Reporting it on another day
When you pass on what someone said with dijo que, the tenses move back (vuelvo → volvía, volveré → volvería). If you report it on a later day, the time words move too: mañana only means tomorrow counted from today. If you can, simply count from today (Ayer me dijo que volvía hoy); in a story, or when that day is further back, use these:
| what was said | in a story, or reported days later |
|---|---|
| hoy | aquel día / ese día |
| mañana | al día siguiente |
| ayer | el día anterior |
| la semana que viene | la semana siguiente |
| He said he would come back the next day. | Dijo que volvería al día siguiente. |
| She told me she had arrived the day before. | Me contó que había llegado el día anterior. |
| She said she was very tired that day. | Dijo que aquel día estaba muy cansada. |
| Ana said she was getting married the following week. | Ana dijo que se casaba la semana siguiente. |
Passed on the same day, nothing has to move: Me ha dicho que vuelve mañana.
Watch the small word: al día siguiente, but el día anterior. Both also work in plain storytelling:
| The next day, everything was calm. | Al día siguiente, todo estaba tranquilo. |
In an hour: dentro de
Dentro de + a period says how long until something happens: in an hour, in a year. With a place it means inside, as you know (dentro de la casa).
| I'll be back in an hour. | Vuelvo dentro de una hora. |
| In a year I will speak Spanish very well. | Dentro de un año hablaré muy bien español. |
After a while: al cabo de
Al cabo de + a period counts from a moment you are already talking about, so it is a common choice when you tell what happened.
| After an hour, the bus arrived. | Al cabo de una hora, llegó el autobús. |
Common mistake
- For a point in the future, the standard form in Spain is dentro de una hora. En una hora usually says how long something takes: Lo hago en una hora.
Anterior
Anterior works with any noun: el año anterior, mi trabajo anterior. It means previous, the one before.
