Breakdown of Ils ont promis qu'ils reviendraient le lendemain matin.
le matin
the morning
promettre
to promise
revenir
to come back
le lendemain
the next day, the day after
Questions & Answers about Ils ont promis qu'ils reviendraient le lendemain matin.
Why is reviendraient in the conditional here instead of the future tense?
This is an example of reported speech in the past. Because the main verb ont promis is in the past, the future action of coming back must shift to the 'future in the past,' which is formed using the present conditional (reviendraient). If the main verb were in the present, you would use the future tense: Ils promettent qu'ils reviendront.
Why does the sentence use le lendemain instead of demain?
When you report speech in the past, time references have to shift. The original direct quote was likely 'We will come back tomorrow' (demain). But because they promised this in the past, 'tomorrow' from their perspective is 'the next day' or 'the following day' from ours. In French, this shifted time marker is le lendemain.
Could I use retourneraient instead of reviendraient?
It changes the meaning slightly based on perspective. Revenir specifically means to 'come back' to the place where the speaker is or to the main place of focus. Retourner means to 'go back' to a different place. Since the translation is 'come back,' revenir is the natural choice.
Is it possible to use la matinée instead of matin here?
No, you should stick to matin. In French, matin is used to pinpoint a specific point in time, especially in fixed expressions like le lendemain matin or demain matin. Matinée is used when emphasizing the duration or the span of time during the morning, which doesn't fit the context of this specific event.
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