Direct speech is when we use the exact same words someone says, exactly as they say it. Reported speech is when we report what someone has said in the past.
Reported speech in Spanish works very similarly to how reported speech works in English. For example:
Direct speech:
"Tengo frío."
"I'm cold."
Reported speech in present tense:
Ella dice que tiene frío.
She says she is cold.
Reported speech in past tense:
Ella dijo que tenía frío.
She said she was cold.
As you can see, when we report speech in the present tense using "dice que..." the tense used in the reported speech remains the same.
However, if we report speech in the past tense using "dijo que..." the tense changes: tengo → tenía / am → was) - note that it happens both in English and Spanish.
But there are lots of things to consider when learning about indirect/reported speech.
Using "que" in Spanish reported speech
Bear in mind that in Spanish we always need "que" in reported speech while in English you can often choose whether or not to use "that":
Reported speech in the present tense
When we report speech using the present tense, i.e. dice que..., está diciendo que... the tense used in the orginal sentence from the direct speech remains the same. This also applies when reporting speech in the present perfect in Spanish: ha dicho que...
Here are some examples:
"Ayer fui al cine." ("Yesterday I went to the cinema.")
"Iré a la piscina con Juan." ("I'll go to the swimming pool with Juan.")
"Yo habría esperado un poco." ("I would have waited a bit.")
As you can see, the tense doesn't change, but the conjugation changes in reported speech to match with the new subject:
Reported speech in the past tense
We need to be careful with the tense change in reported speech when we transmit the information using the Spanish preterite tense: dijo que...
Here's a table to see these changes:
Indicative |
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Present or Imperfect → "Me gusta Kwiziq." "Me gustaba Kwiziq." |
Imperfect Dijo que le gustaba Kwiziq.
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Preterite or Pluperfect → "Me gustó Kwiziq." "Me había gustado Kwiziq." |
Pluperfect Dijo que le había gustado Kwiziq.
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Simple Future or Simple Conditional → "Me gustará Kwiziq." "Me gustaría Kwiziq." |
Conditional Dijo que le gustaría Kwiziq.
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Perfect Future or Perfect Conditional → "Me habrá gustado Kwiziq." "Me habría gustado Kwiziq." |
Perfect Conditional Dijo que le habría gustado Kwiziq.
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Subjunctive |
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Present or Imperfect → "Espero que te guste Kwiziq." "Esperaba que te gustara Kwiziq." |
Imperfect Dijo que esperaba que te gustara Kwiziq.
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Perfect or Pluperfect → "Espero que te haya gustado Kwiziq." "Esperaba que te hubiera gustado Kwiziq." |
Pluperfect Dijo que esperaba que te hubiera gustado Kwiziq.
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Imperative |
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Imperative → "¡Disfruta de Kwiziq!" |
Imperfect Subjunctive Dijo que disfrutara de Kwiziq. |
The changes described above shows the most natural correlation/sequence of tenses.
Bear in mind though that spoken Spanish can be somewhat flexible and that these changes are not always used as strictly as shown in the table above. An example of this is when we interpret what is said in the direct speech as something that is still happening when reporting it.
For example, is someone says: "Estoy embarazada." ("I am pregnant.") you can report this as:
Me dijo que estaba embarazada.
She told me she was pregnant.
This is the usual sequence of tenses, from the present to the imperfect as we explained above.
But you could also say:
Me dijo que está embarazada.
She told me she was pregnant [and still is]. = She told me she is pregnant.
Keeping the present tense using "que está..." emphasises the fact that she is still pregnant at the moment of reporting it. So we permit some flexibility to allow for these nuances.
Have a look at some more examples and notice what changes in the reported speech:
Spacial and time references in reported speech
We have to bear in mind that if there is a spacial reference in the direct speech, we may need to change it if at the moment of reporting it time has passed or we are in a different place. For example:
"Hace calor aquí." ("It's hot here.")
"Lo he pasado genial este verano." ("I had a great time this summer.")
Possessives in reported speech
Possessives also need changing in reported speech. For example:
"Mis hijos son muy listos." ("My children are very clever.")
Notice how now that we are doing reported speech mis becomes sus.
Questions in reported speech
If we are reporting questions then we tend to use the verb preguntar as the introductory verb: pregunta que..., preguntó que...
When there is an interrogative pronoun: dónde, cuándo, quién.. it works as follows.
Direct speech (question): "¿Cuándo llega Blanca?" ("When is Blanca arriving?")
Direct speech (question) : "¿Cómo se hace esto?" ("How do you do this?")
Direct speech (question) : "¿Quién es Marta Sánchez?" ("Who is Marta Sánchez?")
Note that dropping "que" in this case would also be acceptable:
Preguntaba quién era Marta Sánchez.
Preguntó cómo se hacía aquello.
Preguntan cuándo llega Blanca.
When there is no interrogative pronoun in the direct speech we use "pregunta si..., preguntó si...":
Direct speech (question) : "¿Tienen ustedes los documentos?" ("Do you have the documents?")
Direct speech (question) : "¿Te apetece una cerveza?" ("Do you want a beer?")
Other reporting verbs in reported speech
Bear in mind that the most common verb used to introduce reported speech is decir, which we've used in our examples in this lesson, but there are other reporting verbs that can be used in reported speech, such as: aclarar que..., sugerir que..., apuntar que..., recomendar que..., repetir que... etc. Some examples are:
Direct speech: "Estudiad más", dijo el profesor. ("Study more", said the teacher.")
Direct speech: "No fue mi intención interrumpir la reunión." ("It wasn't my intention to interrupt the meeting.")
Using the verbs pedir and decir in reported speech for orders/commands
The verbs pedir and decir are generally used in reported speech in Spanish to convey an order. They are soft orders in comparison to the verb "ordenar" (to order). We report with these verbs when the direct speech is in the imperative:
Direct speech: "¡Venid aquí!" (Come here!)
Direct speech: "¡Compra pan!" ("Buy some bread!")
Direct speech: "¡Suban rápido!" ("Come up quickly!")
These two videos will help you clarify any doubt about Spanish reported speech:
Reported speech in the present
