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reporting statements
To report what has been said or thought in the past, link the main clause introduced by 'il a dit', 'je pensais', etc.
and the subordinate clause with que /qu'. The tense of the verb in the subordinate clause also changes.
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| Trey: Je suis amoureux de toi Tammy! |
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Trey: I am in love with you Tammy. |
| Tammy: Comment? Tex m'a dit que tu avais une petite amie! |
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Tammy: What? Tex told me you had a girlfriend! |
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what tense in the subordinate clause?
When the main clause is in the past, the subordinate clause must also be in the past tense. They belong to the same time frame.
This rule is known in French as the 'concordance des temps,' the agreement or concordance of the tenses. Look at these examples:
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| quote |
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reported speech |
| present |
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=> imparfait |
| Tammy: Hé Tex, j'aime beaucoup ton frère Trey. (Hey Tex, I really like your brother Trey. |
|
Elle a dit qu'elle aimait beaucoup Trey. (She said that she really liked Trey.) |
| |
| passé composé |
|
=> plus-que-parfait |
| Tammy : Trey est devenu sexy. (Trey has become sexy.) |
|
Elle a dit que Trey était devenu sexy. (She said that Trey had become sexy.) |
| |
future |
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=> conditional |
| Tammy : Nous louerons la vidéo 'Les Liaisons dangereuses.' (We'll rent the video 'Dangerous Liaisons.') |
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Elle a dit qu'ils loueraient la vidéo ... (She said that they would rent the video ...) |
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reporting questions
To report yes/no questions, use
si. Note that si changes to s' in front of a word beginning
with an i (s'il), but does not change before other vowels (si elle, sion).
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| Tammy: Tu aimes les films érotiques? |
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Tammy: Do you like erotic films? |
| Trey: Qu'est-ce que tu as dit? |
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Trey: What did you say? |
| Tammy: Je t'ai demandé si tu aimais les films érotiques. |
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Tammy: I asked if you liked erotic films. |
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To report an information question use the interrogative word quand, comment, où, etc.:
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| Trey: Quand vas-tu quitter mon frère? |
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Trey: When are you going to leave my brother? |
| Tammy: Qu'est-ce que tu disais? |
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Tammy: What were you saying? |
| Trey: Je te demandais quand tu allais quitter mon frère. |
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Trey: I was asking you when you were going to leave my brother. |
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To report questions starting with que, qu'est-ce que, and qu'est-ce qui,
use ceque (ce qu') and ce qui:
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| Tex: Trey, qu'est-ce que tu vas faire ce soir avec Tammy? |
|
Tex: Trey, what are you going to do tonight with Tammy? |
| Trey: Qu'est-ce que tu as dit? |
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Trey: What did you say? |
| Tex: Je te demandais ce que tu allais faire ce soir avec Tammy. |
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Tex: I was asking what you were goint to do with Tammy tonight. |
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reporting orders
To report an order, replace the imperative by de / d' + infinitive:
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| Tex: Sois poli avec Tammy! Ne flirte pas avec elle! |
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Tex: Be polite with Tammy! Don't flirt with her! |
| Trey: Hein? |
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Trey: Huh? |
| Corey: Tex t'a dit d'être poli avec Tammy et de ne pas flirter avec elle! |
|
Corey: Tex told you to be polite with Tammy and not to flirt with her! |
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reporting answers
Note that to report yes/no sentences, use que:
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| Trey: Tammy, tu veux m'épouser? |
|
Trey: Tammy, do you want to marry me? |
| Tammy: Non. |
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Tammy: No. |
| Trey: Qu'as-tu dit? |
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Trey: What did you say? |
| Tammy: Je t'ai dit que non. C'est Tex que j'aime! |
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Tammy: I told you no. It is Tex I love. |
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Listen to this dialogue:
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| Fiona et Bette ont entendu dire que Trey a demandé à Tammy de l'épouser. |
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Fiona and Bette have heard rumors that Trey has proposed to Tammy. |
| Fiona: Je t'assure Bette, Trey m'a raconté qu'il avait acheté une grosse bague en diamants pour Tammy. |
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Fiona: Really Bette, Trey told me that he had bought a big diamond ring for Tammy. |
| Bette: Et moi qui croyait que Trey était amoureux de moi! Quelle déception! |
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Bette: And I thought that Trey was in love with me! What a disappointment! |
| Fiona: Mais je n'ai pas su si Tammy avait raconté l'histoire à Tex ou si elle avait gardé le secret! Alors chut! |
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Fiona: But I did not find out if Tammy had told the story to Tex or if she had kept it secret ... So shush! |
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