Breakdown of O historiador disse que a revolução daquela época tinha começado ali.
ter
to have
ali
there
começar
to begin
daquele
of that over there (m/sg), daquela (f/sg), daqueles (m/pl), daquelas (f/pl)
dizer
to say
que
that (conjunction)
a revolução
the revolution
o historiador
the historian
a época
the era / the epoch
Questions & Answers about O historiador disse que a revolução daquela época tinha começado ali.
What would the original direct quote have been for daquela época?
The historian probably said desta época (of this era). Because the reporting verb disse (said) is in the past, we have to backshift the demonstrative word. A word showing something is close to the speaker (esta) shifts to show it is distant in time or space (aquela). Therefore, de + esta becomes de + aquela (daquela).
Why does the sentence use ali instead of lá for 'there'?
In reported speech, spatial words shift depending on the original quote. If the historian originally said 'The revolution started here' (aqui), that location word must shift when reported in the past. Aqui (here) shifts to ali (there). If the original quote had used aí (there, near the listener), it would typically shift to lá.
Why is the verb tinha começado instead of just the simple past começou?
The historian likely used the simple past in their original statement: 'A revolução começou' (The revolution started). Because we are reporting this using a past tense verb (disse), the reported action takes a step further back in time. The simple past (começou) backshifts to the past perfect (tinha começado, meaning 'had started').
Could I use tempo instead of época here?
You could, as do tempo also means 'of the time', but época is more natural here. Época specifically translates to an 'era', 'epoch', or 'age', which is exactly the kind of word a historian would use to describe a distinct historical period.
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