Catching Up
School reunions are a great time to catch up and talk about the past.
| We met again after high school. | Ci siamo ritrovati dopo il liceo. |
Backshifting: Present to Imperfetto
When you report something that someone said in the past, your reporting verb (like dire or raccontare) will be in a past tense, such as the passato prossimo.
If the person's original statement was in the present tense, Italian requires you to shift the reported statement one step back into the past. A present indicative verb shifts to the imperfetto (imperfect) tense.
For example, if your classmate originally said, "I am aging badly" (Invecchio male), you report it by linking the clauses with che and shifting the second verb to the imperfetto:
| My classmate said that he was aging badly. | Il mio compagno ha detto che invecchiava male. |
| Marco told me that he was very studious when he was twenty years old. | Marco mi ha raccontato che era molto studioso quando aveva vent'anni. |
Other Reporting Verbs
This rule applies to any verb used to report information, thoughts, or responses in the past. You will frequently use verbs like spiegare (to explain), rispondere (to answer), capire (to understand), or scrivere (to write) to introduce indirect speech.
| I explained to Luca that I had a terrible memory. | Ho spiegato a Luca che avevo una pessima memoria. |
| Anna answered that the bond between us was still strong. | Anna ha risposto che il legame era ancora forte tra noi. |
| My sister wrote to me that she was graduating this year. | Mia sorella mi ha scritto che si diplomava quest'anno. |
Remember that just like in English, pronouns and verb conjugations will also change to match the perspective of the person reporting the speech.
| Luca said that in high school you were very studious. | Luca ha detto che al liceo eri molto studioso. |
