Subjuntive and Falsehood?

Question

How might someone conjugate a falsehood like this:

"Maria told her brother that he was adopted, but he wasn't."

Would it be,

"Maria le dijo a su hermano que él fuera adoptado, pero no era." ?

Gracias por la ayuda.

Or would be more like "Maria le dijo a su hermano que él fue adoptado, pero no fue/era." ? - joshuamarc, May 15, 2016

Answer 1

No subjunctive needed in either case. The only time "decir" is followed by the subjunctive if "decir" is used as a command.

Ej. La mamá le dijo a su hijo que lipiara su recámara. The mother told her son to clean his room. (Literally, the mother told her son that he (should) clean his room.)

So as Zein says, "Maria le dijo que era adoptado, aunque él no era." Thank you =) - joshuamarc, May 15, 2016

Answer 2

I think it would be Maria le dijo a su hermano que él era adoptado, pero no fue.

The imperfect is used in indirect discourse (dijo que IMPERFECT..), and then the fact that he is not adopted is not arguable, so it is indicative.

(Not a native speaker)

http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/indirectspeech.html

Answer 3

"Maria told her brother that he was adopted, but he wasn't."

María dijo a su hermano que era adoptado, pero no lo era. María le dijo a su hermano que era adoptado, pero no era así.

In spanish there's many ways to tanslate that, it depends Of the formality Of The speaker, or The conversation