Question 1

Why did the original statement change to había visto instead of just using the preterite?

Accepted Answer

This sentence is an example of reported speech. The boss originally said I saw (vi) or I have seen (he visto). Because we are reporting this using a past-tense reporting verb (aseguró), those past actions shift one step further back in time into the past perfect tense: había visto (he had seen).

Question 2

Why does the sentence use the imperfect tense quería rather than the preterite quiso?

Accepted Answer

When you report what someone said in the past, their original present-tense statements shift to the imperfect tense. The boss originally said I want (quiero). Since we are reporting it with the past verb aseguró, quiero shifts to quería.

Question 3

Can the pronoun lo in interrogarlo go anywhere else?

Accepted Answer

Yes! When working with a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive (like quería interrogar), you can either attach the object pronoun to the end of the infinitive (interrogarlo) or place it directly before the conjugated verb (lo quería interrogar).

Question 4

Can I drop the word que like we often drop 'that' in English?

Accepted Answer

No, you must always keep que. In English, it is perfectly fine to say 'The boss assured me he wanted to...'. However, in Spanish, you can never drop que when connecting a reporting verb to the reported clause.

El jefe me aseguró que quería interrogarlo porque había visto el asesinato.

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