Can French keep the present after il a dit que?

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Compare elle travaille and elle travaillait after a past reporting verb. Read two short exchanges and check what each version tells you about now.

B1Article3 min readIn the B1 notebook →

In short

Yes. Léa m’a dit qu’elle travaille à Lyon presents her work as current information. Léa m’a dit qu’elle travaillait à Lyon takes the viewpoint of the earlier conversation; that version also fits a job she still has.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

A woman works at a tidy desk beside a window overlooking Lyon’s Saône river and the distant Fourvière basilica, plain blank laptop screen.
Léa travaille toujours à Lyon. Illustration: Atelier

Can you keep the present after il a dit que?

Elle travailleShe works

Focus: Information presented as current now

Léa m’a dit qu’elle travaille à Lyon.

Elle y travaille toujours ; nous pouvons l’appeler après sa journée.
She still works there; we can call her after her working day.

Elle travaillaitShe worked / was working

Focus: The situation at the earlier conversation

Léa m’a dit qu’elle travaillait à Lyon.

C’était en juin. Depuis, nous n’avons pas reparlé de son travail.
That was in June. Since then, we haven’t discussed her work again.

Both reports attach the job to Léa’s words. The present brings the information into the reporter’s current account. The imparfait locates it at the earlier conversation and leaves room for a later update. Read that update in what follows.

When do you use the imparfait in reported speech?

Léa travaille toujours à Lyon
  1. Sami

    Léa m’a dit qu’elle travaillait à Lyon.

    Léa told me she worked in Lyon.

  2. Inès

    Elle y travaille encore ?

    Does she still work there?

  3. Sami

    Oui, elle y travaille toujours. Elle vient de me le confirmer.

    Yes, she still works there. She has just confirmed it to me.

The first line and the last line fit together naturally. Travaillait reports the job from an earlier point. Elle y travaille toujours explicitly tells us it continues. To say it ended, add a clear update such as elle a changé de travail depuis.

The present in a message you need now

Un appel à organiser
  1. Inès

    On peut appeler Léa cet après-midi ?

    Can we call Léa this afternoon?

  2. Sami

    Elle m’a dit qu’elle est disponible après quinze heures.

    She told me she’s available after three.

  3. Inès

    D’accord, je l’appellerai à quinze heures trente.

    All right, I’ll call her at half past three.

Le professeur a expliqué que deux et deux font quatre.

The teacher explained that two and two make four.

A general truth can retain the present too. The information is presented as valid beyond the earlier lesson.

What can you conclude?

Question 1No account needed
You read Léa m’a dit qu’elle travaillait à Lyon. What do you know about her job today?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

The sentence alone leaves that open.. The imparfait places the job at the earlier conversation; a later update tells you about today.

Question 2No account needed
Choose the natural report that presents availability as current.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Elle m’a dit qu’elle est libre cet après-midi.. The present est fits current availability, and the reported statement needs que.

Question 3No account needed
Which continuation explicitly says that the job ended?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Elle a quitté ce poste depuis.. A quitté ce poste supplies a change of situation; the reported imparfait alone leaves it open.

Question 4No account needed
Must a continuing fact always stay in the present?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

No; a past viewpoint can report a continuing fact.. The first exchange uses travaillait and then confirms elle y travaille toujours.

Keep going