Indirect Speech in French

Overview

Indirect speech, or discours indirect, is how you report what someone said without quoting them directly. Instead of Il a dit: "Je viens" (He said: "I'm coming"), you say Il a dit qu'il venait (He said he was coming). This is a B1 topic that requires you to manage tense shifts, pronoun changes, and different reporting structures.

Mastering indirect speech is crucial for storytelling, summarizing conversations, writing emails, and understanding news reports. It appears constantly in both spoken and written French, making it one of the most practical B1 grammar points.

The main challenge is the tense shift that occurs when the reporting verb is in a past tense. This shift follows a logical pattern: each tense moves "one step back" into the past.

How It Works

Reporting statements

Direct: Il dit: "Je suis fatigue." Indirect: Il dit **qu'**il est fatigue. (reporting verb in present -- no tense change) Indirect: Il a dit **qu'**il etait fatigue. (reporting verb in past -- tense shift)

Reporting yes/no questions

Direct: Elle demande: "Tu viens?" Indirect: Elle demande si tu viens. (si replaces the question)

Reporting information questions

Direct: Il demande: "Ou vas-tu?" Indirect: Il demande ou tu vas. (question word remains, word order normalizes)

Reporting commands

Direct: Il dit: "Pars!" Indirect: Il dit de partir. (de + infinitive)

Tense shifts (when reporting verb is in the past)

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Present: je suis	Imparfait: il etait
Passe compose: j'ai mange	Plus-que-parfait: il avait mange
Futur simple: je viendrai	Conditionnel: il viendrait
Futur proche: je vais partir	Imparfait of aller + infinitive: il allait partir
Imperatif: pars!	De + infinitive: de partir
Imparfait: je mangeais	Imparfait (no change): il mangeait
Conditionnel: je viendrais	Conditionnel (no change): il viendrait

Other changes

Direct	Indirect
je/tu	il/elle (or as appropriate)
mon/ton	son
ici	la / la-bas
aujourd'hui	ce jour-la
hier	la veille
demain	le lendemain
maintenant	a ce moment-la

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
Il dit qu'il vient.	He says he's coming.	Present reporting: no shift
Elle a demande si j'etais libre.	She asked if I was free.	Yes/no question + tense shift
Il m'a dit de partir.	He told me to leave.	Command: de + infinitive
Elle a demande ce que je faisais.	She asked what I was doing.	Que becomes ce que
Il a dit qu'il viendrait demain.	He said he would come tomorrow.	Future becomes conditional
Elle m'a demande ou j'habitais.	She asked me where I lived.	Question word stays
Il a explique qu'il avait fini.	He explained that he had finished.	PC becomes pluperfect
Elle a dit qu'elle allait partir.	She said she was going to leave.	Futur proche shift
Il nous a demande si nous voulions venir.	He asked us if we wanted to come.	Si for yes/no
Elle a dit que c'etait interessant.	She said it was interesting.	Present becomes imparfait
Il m'a demande ce qui s'etait passe.	He asked me what had happened.	Qui remains as ce qui

Common Mistakes

Forgetting the tense shift with past reporting verbs

• Wrong: Il a dit qu'il vient.
• Right: Il a dit qu'il venait.
• Why: When the reporting verb is in a past tense, the verb in the reported clause must shift back one step. Present becomes imparfait.

Using est-ce que or inversion in indirect questions

• Wrong: Il a demande ou est-ce que j'habite.
• Right: Il a demande ou j'habitais.
• Why: In indirect speech, questions lose their question structure. No inversion, no est-ce que -- just normal subject-verb order.

Confusing si (if/whether) with que (that)

• Wrong: Il a dit si il venait. (for a statement)
• Right: Il a dit qu'il venait. (statement) / Il a demande s'il venait. (yes/no question)
• Why: Use que to report statements (dire que). Use si to report yes/no questions (demander si). Also note: si + il = s'il.

Forgetting to change time/place markers

• Wrong: Il a dit qu'il viendrait demain. (if reporting days later)
• Right: Il a dit qu'il viendrait le lendemain.
• Why: Time and place markers shift in indirect speech: aujourd'hui becomes ce jour-la, demain becomes le lendemain, etc.

Usage Notes

In casual spoken French, tense shifts are not always strictly applied, especially when the reported information is still relevant:

• Strict: Il a dit qu'il etait malade. (He said he was sick.)
• Casual: Il a dit qu'il est malade. (He said he's sick -- implying he's still sick now.)

This relaxed usage is common in conversation but should be avoided in formal writing.

For reporting questions with que (what), French distinguishes:

• Qu'est-ce que (what, as object) becomes ce que: Il demande ce que tu fais.
• Qu'est-ce qui (what, as subject) becomes ce qui: Il demande ce qui se passe.

The verb demander is used for both "to ask" (a question) and "to request." Context determines which: Il a demande si... (asked whether) vs Il a demande de... (asked/requested to).

Practice Tips

1. Take a short dialogue (from a textbook or a TV show) and rewrite it entirely in indirect speech. This forces you to apply all the rules together: tense shifts, pronoun changes, and structural changes.
2. Practice the three reporting patterns separately: statements (que), yes/no questions (si), and commands (de + infinitive). Master each one before combining them.
3. Keep a "conversion table" of tense shifts nearby when writing. With practice, the shifts will become automatic, but having a reference helps during the learning phase.

Related Concepts

• Imperfect Tense -- the tense that present shifts to in indirect speech