
12 YEARS PAST 17494
13 YEARS BEFORE 16930
14 TIMES NOW 14134
15 DAYS NOW 12214
16 TIME THEN 11065
17 YEAR AGAIN 10011
18 MONTH NOW 9771
19 WEEK NOW 8971
20 DAY NOW 8734
21 TIME TODAY 8619
22 MINUTES THEN 8272
23 DAY TODAY 7762
24 DAYS BEFORE 7601
25 WEEK BEFORE 7241
26 DAY THEN 5724
27 DECADES NOW 5307
28 DAYS THEN 5305
29 DECADE NOW 4484
30 SECONDS THEN 4190
31 MONTHS BEFORE 4164
32 YEARS THEN 4134
33 YEAR THEN 4091
34 WEEKS BEFORE 3542
35 TIMES THEN 3346
36 DAY YESTERDAY 3294
37 TIME BEFORE 3259
38 HOURS THEN 3239
39 WEEK THEN 3200
40 WEEKS THEN 3060
41 MONTHS THEN 3051
42 HOURS NOW 2953
43 HOURS BEFORE 2928
44 YEAR THEREAFTER 2758
45 TIMES TODAY 2743
46 WHILE THEN 2616
47 YEARS AFTERWARDS 2587
48 DAYS AFTERWARDS 2473
49 TIME YESTERDAY 2339
50 MINUTES BEFORE 2298
51 DAY TOMORROW 2290
52 MONTH BEFORE 2283
53 YEARS THEREAFTER 2260
54 SEASON NOW 2169
55 DAY AGAIN 2145
56 TIME AFTERWARDS 1933
57 MONTH THEN 1791
58 TIME TONIGHT 1760
59 NIGHT THEN 1739
60 TIME TOMORROW 1607
61 MORNING THEN 1602
62 MINUTE THEN 1579
63 HOUR THEN 1548
64 TIME THEREAFTER 1534
65 HOURS TODAY 1512
66 DAYS THEREAFTER 1484
67 SEASONS NOW 1484
68 SEASON THEN 1433
69 WEEK TONIGHT 1372
70 EVENING BEFORE 1359
71 SECOND THEN 1308
72 MIDNIGHT TONIGHT 1277
73 MONTHS AFTERWARDS 1274
74 NOON TODAY 1268
75 HOUR BEFORE 1259
76 MINUTES NOW 1224
77 HOURS AFTERWARDS 1210
78 SEASON AGAIN 1202
79 NIGHT NOW 1092
80 MINUTE NOW 1034
81 MONTHS THEREAFTER 1012
82 WEEKS AFTERWARDS 973
83 TIMES AGAIN 960
84 MONTH THEREAFTER 948
85 SESSION TODAY 946
86 SEASON BEFORE 940
87 HOURS YESTERDAY 923
88 WEEK AGAIN 916
89 HOUR NOW 910
90 NIGHT AGAIN 878
91 DAY SOMETIMES 874
92 CENTURY NOW 865
93 DECADES BEFORE 836
94 TIMES YESTERDAY 832
95 MINS THEN 831
96 MINUTES TODAY 755
97 CENTURIES BEFORE 738
98 DAY THEREAFTER 704
99 TIME SOMETIMES 698
100 DAYS AGAIN 683