Breakdown of Ela queixou-se de que não tinha dinheiro.
não
not / no
ela
she
ter
to have
o dinheiro
the money
que
that (conjunction)
queixar-se de
to complain about
Questions & Answers about Ela queixou-se de que não tinha dinheiro.
Why is "tinha" in the Imperfeito tense here instead of the Pretérito Perfeito (simple past)?
This is the core of reported speech! If her original words were "I don't have money" (Não tenho dinheiro in the present tense), we have to shift that present tense back in time when reporting it in the past. In Portuguese, the Present Indicative backshifts to the Pretérito Imperfeito (tinha), just like "have" backshifts to "had" in English.
Why do we need "de" before "que"? Can't we just say "queixou-se que"?
In Portuguese, the reflexive verb queixar-se (to complain) always takes the preposition de (to complain about). When we connect it to a new clause using que (that), this preposition cannot be dropped. You literally have to say she complained about that she had no money (queixou-se de que).
I always forget pronoun placement rules. Why is the pronoun attached to the end in "queixou-se"?
What would her exact direct quote look like before it was turned into reported speech?
Her original, direct quote would be: Não tenho dinheiro. When shifting this into indirect speech introduced by a past tense verb (queixou-se), the first-person present tense tenho transforms into the third-person imperfect tinha to match the new perspective.
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