When you report what someone said in the past (using verbs like a dit or a expliqué), French grammar often requires you to shift the tense of their original words backward in time. This is called the sequence of tenses (la concordance des temps). However, two past tenses are exceptions to this rule: the imparfait and the plus-que-parfait.
To share eyewitness accounts, use reporting verbs followed by que (that). If the word following que begins with a vowel, it contracts to qu'.
The Imparfait Stays the Same
If the original speaker used the imparfait to describe an ongoing state or action (like il pleuvait, "it was raining"), the tense remains exactly the same in reported speech.
| The survivor explained that the soldier was sleeping in the darkness. | Le survivant a expliqué que le soldat dormait dans l'obscurité. |
| He described the attack and mentioned that it was raining. | Il a décrit l'attaque et a mentionné qu'il pleuvait. |
| She told me that this memory was terrible. | Elle m'a dit que ce souvenir était terrible. |
The Plus-que-parfait Stays the Same
The plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) is used for an action that had already happened before another past action. Because it is already as far back in the past as French tenses go, it cannot shift backward. It remains unchanged in reported speech.
| The soldier confirmed that they had seen no attack. | Le soldat a confirmé qu'ils n'avaient vu aucune attaque. |
| He told us that he had hidden the soldier at his place. | Il nous a raconté qu'il avait caché le soldat chez lui. |
Recounting Historical Accounts
By keeping these tenses stable, you can faithfully relay historical descriptions and memories without losing the timeline of events.
| The survivor recounted the attack and specified that he had been able to avoid it. | Le survivant a raconté l'attaque et a précisé qu'il avait pu l'éviter. |
| The woman described how the soldiers were suffering from hunger. | La femme a décrit comment les soldats souffraient de la faim. |