Tense After ke
The tense in the ke clause is the tense of the original words, not of the main verb.
How It Works
| Original words | Report |
|---|---|
| Kenji diris: "Mi volas manĝi." | Kenji diris, ke li volas manĝi. |
| Kenji diris: "Mi loĝis en Ĉinio." | Kenji diris, ke li loĝis en Ĉinio. |
| Kenji diris: "Mi venos." | Kenji diris, ke li venos. |
English moves the verb back in time after "said" or "thought". Esperanto does not. The tense shows how the time of the action compares with the time of the saying or thinking: -as is the same time, -is is earlier, -os is later.
So Mi pensis, ke Ana estas malsana means that Ana was ill at the time of my thought. If she had been ill before that, write estis. A compound form such as estis loĝinta is not needed for "had lived".
Questions inside sentences follow the same rule: Ewa demandis, ĉu mi iros.
Examples (4)
- Kenji diris, ke li venos morgaŭ.
Kenji said that he would come tomorrow.
Kenji thought of the coming as future, so the clause keeps -os.
- Mi pensis, ke Ana estas malsana.
I thought Ana was ill.
Ana was ill at the time of my thought, so the clause has -as.
- Ewa diris, ke ŝi antaŭe loĝis en Pollando.
Ewa said that she used to live in Poland.
The living came before the saying, so the clause has -is.
- Ni sciis, ke la trajno ekiros je la oka.
We knew that the train would leave at eight o'clock.
The leaving was still ahead of the knowing, so ekiros stays in the future.
Common Mistakes
Turning will into the conditional, as English does with would.
Kenji diris, ke li venus morgaŭ.Kenji diris, ke li venos morgaŭ.Esperanto keeps -os for a coming that was future when Kenji spoke. The -us form would make the coming imaginary.
Adding a compound form for "had lived".
Ewa diris, ke ŝi antaŭe estis loĝinta en Pollando.Ewa diris, ke ŝi antaŭe loĝis en Pollando.A report keeps the verb form of the original words, and a simple -is already shows a time before the saying. Estis loĝinta changes that form, so it is not used here.
How It Connects
Learn This First
A ke clause keeps the tense the speaker had in mind.
Related Patterns
- Direct and Reported Speech
How to report what someone said.
Level 4 - Questions Inside Sentences
Reported questions keep their tense in the same way.
Level 4 - volas, ke + Verb in -uWanting Someone to Act
The ke clause that takes -u instead.
Level 4 - estas + Participle in -intaHas Done: Estas and -inta
The compound form for a time before another time.
Level 4
Practice Tense After ke in Bubblegum
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