Mastering Le discours indirect au passé in French: A Guide for Hindi Speakers
Mastering Le discours indirect au passé in French: A Guide for Hindi Speakers
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Table of contents
- What is Le discours indirect au passé ?
- Key Rules for Changing Tenses in Discours indirect au passé
- 1. Présent → Imparfait
- 2. Passé Composé → Plus-que-parfait
- 3. Futur simple → Conditionnel présent
- 4. Futur proche → Aller à l’imparfait + infinitif
- 5. Impératif → De + infinitif OR que + subjonctif
- Bonus: Visual Summary Chart of Tense Changes
Are you a motivated French learner from a Hindi-speaking background? If you’ve ever struggled with how to transform direct speech into reported (indirect) speech in the past tense, this article is for you. We’ll break down le discours indirect au passé, explain the rules clearly, and compare them with Hindi grammar so you feel confident using this structure in real conversations and writing.
What is Le discours indirect au passé?
In French, le discours indirect (indirect speech) is used to report what someone else said, without quoting them directly. When the reporting verb (like dire, demander, expliquer) is in the past tense (e.g., il a dit, elle a demandé), the tense of the original message also shifts into the past. This is called la concordance des temps (sequence of tenses).
Why is it important?
Understanding and using indirect speech in the past is essential for:
- Narrating past conversations
- Writing reports or essays
- Quoting sources in a formal manner
Key Rules for Changing Tenses in Discours indirect au passé
When the introductory verb (e.g., il a dit que, elle a demandé si) is in the past tense, we apply specific tense changes to the original sentence. Let’s explore these step by step.
| Discours Direct (Direct Speech) | Discours Indirect au Passé (Indirect Speech in Past) |
|---|---|
| Présent (Present) | Imparfait |
| Passé Composé | Plus-que-parfait |
| Futur simple | Conditionnel présent |
| Futur proche | Aller à l’imparfait + infinitif |
| Impératif | De + infinitif or que + subjonctif |
1. Présent → Imparfait
French Example:
Il a dit : “Je suis fatigué.”
→ Il a dit qu’il était fatigué.
Word-by-word English:
He said: “I am tired.”
→ He said that he was tired.
Hinglish Pronunciation:
Il aa dee keh eel eh-teh fah-tee-gay.
Hindi Comparison:
Like in Hindi when someone says:
“Main thaka hua hoon.” becomes
“Usne kaha ki wo thaka hua tha.”
In Hindi too, the present becomes past when reporting someone’s words.
2. Passé Composé → Plus-que-parfait
French Example:
Elle a dit : “J’ai fini mes devoirs.”
→ Elle a dit qu’elle avait fini ses devoirs.
Word-by-word English:
She said: “I have finished my homework.”
→ She said that she had finished her homework.
Hinglish Pronunciation:
El aa dee keh el ah-veh fee-nee seh duh-vwar.
Hindi Comparison:
“Maine kaam khatam kiya hai.” →
“Usne kaha ki usne kaam khatam kiya tha.”
Just like French, Hindi uses the past perfect for previously completed actions.
3. Futur simple → Conditionnel présent
French Example:
Il a dit : “Je ferai mes devoirs.”
→ Il a dit qu’il ferait ses devoirs.
Word-by-word English:
He said: “I will do my homework.”
→ He said that he would do his homework.
Hinglish Pronunciation:
Il aa dee keh eel fuh-reh seh duh-vwar.
Hindi Comparison:
“Main kaam karunga.” becomes
“Usne kaha ki wo kaam karega.”
or more naturally
“Usne kaha ki wo kaam karega shayad.”
Hindi sometimes uses “shayad” or context to show the conditional mood, like French does with the conditionnel.
4. Futur proche → Aller à l’imparfait + infinitif
French Example:
Elle a dit : “Je vais partir.”
→ Elle a dit qu’elle allait partir.
Word-by-word English:
She said: “I am going to leave.”
→ She said that she was going to leave.
Hinglish Pronunciation:
El aa dee keh el ah-leh par-teer.
Hindi Comparison:
“Main jaane wali hoon.” becomes
“Usne kaha ki wo jaane wali thi.”
In Hindi, we also shift the auxiliary verb to the past to reflect the time shift.
5. Impératif → De + infinitif OR que + subjonctif
French Example:
Il a dit : “Fais tes devoirs.”
→ Il a dit de faire ses devoirs.
Word-by-word English:
He said: “Do your homework.”
→ He said to do his homework.
Hinglish Pronunciation:
Il aa dee duh fehr seh duh-vwar.
Hindi Comparison:
“Kaam karo.” becomes
“Usne kaha ki kaam karo.” or more naturally
“Usne kaha ki kaam karna chahiye.”
Hindi often expresses commands indirectly using “karna chahiye” or “usne kaha ki…”
Le discours indirect au passé refers to reporting what someone said using the past tense, while adjusting the original tense to match the rules of time sequence.
When the reporting verb is in the past (e.g., il a dit), the verb in the quoted sentence must shift back in time following specific rules.
French uses la concordance des temps (tense agreement) to keep the logic of time consistent. The shift shows that the statement was made in the past.
Bonus: Visual Summary Chart of Tense Changes
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech (Past) | Hindi Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Présent | Imparfait | Present → Past (था, थी) |
| Passé Composé | Plus-que-parfait | “किया है” → “किया था” |
| Futur simple | Conditionnel présent | “करेगा” → “करेगा (शायद)” |
| Futur proche | Aller à l’imparfait | “जाने वाला है” → “जाने वाला था” |
| Impératif | De + infinitif | “करो” → “कहना कि करना चाहिए” |
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