B2 · Reported speech
Tense shift in reported speech
English backshifts too — but it lets you skip it, and French does not.
At a glance
- Remember
- The reporting verb decides, not whether it is still true.
- Form
- « Je suis prêt » → il a dit qu’il était prêtpresent → imparfait
- Signal words
- la veille
- le lendemain
- ce jour-là
- à ce moment-là
- la semaine précédente
- la semaine suivante
- Trap
- Wrong:Il dit qu'il était prêt. (meaning: he is ready now)Right:Il dit qu'il est prêt.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) tense marker person ending auxiliary verb
| present → imparfait | « Je suis prêt » → il a dit qu’il était prêt |
| passé composé → plus-que-parfait | « J’ai payé » → il a dit qu’il avait payé |
| future → conditionnel | « Je viendrai » → il a dit qu’il viendrait |
| the imparfait stays | « Je dormais » → il a dit qu’il dormait |
| tomorrow → the next day | « Je pars demain » → il a dit qu’il partait le lendemain |
| I was | j’étais |
| you were | tu étais |
| he, she was | il, elle était |
| we were | nous étions |
| you were (plural, polite) | vous étiez |
| they were | ils, elles étaient |
| I had paid | j’avais payé |
| you had paid | tu avais payé |
| he, she had paid | il, elle avait payé |
| we had paid | nous avions payé |
| you had paid (plural, polite) | vous aviez payé |
| they had paid | ils, elles avaient payé |
| I would come | je viendrais |
| you would come | tu viendrais |
| he, she would come | il, elle viendrait |
| we would come | nous viendrions |
| you would come (plural, polite) | vous viendriez |
| they would come | ils, elles viendraient |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
A present reporting verb shifts nothing.
Il dit qu’il partira demain.He says he will leave tomorrow.
A past reporting verb moves everything back one step.
Il a dit qu’il partirait le lendemain.He said he would leave the next day.
The imparfait and the plus-que-parfait stay put.
Elle a dit qu’elle était déjà venue.She said she had already been there.
Time and place words move too.
Il a dit qu’il avait appelé la veille.He said he had called the day before.
Example sentences
Elle a répondu qu’elle ne savait pas encore.She replied that she did not know yet.
Ils ont expliqué qu’ils avaient perdu les clés.They explained that they had lost the keys.
Le médecin a dit que ça irait mieux le lendemain.The doctor said it would be better the next day.
Il a ajouté qu’il rappellerait ce jour-là.He added that he would call back that day.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The shift hangs on the *reporting* verb, not on whether the statement is still true. Il dit qu'il était fatigué is not an error; it says something else — he is saying now that he was tired then. English blurs the two, because he said he is tired and he said he was tired are both available and mean much the same thing. Reading the French that way puts the statement in a time it does not belong to.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
If the reporting verb is in the *present*, nothing changes: Il dit qu'il est fatigué, Il dit qu'il viendra. That much is exactly English.
If it is in the *past*, every tense moves back one step, and the chain is the English one: present becomes imparfait, passé composé becomes plus-que-parfait, futur becomes conditionnel. He is, he said he was; he has paid, he said he had paid; he will come, he said he would come.
What does not move: the imparfait itself and the plus-que-parfait. They are already at the end of the chain, exactly as the English past perfect is. When the statement is still true now, spoken French in particular often leaves the tense alone: Il m'a dit qu'il est malade.
And here is the one real difference. English lets you skip the backshift when the statement is still true — he said he is tired is perfectly good English. French decides by the reporting verb alone, so Il a dit qu'il est fatigué is not a softer version of the same thing. The point of view moves too: hier becomes la veille, demain becomes le lendemain, aujourd'hui becomes ce jour-là, ici becomes là.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: avoir · dire · partir · être · aller · répondre · expliquer · perdre