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.
In a past report, distinguish simultaneity, prior completion and later intention: va dir que estava cansada, que havia acabat and que vindria. Those forms do different jobs and should not all collapse to a simple past. A denial can instead select hagués acabat. Time words must fit the reporting occasion: l'endemà identifies the day after the original speech, not automatically tomorrow from the narrator's present.
Examples (3)
- Va dir que estava cansada.
She said that she was tired.
- Va explicar que ja havia acabat.
He explained that he had already finished.
- Va anunciar que vindria l’endemà.
She announced that she would come the next day.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Establish the reporter’s viewpoint before changing tense, person or time words.
Related Patterns
Practice Tense Sequence in Reported Speech in Bubblegum
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