B1 · Reported speech · Part 1 of 2
Estilo indirecto: presente
Reported speech is the difference between quoting someone and telling somebody else what they said. When the reporting verb is in the present — dice que, cuenta que, pregunta si — nothing about the tense moves. Only the people and the here-and-now words shift, which makes this the right place to start before the past version, where everything moves at once.
What changes
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| "Tengo hambre" | Dice que tiene hambre |
| "Mi hermano viene" | Dice que su hermano viene |
| "Te llamo mañana" | Dice que me llama mañana |
| "Vivo aquí" | Dice que vive ahí |
Questions
A yes-or-no question becomes si. A question word stays as it is, and the inversion disappears.
- —¿Vienes? → Pregunta si vengo.Are you coming? → He asks if I am coming.
- —¿Dónde vives? → Pregunta dónde vivo.Where do you live? → He asks where I live.
Orders
An imperative becomes que + subjunctive. This is where reported speech and the subjunctive meet.
- —Llámame. → Dice que lo llame.Call me. → He says to call him.
- —No llegues tarde. → Dice que no llegue tarde.Do not be late. → He says not to be late.
What actually changes
Three things: the person, because the speaker is no longer you; the pointing words, because you may be somewhere else; and the punctuation, because a reported question is no longer a question.
| Changes | Does not change |
|---|---|
| yo → él / ella | the tense |
| mi → su | the mood |
| aquí → ahí / allí | the meaning |
| este → ese | word order inside the clause |
Que is not optional
English can drop that: he says he is tired. Spanish cannot drop que. Dice está cansado is not a sentence.
- Dice que está cansado.He says he is tired.
Choosing the reporting verb
Decir is the default, but a more precise verb carries more information and is what fluent speakers reach for.
- contar — to tell, a story or news
- explicar — to explain
- comentar — to mention
- responder — to answer
- admitir — to admit
- insistir en — to insist
Mistakes to avoid
Dice está cansado.
Dice que está cansado.
Que cannot be dropped in Spanish.
Me dice que llámame.
Me dice que lo llame.
An order becomes que plus the subjunctive.
Pregunta que vengo.
Pregunta si vengo.
Yes-or-no questions become si, not que.
Try it
"Tengo hambre" → Dice que ___ hambre.
"¿Vienes?" → Pregunta ___ voy.
"Llámame" → Dice que lo ___.
"¿Dónde vives?" → Pregunta ___ vivo.