Backshifting Demonstratives
When reporting speech that occurred in the past, words that point to specific times, places, or things must "step back" in perspective. For instance, if an author once said, "The manuscript is in this archive," reporting it later means you would say the manuscript was in that archive.
In Portuguese, demonstratives like este (this) and esse (that) shift to aquele (that [over there] / that [back then]). This applies to all genders and plurals, as well as their prepositional contractions (e.g., neste becomes naquele).
| The historian mentioned that the manuscript was no longer in that archive. | O historiador mencionou que o manuscrito já não estava naquele arquivo. |
Backshifting Time Expressions
Time references must also shift to reflect the past moment when the original speech or thought happened. When summarizing historical manuscripts or archives, you will frequently use these shifts:
- hoje (today) becomes naquele dia (that day)
- amanhã (tomorrow) becomes no dia seguinte (the next day)
- ontem (yesterday) becomes na véspera (the day before / the eve)
- agora (now) becomes naquela altura (at that time)
| The author recorded in the manuscript that he had arrived at the castle that day. | O autor registou no manuscrito que tinha chegado ao castelo naquele dia. |
| The woman mentioned that she would bring the parchment the next day. | A mulher mencionou que traria o pergaminho no dia seguinte. |
| She translated the parchment and said that the king had left the day before. | Ela traduziu o pergaminho e disse que o rei tinha partido na véspera. |
| The director explained that, at that time, the archive was already closed. | O diretor explicou que, naquela altura, o arquivo já estava fechado. |
Backshifting Place Expressions
Similarly, words describing locations shift away from the original speaker's immediate surroundings.
- aqui (here) or cá (here) become ali (there) or lá (there)
Let's see this in action alongside the temporal and demonstrative shifts you've just learned, especially when referencing a specific historical era (a época).
| The historian said that the revolution of that era had started there. | O historiador disse que a revolução daquela época tinha começado ali. |
| I mentioned that there were no archives from that era there. | Eu mencionei que não havia arquivos daquela época lá. |
| The author recorded that, at that time, the manuscript was there. | O autor registou que, naquela altura, o manuscrito estava ali. |
