How does one say, "He had said . . ." in Esperanto? Can you only say "Li diris . . ." to express this? And if so, doesn't this mean that Esperanto removes the distinction between "said" and "had said"?

Jonatano:How does one say, "He had said . . ." in Esperanto?

Li estis dirinta...

vivueo:

Jonatano:How does one say, "He had said . . ." in Esperanto?

Li estis dirinta...

This.
As far as I'm concerned, the past perfect is used to refer to something that happened even further in the past, and estis with a past participle in Eo does the same thing.

Jonatano:How does one say, "He had said . . ." in Esperanto? Can you only say "Li diris . . ." to express this? And if so, doesn't this mean that Esperanto removes the distinction between "said" and "had said"?

Yes, the normal way of saying "he had said" is "li diris". But of course it is always possible to make the distinction when it is really needed: "li diris jam pli frue", "li jam antaŭe diris", "li estis dirinta". In the dictionary of John C. Wells (Reference grammar, page XXI) you can find this piece of advice:

"Stylistically it is advisable to avoid compound tenses as far as possible. Rather than ni estis manĝintaj (we had eaten) it is usually sufficient to say ni manĝis (jam pli frue)."

Instead of "Li estis dirinta" you can also say "Li dirintis" whith the same meaning. But it seems to be rare (although I personnally use it as much as possible):

PMEG:
Iafoje anstataŭ uzi esti + participon, oni rekte verbigas la participon, same kiel oni ofte rekte verbigas aliajn adjektivojn: estas leganta → legantas, estis legonta → legontis, estus leginta → legintus, estas legata → legatas, estos legita → legitos, k.s.

Tiaj formoj estas tute logikaj kaj regulaj, sed bedaŭrinde ili estas en la praktiko tre malfacile kompreneblaj. Vorto kiel legintos enhavas ŝajne tro multe da informoj en tro kunpakita formo. La normalaj kunmetitaj formoj kun esti estas pli taŭgaj en tiuj maloftaj okazoj, kiam oni ne povas uzi ordinarajn simplajn verboformojn (legis, legos k.t.p.).

(From the shortened version I found here: learning - grammar - detailed grammar - participoj)

Luib:Instead of "Li estis dirinta" you can also say "Li dirintis" whith the same meaning. But it seems to be rare (although I personnally use it as much as possible):

Yes, you can say "Li dirintis" if you don't care whether speakers of normal Esperanto will readily understand you or not. Or maybe you just want to show off with your excellent command of the hidden corners of grammar, because you "personnally use it as much as possible".

But others may have understood what Wells and Wennergren (PMEG) are saying. After warning about these "too compact forms", PMEG even repeats Wells's advice on compound tenses in general:

* "La normalaj kunmetitaj formoj kun esti estas pli taŭgaj en tiuj maloftaj okazoj, kiam oni ne povas uzi ordinarajn simplajn verboformojn (legis, legos k.t.p.)"
* The normal compound forms with esti are better suited in those rare cases where you cannot use the ordinary simple verb forms (legis, legos, etc.)

vivueo:

Jonatano:How does one say, "He had said . . ." in Esperanto?

Li estis dirinta...

Doesn't "Li estis dirinta..." translate to "He was eating..." instead of "He had eaten...?"

Jonatano:

vivueo:

Jonatano:How does one say, "He had said . . ." in Esperanto?

Li estis dirinta...

Doesn't "Li estis dirinta..." translate to "He was eating..." instead of "He had eaten...?"

Saying...not eating!

Estis diranta (was saying. Only estas is conjugated to past tense)
Estis dirinta (had said)

Better sticking to li diris for most purposes where 'he had said' is meant.

Vestitor:

Jonatano:

vivueo:

Jonatano:How does one say, "He had said . . ." in Esperanto?

Li estis dirinta...

Doesn't "Li estis dirinta..." translate to "He was eating..." instead of "He had eaten...?"

Saying...not eating!

Estis diranta (was saying)
Estis dirinta (had said)

Better sticking to li diris for most purposes where 'he had said' is meant.

Sorry, I meant saying! And thanks!

Ondo:

Luib:Instead of "Li estis dirinta" you can also say "Li dirintis" whith the same meaning. But it seems to be rare (although I personnally use it as much as possible):

Yes, you can say "Li dirintis" if you don't care whether speakers of normal Esperanto will readily understand you or not. Or maybe you just want to show off with your excellent command of the hidden corners of grammar, because you "personnally use it as much as possible".

These super-compressed forms also have their place. Here is the last sentence of H.G. Wells' 'War of the Worlds':

And strangest of all is it to hold my wife's hand again, and to think that I have counted her, and that she has counted me, among the dead.

This is how I translated it:

Kaj plej stranga estas tio, ke mi tenas denove la manon de mia edzino kaj pensas, ke mi kredis ke ŝi, kaj ŝi kredis ke mi, mortintas.

Twelve years' later I still think that "mortintas" has far more impact that "estas mortinta".

The whole translation is part way down this page :
eo.mondediplo.com/article929.html