Le journaliste a dit que le ciel resterait dégagé.
The journalist said that the sky would stay clear.
Breakdown of Le journaliste a dit que le ciel resterait dégagé.
avoir
to have
rester
to stay
le journaliste
the journalist
dire
to say, to tell
que
that (introducing a clause)
le ciel
the sky
dégagé
clear (unobstructed)
Questions & Answers about Le journaliste a dit que le ciel resterait dégagé.
Why is resterait in the conditional tense if he was predicting the future?
In French, when you report what someone said in the past (a dit), you have to shift the tenses back in time. If the journalist's original words were 'Le ciel restera dégagé' (The sky will stay clear — futur simple), that future tense shifts to the conditionnel présent (resterait) because the reporting verb is in a past tense. This is exactly like English, where 'will' shifts to 'would'!
Could we use disait instead of a dit here?
Yes, but it changes the context slightly. A dit (passé composé) implies the journalist said it at one specific moment, like during a single weather report. If you used disait (imparfait), it would mean the journalist was saying or kept saying it over a period of time. Because both are past tenses, the backshift rule still applies, and you would still use resterait.
Does dégagé always mean 'clear'?
It specifically means 'cleared' or 'freed up.' It is the past participle of the verb dégager (to clear / to free). When talking about the weather, un ciel dégagé means a cloudless, clear sky. You will also see it used for a clear road (une route dégagée) or a wide-open schedule (un emploi du temps dégagé).
Can I leave out que and just say 'Le journaliste a dit le ciel resterait dégagé'?
No, you cannot. In English, we frequently drop the word 'that' and just say 'The journalist said the sky would stay clear.' In French, the conjunction que (that) is strictly required to connect the main clause to the reported speech. You can never skip it.
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