Take the 2-minute tour ×  For the sentence,  He said he would
buy a new car.  Does adding 'He said' in front make it sound
like an event that happened in past? For example, if I write He
would buy a new car then that could mean he might be going to
buy a new car in the future. But when I write it with He said
what difference would it make?  share|improve this question That
actually changes the meaning of the sentence, so I would not use
it as a way of guaranteeing that "would" is interpreted in the
past. The surrounding context is probably most helpful here as a
way for you to place the timeframe of would. It would also help
us to figure out what you're trying to say, since "he would buy"
could be interpreted many ways. –  JeffSahol Jun 18 '12 at 18:17
I'm trying to use "he would buy" to state a possible event that
could happen in future. I'm not sure, If I add "He said" in
front of it then would it make it sound like as if the event was
already happened in the past? i.e. I know he already bought the
car in t