Tense / Aspect / Mood / Voice
reported speech in present
reporting statements
To report what someone else says or thinks, link the main clause (il dit, il pense, etc.) and the subordinate clause with que (qu’ in front of a word beginning with a vowel):
| Tex et Tammy ont une querelle d’amoureux. Fiona essaie de les raccommoder. | Tex and Tammy are having a lovers’ tiff. Fiona is trying to patch things up. | |
| Tammy: Tu ne m’écoutes jamais! | Tammy: You never listen to me! | |
| Tex (devant la télé): Je n’ai pas entendu. | Tex (in front of the TV): I did not hear. | |
| Fiona: Elle dit que tu ne l’écoutes jamais. | Fiona: She is saying that you never listen to her. |
reporting questions
To report simple 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, si on).
| Tammy: Est-ce que tu vas faire un effort? | Tammy: Are you going to make an effort? | |
| Tex (toujours devant la télé): Quoi? | Tex (still in front of the TV): What? | |
| Fiona: Elle te demande si tu vas faire un effort. | Fiona: She is asking you if you are going to make an effort. | |
| Tex: Bien sûr, mais après le match de foot. | Tex: Sure, but after the soccer game. |
To report an information question use the interrogative word quand, comment, où, etc.:
| Tammy: Où étais-tu hier soir? Comment as-tu rencontré cette grande blonde? Quand finit ce match? | Tammy: Where were you last night? How did you meet that tall blonde? When does this game finish? | |
| Tex: Comment? | Tex: Excuse-me? | |
| Fiona: Elle te demande où tu étais hier soir, comment tu as rencontré cette grande blonde et quand ce match finit. | Fiona: She is asking you where you were last night, how you met that tall blonde and when this game finishes. |
To report questions starting with que, qu’est-ce que, and qu’est-ce qui, use ce que and ce qui. Note that the inverted subject and verb return to normal order when reporting a que question:
| Tex: Je ne comprends pas! Qu’est-ce qu’elle veut dire? Qu’est-ce qui se passe? | Tex: I don’t understand! What does she mean? What’s going on? | |
| Fiona: Tammy, Tex ne comprend pas ce que tu veux dire. Il ne comprend pas ce qui se passe. | Fiona: Tammy, Tex does not understand what you mean. He does not understand what’s going on. | |
| Tammy: Que faisait-il avec cette grande blonde? | Tammy: What was he doing with that tall blonde? | |
| Fiona: Tex, Tammy veut savoir ce que tu faisais avec cette grande blonde. | Fiona: Tex, Tammy wants to know what you were doing with that tall blonde. |
reporting orders
To report an order, replace the imperative by de (d’) + infinitive:
| Tammy: Tex, éteins tout de suite cette télévision! Ecoute-moi! Ne fais pas l’idiot! | Tammy: Tex, turn this TV off immediately! Listen to me! Don’t be stupid! | |
| Tex: Pardon? | Tex: Excuse me? | |
| Fiona: Tammy t’ordonne d’éteindre tout de suite cette télévision. En plus, elle te dit de l’écouter. Elle te demande de ne pas faire l’idiot. | Fiona: Tammy is ordering you to turn this TV off immediately. And she is telling you to listen to her. She is asking you not to be stupid. |
reporting answers
To report yes and no answers, use que:
| Plus tard, Fiona raconte la fin de l’histoire à ses amis. | Later, Fiona tells the end of the story to her friends. | |
| Fiona: . . . et soudain, Tammy demande à Tex s’il peut éteindre la télé et il lui répond que NON. | Fiona: . . . and suddenly, Tammy asks Tex if he can turn off the TV and he answers NO. |
