The changes in Person (B) depend upon who is reporting the speech. Thus if the speaker reports his own words, the First Person remains unchanged.
Similarly for (C). The change of tenses is due to the fact that the speech is a thing of the past when reported. This is expressed by using a Secondary Tense, like dīxĭt he said, which is then followed by Secondary Tenses.
But if a Present can be used, as in quoting from a book, or a Future, as in predicting what a person will say, the Primary Tenses are not changed to Secondary.
§ 430. The following examples illustrate the foregoing rules. The Verb introducing the Ōrātiō Oblīquă is supposed to be in the Third Person and in a Secondary Tense, unless stated to be otherwise.
| Direct Discourse. | Indirect Discourse. | ||
| (1) | Nōs ĭtă ā patrĭbus dĭdĭcĭmŭs ut măgĭs virtūtĕ quam dŏlŏ contendāmŭs. | Sē ĭtă ā patrĭbus sŭīs dĭdĭcissĕ ut măgĭs virtūtĕ quam dŏlŏ contendĕrent | |
| (2) | Quārē nē commīsĕrĭs ŭt
hīc lŏcŭs ex călămĭtātĕ pŏpŭlī Rōmānī nōmĕn căpĭăt. |
Quārā nā coramīttĕrĕt ŭt ĭs lŏcŭs ex călămĭtātĕ pŏpŭlī Rōmānī nōmĕn căpĕrĕt. | |
| (3) | Quĭd dē praedā făcĭendum cēns'ētĭs? (Real question.) | Quĭd dē prāedā făcĭendum cēnsērent? | |
| (4) | Quid fiet si legem pertulero? (Real question.) | Quĭd fiĕtūrum sī lēgem pertŭlisset? | |
| (5) | Quĭd ĕnim per pŏpŭlum ēgistĭs? (Rhetorical question.)[1] | Quid ĕnim ĕōs per pŏpŭlum ēgissĕ? | |
| (6) | Quĭd tĭbĭ vīs? cūr in meās possēssiōnes vēnīs? (Rhetorical question, no satisfactory answer.) | Quid sĭbĭ vellet? cūr in sŭās possēssĭōnēs vĕnirĕt? |
- ↑ The difference between questions of the form of (5) and (6) is that questions like (5) are really disguised statements. "What have you done by means of the people?" implies you have done nothing. But What do you want? only implies you cannot give a satisfactory account of yourself.
