B1 · Intermediate

Reported speech (estilo indirecto)

How to report someone's words with 'decir que', including the shift in verb tenses, pronouns and time expressions.

Decir que: from direct to reported speech

When the introducing verb (decir, contar, explicar...) is in a past tense, the verb tenses shift in reported speech according to a fixed pattern:

  • presente → imperfecto
  • pretérito indefinido / pretérito perfecto → pluscuamperfecto
  • futuro → condicional
  • presente de subjuntivo → imperfecto de subjuntivo

If the introducing verb is in the present (dice que...), the tense usually doesn't change.

Directe redeIndirecte rede
Presente: 'Estoy cansado.'Imperfecto: Dijo que estaba cansado.
Indefinido: 'Llegué tarde.'Pluscuamperfecto: Dijo que había llegado tarde.
Futuro: 'Vendré mañana.'Condicional: Dijo que vendría al día siguiente.

Examples

Dijo: 'Estoy cansado.' → Dijo que estaba cansado.He said: 'I'm tired.' → He said (that) he was tired.
Dijo: 'Ya comí.' → Dijo que ya había comido.She said: 'I already ate.' → She said she had already eaten.
Dijo: 'Vendré mañana.' → Dijo que vendría al día siguiente.He said: 'I'll come tomorrow.' → He said he would come the next day.

Pronouns and possessives adapt

Personal pronouns, possessives and verb forms adapt to the narrator's perspective, just like in English.

Examples

Dijo: 'Mi hermano me ayuda.' → Dijo que su hermano le ayudaba.He said: 'My brother helps me.' → He said his brother helped him.
Dijo: 'Yo tengo tu libro.' → Dijo que él tenía mi libro.He said: 'I have your book.' → He said he had my book.

Time and place expressions shift too

Words like 'today' or 'here' refer to the speaker's original moment/place. In reported speech — often told later, elsewhere — those expressions shift accordingly.

Directe redeIndirecte rede
hoyese día
mañanaal día siguiente
ayerel día anterior
ahoraentonces
aquíallí
este/estaese/esa

Examples

Dijo: 'Llego hoy.' → Dijo que llegaba ese día.He said: 'I arrive today.' → He said he was arriving that day.
Dijo: 'Te veo mañana.' → Dijo que me vería al día siguiente.She said: 'I'll see you tomorrow.' → She said she would see me the next day.

Reported questions: preguntar si / question word

For a yes/no question, use preguntar si. For a question with a question word (qué, dónde, cuándo, cómo...), keep that word. In both cases the question marks and inversion disappear.

Examples

Me preguntó: '¿Vienes?' → Me preguntó si venía.He asked me: 'Are you coming?' → He asked me if I was coming.
Preguntó: '¿Dónde vives?' → Preguntó dónde vivía.She asked: 'Where do you live?' → She asked where I lived.
Preguntó: '¿Qué hora es?' → Preguntó qué hora era.He asked: 'What time is it?' → He asked what time it was.

Reported commands and requests: decir/pedir que + subjunctive

A command in direct speech (imperative) always becomes que + imperfect subjunctive in reported speech.

Examples

Me dijo: 'Ven aquí.' → Me dijo que fuera allí.He said to me: 'Come here.' → He told me to go there.
Me pidió: 'Ayúdame.' → Me pidió que le ayudara.She asked me: 'Help me.' → She asked me to help her.

💡 Tips

💡
If the introducing verb is in the present ('dice que'), the tense of the verb usually stays the same.
💡
Memorise 'hoy→ese día, mañana→al día siguiente, ayer→el día anterior' as a fixed set.
💡
In reported questions, both the question marks and the subject-verb inversion always disappear.

🎯 Practise this topic with 10 interactive exercises (10)

Related grammar

Relative clauses (oraciones de relativo)
Que, quien, el que, lo que, donde and cuyo — and when to use the indicative or subjunctive in a relative clause.
Impersonal se and the passive se (pasiva refleja)
How to use 'se' for general statements (se vive bien) and for a passive construction without an agent (se venden pisos).
B1 connectors (conectores)
Aunque, sin embargo, por eso, ya que, para que and more: how to logically connect sentences.

← The conditional perfect (condicional compuesto)Relative clauses (oraciones de relativo) →

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