Indirect Speech in Spanish

Overview

Indirect speech (also called reported speech or discurso indirecto) is how you relay what someone else said without quoting them directly. Instead of saying María dijo: "Estoy cansada" (María said: "I'm tired"), you report it as María dijo que estaba cansada (María said that she was tired).

At the B1 level, learning indirect speech pulls together several grammar concepts you have already studied -- past tenses, the conditional, and the subjunctive -- and applies them in a single, practical framework. You use indirect speech constantly in everyday life: retelling conversations, passing along messages, summarizing news, and sharing gossip.

The main challenge is understanding how tenses shift when the reporting verb (like dijo) is in the past. Spanish follows a systematic "backshift" pattern very similar to English, which makes it relatively intuitive for English speakers.

How It Works

Basic Structure

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech	Connector
Statement: "Vengo."	Dice que viene.	que
Yes/No question: "¿Vienes?"	Pregunta si viene.	si
Information question: "¿Dónde vives?"	Pregunta dónde vive.	question word
Command: "¡Ven!"	Dice que venga.	que + subjunctive

Tense Backshift (When Reporting Verb Is Past)

When the reporting verb is in a past tense (dijo, preguntó, respondió), the verb in the reported clause shifts back one step:

Direct Speech Tense	Indirect Speech Tense	Example
Present (vengo)	Imperfect (venía)	Dijo que venía.
Present perfect (he comido)	Pluperfect (había comido)	Dijo que había comido.
Preterite (comí)	Pluperfect (había comido)	Dijo que había comido.
Future (vendré)	Conditional (vendría)	Dijo que vendría.
Imperative (¡ven!)	Imperfect subjunctive (viniera)	Dijo que viniera.
Imperfect (comía)	Imperfect (comía) -- no change	Dijo que comía.
Conditional (vendría)	Conditional (vendría) -- no change	Dijo que vendría.

No Tense Shift (When Reporting Verb Is Present)

When the reporting verb is in the present tense, no backshift occurs:

Direct	Indirect	Translation
"Vengo mañana."	Dice que viene mañana.	He says he's coming tomorrow.
"¿Estás libre?"	Pregunta si estás libre.	He asks if you're free.

Changes in Pronouns and Time/Place Words

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
yo	él/ella
tú	yo (or appropriate person)
mi/mío	su/suyo
tu/tuyo	mi/mío
aquí	allí
hoy	ese día / aquel día
mañana	al día siguiente
ayer	el día anterior
ahora	entonces / en ese momento
este	ese / aquel

Reporting Questions

Type	Direct	Indirect	Translation
Yes/No	"¿Vienes?"	Preguntó si venía.	He asked if I was coming.
Information	"¿Dónde vives?"	Preguntó dónde vivía.	He asked where I lived.
Information	"¿Cuándo llegas?"	Preguntó cuándo llegaba.	He asked when I was arriving.

Note: Question marks and inverted word order disappear in indirect questions.

Reporting Commands

Commands become que + subjunctive:

Direct	Indirect	Translation
"¡Ven!"	Me dijo que viniera.	He told me to come.
"¡No salgas!"	Me dijo que no saliera.	He told me not to go out.
"Estudia más."	Me dijo que estudiara más.	He told me to study more.

Examples in Context

Spanish	English	Note
Dice que viene.	He says he's coming.	Present reporting, no shift
Dijo que vendría.	He said he would come.	Future → conditional
Preguntó si estaba libre.	She asked if I was free.	Yes/no question with si
Me dijo que me fuera.	He told me to leave.	Command → subjunctive
Dijo que había estado allí.	He said he had been there.	Perfect → pluperfect
Preguntó dónde vivía.	He asked where I lived.	Information question
Me dijo que no me preocupara.	He told me not to worry.	Negative command reported
Respondió que no sabía.	She answered that she didn't know.	Imperfect (no shift)
Explicó que había terminado el trabajo.	He explained that he had finished the work.	Preterite → pluperfect
Prometió que vendría al día siguiente.	She promised she would come the next day.	Future → conditional, mañana → al día siguiente

Common Mistakes

Forgetting the tense backshift

• Wrong: Dijo que viene mañana.
• Right: Dijo que venía al día siguiente. (or Dijo que vendría al día siguiente.)
• Why: When the reporting verb is past (dijo), the reported verb must shift back. Present becomes imperfect; future becomes conditional. Time expressions also change.

Using the indicative for reported commands

• Wrong: Me dijo que vengo.
• Right: Me dijo que viniera.
• Why: Reported commands require the subjunctive (usually imperfect subjunctive when the reporting verb is past). The indicative would turn it into a statement, not a command.

Using que for yes/no questions

• Wrong: Preguntó que venía.
• Right: Preguntó si venía.
• Why: Yes/no questions in indirect speech use si (if/whether), not que. Use que only for statements and commands.

Not adjusting pronouns and references

• Wrong: Juan dijo: "Yo vengo." → Juan dijo que yo venía.
• Right: Juan dijo que él venía.
• Why: Pronouns must shift to reflect the change in perspective. Juan's "yo" becomes "él" when someone else reports it.

Usage Notes

Spanish indirect speech follows rules very similar to English, which is helpful for English speakers. However, Spanish is sometimes more flexible about tense backshift in informal speech. If the reported information is still considered true or relevant, some speakers may skip the backshift: Dijo que viene mañana (He said he's coming tomorrow) -- treating the information as still current.

Common reporting verbs include: decir (to say/tell), preguntar (to ask), responder/contestar (to answer/reply), explicar (to explain), comentar (to comment), prometer (to promise), asegurar (to assure), afirmar (to state), negar (to deny), sugerir (to suggest).

When decir means "to tell someone to do something," it takes the subjunctive: Me dijo que viniera. When it means "to tell/say that," it takes the indicative: Me dijo que venía.

This distinction is consistent across all Spanish-speaking regions, though the degree of strictness with tense backshift varies somewhat in informal speech.

Practice Tips

• Practice by retelling conversations you had today: "Mi amigo me dijo que..., yo le respondí que..., él me preguntó si..."
• Focus on the three most common patterns first: statements (que + indicative), yes/no questions (si + indicative), and commands (que + subjunctive).
• Create pairs of direct and indirect speech to drill the tense backshift: write a sentence in quotes, then transform it step by step.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Imperfect Tense