Tense Sequence in Reported Speech
Reported speech adjusts tense, person and time expressions to the reporter’s viewpoint.
How It Works
A report introduced in the present can preserve the original time frame: diu que vindrà. With a past reporting verb, a future viewed from that past often becomes conditional: va dir que vindria. Person words change according to who is speaking, not according to a fixed word-for-word substitution.
A reported instruction selects a different construction from a reported prediction: va demanar que vinguéssim versus va anunciar que vindríem. The first is a request with subjunctive; the second asserts a future-from-the-past with conditional indicative. A denial commonly uses subjunctive as well. Adjust pronouns and time expressions to the reporter's situation so the grammatical tense is not contradicted by an unchanged demà or jo.
Examples (3)
- Va demanar que vinguéssim l’endemà.
She asked us to come the next day.
- Va anunciar que vindríem l’endemà.
She announced that we would come the next day.
- Va negar que ho hagués fet.
He denied having done it.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Distinguish simultaneous, prior and later times in a past report.
Related Patterns
Practice Tense Sequence in Reported Speech in Bubblegum
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