Discours indirect : changement d'indicateurs temporels

Think of time as a moving train. When someone speaks, they are on the train. They use words like aujourd'hui or maintenant. When you report their words later, you are standing on the platform. The train has moved. You need to describe where the train was. You shift the perspective from "me" to "them." You shift from "now" to "then." This happens mostly when the reporting verb is in the past. If you say Il a dit que..., the clock resets. You are no longer in the speaker's moment. You are looking back at it. This is why hier becomes la veille. It means "the day before." It is a relative time marker. It relates to the moment of speaking, not today. Even native speakers mess this up sometimes. Do not worry if it feels strange at first. Your brain just needs to adjust the lens. It is like zooming out on a map. You see the whole timeline clearly.

1. 1To change time indicators, follow these three steps.
2. 2Identify the original time word in the direct speech.
3. 3Check the reporting verb tense. Is it in the past?
4. 4Swap the word using the standard conversion list.
5. 5Here is the conversion list you need to memorize:
6. 6aujourd'hui (today) becomes ce jour-là (that day).
7. 7hier (yesterday) becomes la veille (the day before).
8. 8demain (tomorrow) becomes le lendemain (the next day).
9. 9ce soir (tonight) becomes ce soir-là (that night).
10. 10maintenant (now) becomes à ce moment-là (at that moment).
11. 11la semaine prochaine becomes la semaine suivante.
12. 12le mois dernier becomes le mois précédent.
13. 13Always look for the -là suffix. It often points to the past. It is your best friend in indirect speech. It marks the distance between then and now.

You use this when telling stories about the past. Use it when reporting a conversation from yesterday. Use it when writing a report for work. It is very common in news articles. Imagine you are at a restaurant. The waiter said the soup was fresh ce jour-là. You tell your partner this later. Use it during job interviews to report previous feedback. Use it when gossiping with friends about a party. It makes your French sound professional and precise. It shows you understand how time works in language. Without these changes, your story might sound like a mess. People might show up on the wrong day! Use it whenever the "now" of the quote is over. It is essential for clear communication in French.

Do not change the time if the reporting verb is present. If you say Il dit que..., keep the time word. Il dit qu'il vient demain. This means he is coming tomorrow from now. The "now" has not changed yet. Do not change it if the time is still true. If someone said "I am coming in 2025," it is still 2025. You can keep the specific date. Dates are absolute. They do not change based on when you speak. Do not use these shifts in direct quotes. If you use quotation marks, keep the original words. Il a dit : "Je viens demain." This is a direct copy. No changes are needed here. Think of it as a rule for summaries. If you are not summarizing, keep it simple.

The biggest mistake is keeping demain. If you say Il a dit qu'il venait demain, it is wrong. It implies he is coming tomorrow from today. But he meant tomorrow from last week! This causes missed appointments and confusion. Another mistake is forgetting the -là. People often say ce jour instead of ce jour-là. The -là is vital for the past context. Don't forget to change the verb tense too. Usually, the verb shifts to the imparfait. But focus on the time words first. Some people mix up la veille and le lendemain. Remember: V comes before L. Veille is the past. Lendemain is the future. It is a small trick to help you. Don't let the long words scare you. They are just markers on a map.

Compare this to English reported speech. In English, we say "the day before" or "the next day." French does the exact same thing. It is very logical once you see the pattern. Compare it to direct speech. Direct speech is a photo. It never changes. Indirect speech is a video. It moves with the timeline. Compare it to the present tense reporting. In the present, everything stays the same. In the past, everything shifts back. It is like a mirror image. One side is the "now." The other side is the "then." If you know English rules, you are halfway there. The logic is identical. Only the words are different.