Breakdown of Le survivant a expliqué que le soldat dormait dans l'obscurité.
dans
in, inside
avoir
to have
dormir
to sleep
expliquer
to explain
que
that (introducing a clause)
le survivant
the survivor (m)
le soldat
the soldier
l'obscurité
the darkness (f)
Questions & Answers about Le survivant a expliqué que le soldat dormait dans l'obscurité.
Since the main verb a expliqué is in the past tense, did dormait have to shift its tense?
When introducing reported speech with a past tense verb like a expliqué, French normally requires backshifting the tense of the reported action. However, the imparfait is an exception: it does not shift. If the survivor's original words were Le soldat dormait (The soldier was sleeping), the tense stays exactly the same in the reported sentence.
What if the survivor's original words were actually in the present tense, like Le soldat dort?
Because the introductory verb a expliqué is in the past, a present tense verb must backshift to the imparfait. This means the resulting sentence would look exactly the same: Le survivant a expliqué que le soldat dormait. Without more context, this reported sentence could mean the original quote was either in the present or the imparfait!
Why do we use the preposition dans for dans l'obscurité?
The preposition dans translates to in or inside. In French, you are considered to be physically enveloped or surrounded by the dark, so you sleep dans l'obscurité just as you would sleep dans une chambre (in a room).
I notice survivant ends in -ant like a verb form. How does it work as a noun here?
Survivant is the present participle of the verb survivre (to survive). In French, you can often put a definite article like le or la in front of a present participle to turn it into a noun, simply meaning the person who performs that action.
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