Reported speech does more than put another person's words after dir. The reporter rebuilds the utterance from a new viewpoint: “I,” “here,” and “tomorrow” may now refer to different people, places, and times, and the original assertion may still be current or may belong entirely to the past. Catalan marks these choices through pronouns, clitics, deictic expressions, and—when useful—tense shifts.
Unlike a mechanical English backshift exercise, Catalan indirect speech does not require every present tense to become an imperfect merely because the reporting verb is past. The tense chosen should express the relation that the reporter intends now.
Direct and indirect quotation
Direct speech presents words as a quotation. Careful Catalan typography often uses angular quotation marks (formal), though double quotation marks are also common in digital writing. A colon can introduce the quotation.
La Berta va dir: «Demà treballaré des de casa.»
Berta said, ‘Tomorrow I'll work from home.’
Indirect speech makes the reported proposition a complement, normally introduced by que. Quotation marks disappear, and viewpoint-sensitive expressions are recalculated.
La Berta va dir que l'endemà treballaria des de casa.
Berta said that she would work from home the following day.
The structure is [La Berta va dir [que l'endemà treballaria des de casa]]. The bracketed complement is an argument selected by dir, not an adverbial modifier. Catalan does not insert a comma between dir and this essential que-clause.
Reporting verbs contribute meaning
Dir is neutral, but a precise reporting verb tells the listener what speech act occurred. Explicar presents an account, afirmar an assertion (formal), admetre a reluctant acknowledgment, advertir a warning, preguntar a question, demanar a request, and ordenar a command. English “ask” is especially misleading: Catalan normally distinguishes preguntar “ask a question” from demanar “ask for/request.”
El tècnic va advertir que l'actualització podia esborrar les preferències desades.
The technician warned that the update could erase the saved preferences.
La coordinadora ens va demanar que confirméssim l'assistència abans de divendres.
The coordinator asked us to confirm attendance before Friday.
The indirect-object clitic identifies the addressee: ens va demanar means the request was made to us. Omitting it can erase a central participant. With explicar, the proposition and the addressee coexist naturally: m'ho va explicar “she explained it to me.” See clitic combinations when both are pronominal.
Person, place, and time shifts
Indirect reporting relocates deictic expressions only when the reporting situation has changed. Common adjustments include the following:
| Original viewpoint | Possible reported form | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| jo / nosaltres | ell, ella / ells, elles | The original speaker is no longer the reporter. |
| aquí | allà | The place of reporting has changed. |
| avui | aquell dia | The relevant day is no longer today. |
| demà | l'endemà / el dia següent | The report is made later. |
| ahir | el dia abans / el dia anterior | The past day is recalculated. |
| aquest | aquell | The referent is no longer near the reporting center. |
These are meaning-based shifts, not mandatory substitutions. If I report the words on the same day and in the same office, avui and aquí may remain exact.
Aquest matí, en Nil m'ha escrit que avui arribaria cap a les sis.
Nil wrote to me this morning that he would arrive today at around six. The report is still made on the same day.
Backshifting is a discourse choice
If a proposition remains true or the original time is still relevant, Catalan can retain the original tense. If the reporter adopts a past viewpoint, the present commonly shifts to the imperfect, the future to the conditional, and the perfect past to the pluperfect. Both choices can be grammatical but say different things.
La metgessa va explicar que aquesta medicació redueix la inflamació.
The doctor explained that this medication reduces inflammation. The claim is presented as still valid.
La metgessa va explicar que aquell tractament reduïa la inflamació, però després el van retirar.
The doctor explained that that treatment reduced the inflammation, but it was later withdrawn. The claim is anchored in the past case.
For an original future, arribaré commonly becomes arribaria after a past reporting verb: Va prometre que arribaria puntual. Yet Va dir que arribarà demà is possible if tomorrow is still future at the moment of reporting and the speaker endorses that schedule. This is not carelessness; it keeps the reported event connected to the current speech situation.
Reporting questions
Yes/no questions are introduced by si. Content questions retain their interrogative word (qui, què, quan, com, on, per què), but indirect questions use subordinate-clause organization and no question mark unless the entire sentence is itself a question.
La recepcionista em va preguntar si havia reservat una habitació amb balcó.
The receptionist asked me whether I had booked a room with a balcony.
El meu germà volia saber quan tornaríem les claus del cotxe.
My brother wanted to know when we would return the car keys.
English learners sometimes preserve the direct question's auxiliary logic. Catalan has no do-support to carry over, and a subject need not be placed before or after the verb merely by analogy with English. The embedded wh-expression already marks the clause as interrogative.
Reporting commands and requests
An imperative cannot simply remain an imperative inside a que-clause. After a past reporting verb, commands and requests typically use the imperfect subjunctive. Present reporting uses the present subjunctive. An infinitival construction is also possible with some verbs, especially when the addressee is clear: Ens va demanar de tornar abans de les deu.
El monitor va dir als nens que no s'acostessin a la vora del riu.
The activity leader told the children not to go near the riverbank.
La mare diu a la Bruna que es posi la jaqueta abans de sortir.
The mother tells Bruna to put on her jacket before going out.
The reflexive clitics remain inside the reported command because they belong to acostar-se and posar-se. A passive modeled on English—“the children were told to…”—is possible but needlessly bureaucratic in ordinary Catalan. An active reporting verb names the source and preserves the addressee clearly.
Attribution and information structure
Neutral order places the source before the report. Reordering can make the proposition topical and put the source in final focus.
La portaveu va confirmar que el servei es reprendria dilluns.
The spokesperson confirmed that service would resume on Monday.
Que el servei es reprendria dilluns, ho va confirmar la portaveu.
That service would resume on Monday was confirmed by the spokesperson; literally, ‘As for its resuming Monday, the spokesperson confirmed it.’
The fronted clause is not the subject of va confirmar: resumptive ho marks it as the direct-object topic, while postverbal la portaveu carries new focus. In formal news prose, Segons la portaveu, el servei es reprendrà dilluns is often more transparent than an English-like agentless passive.
Resolving ambiguity
Pronouns and clitics may have more than one plausible antecedent. En Pau va dir a l'Oriol que li havien ofert la plaça leaves open whether li refers to Pau or Oriol. Word order cannot settle this reliably.
En Pau va explicar a l'Oriol: «M'han ofert la plaça a mi.»
Pau explained to Oriol, ‘They've offered the position to me.’
En Pau va dir que havien ofert la plaça a l'Oriol.
Pau said that they had offered the position to Oriol.
Repeat the intended referent or preserve a brief direct quotation. Good reported speech manages reference; it does not force the reader to guess.
In conversation
—Què t'ha dit l'electricista? —M'ha explicat que demà tornarà amb una peça nova i m'ha demanat que no encengui el forn mentrestant.
‘What did the electrician tell you?’ ‘He explained that he'll come back tomorrow with a new part and asked me not to turn on the oven in the meantime.’
Here demà tornarà stays future because tomorrow is still future for the current speakers; que no encengui reports a request and therefore uses the subjunctive.
Common Mistakes
❌ La directora va preguntar que havíem acabat.
Incorrect — an indirect yes/no question requires si, not declarative que.
✅ La directora va preguntar si havíem acabat.
The director asked whether we had finished.
❌ Em va dir que tanca la porta.
Incorrect for a reported past command — the command requires an imperfect subjunctive.
✅ Em va dir que tanqués la porta amb clau.
She told me to lock the door.
❌ L'Èric va dir que vindré l'endemà.
Incorrect viewpoint if the original speaker was Èric — first-person vindré wrongly makes the reporter the one who will come.
✅ L'Èric va dir que vindria l'endemà.
Èric said that he would come the following day.
❌ La clienta va demanar que a quina hora tancàvem.
Incorrect — an embedded content question uses its wh-expression without an extra que.
✅ La clienta va preguntar a quina hora tancàvem.
The customer asked what time we closed.
Key Takeaways
- Indirect reporting rebuilds person, place, and time from the reporter's viewpoint; shifts are meaning-based rather than automatic substitutions.
- Catalan can retain a tense when a statement remains valid, or backshift it when the report adopts a past viewpoint.
- Use si for reported yes/no questions and the original interrogative expression for reported content questions.
- Reported commands normally use que plus the subjunctive, and clitics still identify the addressee and the other arguments.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Complement ClausesB1 — Embed statements and events with finite que clauses or infinitives, choosing mood, control, and clause order by meaning.
- Si and Interrogatives in Embedded QuestionsB2 — How Catalan embeds yes-no and wh-questions with si or an interrogative word, using Catalan word order, tense, and punctuation.
- Embedded QuestionsA2 — How Catalan places questions inside statements and larger questions with si or an interrogative phrase, declarative punctuation, and non-inverted word order.
- Tense Transposition in NarrativeC1 — How Catalan shifts tense to adopt a narrator's viewpoint, soften commitment, and express conjecture rather than merely locating events in time.
- Free Indirect Style and Reported ThoughtC2 — How Catalan narration blends a narrator's grammar with a character's thoughts through person, tense, deixis, and expressive syntax.
- Source, Evidence, and ResponsibilityC1 — Attribute information in Catalan with segons, pel que sembla, es veu que, reporting verbs, and the journalistic conditional while preserving responsibility.