Français — Time shifts in reported speech
When you report words in the past, the time markers move away from the present. hier becomes la veille, demain becomes le lendemain, aujourd'hui becomes ce jour-là.
How it works
After a reporting verb in the past, deictic time markers anchored to the moment of speaking are replaced by expressions anchored to the reported moment: hier → la veille, demain → le lendemain, aujourd'hui → ce jour-là, la semaine prochaine → la semaine suivante. So «Je pars demain» becomes Il a dit qu'il partait le lendemain.
Examples
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| hier | la veille |
| aujourd'hui | ce jour-là |
| demain | le lendemain |
| avant-hier | l'avant-veille |
| après-demain | le surlendemain |
| la semaine prochaine | la semaine suivante |
| la semaine dernière | la semaine précédente |
| maintenant | à ce moment-là |
Good to know
The shift is triggered by the past tense of the reporting verb, not by the words themselves. If you report on the same day and the introducer stays in the present, demain and aujourd'hui do not change: Il dit qu'il part demain. Only distance from the moment of speaking forces la veille and le lendemain.