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Est-ce qu'il a dit que son beau-frère habitait ici ?

Est-ce qu'il a dit que son beau-frère habitait ici ?
Did he say that his brother-in-law lived here?
From Lesson 181:Reported speech: present to imperfect·French

Questions & Answers about Est-ce qu'il a dit que son beau-frère habitait ici ?

Why is habitait in the imparfait here?
This is the sequence of tenses in action! The reporting verb (a dit) is in the past. Because of this, the original present tense statement must shift back a step into the imparfait.
What did the person actually say in direct speech before it was reported?
The direct quote was likely Mon beau-frère habite ici (My brother-in-law lives here). When shifting to reported speech, the present tense habite becomes the imparfait habitait, and mon changes to son to match who is being talked about.
If the brother-in-law still lives there today, do we still have to use the past tense habitait?
Yes. In standard French grammar, you must use the imparfait here even if the situation is still true right now. The rule is triggered simply because the introducing verb (a dit) is in a past tense.
Can I drop que just like we often drop "that" in English?
No, in French you can never drop que. While in English you can say "Did he say his brother-in-law lived here?" without the word "that", French strictly requires que to connect the two halves of the sentence.

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