Order in the Court
Let's step into the courtroom to examine witness testimonies and apply our knowledge of reported speech to some legal drama.
Backshifting: Passato Prossimo to Trapassato Prossimo
When your reporting verb is in the past, an original statement in the passato prossimo shifts one step further back into the past. In Italian, this means changing it to the trapassato prossimo (the past perfect, or "had done" tense).
For example, if a suspect originally said, "I lied" (Ho mentito), you report it by linking the clauses with che and shifting the passato prossimo (ho mentito) to the trapassato prossimo (aveva mentito):
| The lawyer stated in court that the suspect had lied. | L'avvocato ha affermato in tribunale che il sospettato aveva mentito. |
| The judge declared that the testimony had been false. | Il giudice ha dichiarato che la testimonianza era stata falsa. |
Making Your Case
During a trial, you will frequently use strong reporting verbs to introduce indirect speech, such as affermare (to state), dichiarare (to declare), sostenere (to claim), or negare (to deny). Notice how the tense backshifting rule remains exactly the same with these formal verbs:
| The witness claimed to the jury that he had not seen the weapon. | Il testimone ha sostenuto alla giuria che non aveva visto l'arma. |
| The man denied everything and repeated that he had not even bought the gun. | L'uomo ha negato tutto e ha ripetuto che non aveva nemmeno comprato la pistola. |
Just like before, remember to adjust your pronouns and auxiliary verb conjugations to match the perspective of the person you are talking about.
| The lawyer explained to the judge that the suspect had not touched the gun. | L'avvocato ha spiegato al giudice che il sospettato non aveva toccato la pistola. |
