When you say what someone else said, Italian gives you two routes: discorso diretto (direct speech), where you quote the exact words inside quotation marks, and discorso indiretto (reported speech), where you embed the message inside your own sentence. The shift from direct to indirect is not a single change — four things move at once: pronouns, tenses, time and place markers, and the connector word that links the reporting verb to its content. Italian coordinates all four with strict consistency. This page maps the whole system; the dedicated subpages on tense shifts, questions, and commands fill in the mechanical detail.
The general schema looks like this:
[Reporting verb] + [connector: che / se / di] + [embedded content with shifts applied]
If you understand the four shifts and the three connectors, you can convert any direct utterance to indirect speech. Let's take them one at a time.
Shift 1 — Pronouns and possessives
When the speaker changes (the original "I" becomes someone you're talking about), every first- and second-person pronoun in the original utterance has to be re-anchored to the new perspective. This is exactly what English does ("I'm tired" → he said he was tired), but Italian's richer pronoun system means you have more pieces to track: subject pronouns, direct objects, indirect objects, reflexives, and possessives all shift.
«Io sono stanco», ha detto Marco.
'I'm tired,' Marco said.
Marco ha detto che (lui) era stanco.
Marco said he was tired.
Italian usually drops the subject pronoun if the verb form alone makes the subject clear — "Marco ha detto che era stanco" is the most natural form. Insert "lui" only when you need to disambiguate.
«Mi piace il caffè», disse Anna.
'I like coffee,' Anna said.
Anna disse che le piaceva il caffè.
Anna said she liked coffee.
The first-person dative mi has been re-anchored to the third-person dative le (because Anna is feminine).
«Il mio libro è qui», disse Luca.
'My book is here,' Luca said.
Luca disse che il suo libro era lì.
Luca said his book was there.
Possessive mio → suo, and the deictic adverb qui → lì (more on adverbs below).
A summary of the most common shifts when "I" becomes "he/she":
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| io | lui / lei (often omitted) |
| me | lui / lei (after preposition) |
| mi (object/reflexive) | gli / le / si |
| il mio / la mia | il suo / la sua |
| tu (when "you" was the listener now being talked about) | lui / lei |
| noi (we, including listener) | loro (or context-dependent) |
«Tu sei in ritardo», disse il professore allo studente.
'You are late,' the professor said to the student.
Il professore disse allo studente che era in ritardo.
The professor told the student that he was late.
Shift 2 — Tenses shift back
When the reporting verb is in a past tense (ha detto, disse, diceva, aveva detto), the embedded clause's tenses move backward to maintain temporal consistency. This is the heart of Italian reported speech and has its own dedicated page; here is the master table:
| Direct | Indirect (after past reporting verb) |
|---|---|
| presente | imperfetto |
| passato prossimo | trapassato prossimo |
| imperfetto | imperfetto (no change) |
| futuro semplice | condizionale passato |
| futuro anteriore | condizionale passato |
| imperativo | di + infinitivo |
| condizionale presente | condizionale passato |
| congiuntivo presente | congiuntivo imperfetto |
| congiuntivo passato | congiuntivo trapassato |
«Sono stanco», disse Marco. → Marco disse che era stanco.
'I'm tired,' Marco said. → Marco said he was tired. (presente → imperfetto)
«Ho visto Luca», disse Anna. → Anna disse che aveva visto Luca.
'I've seen Luca,' Anna said. → Anna said she had seen Luca. (passato prossimo → trapassato prossimo)
«Verrò domani», disse Maria. → Maria disse che sarebbe venuta il giorno dopo.
'I'll come tomorrow,' Maria said. → Maria said she would come the next day. (futuro → condizionale passato)
The futuro → condizionale passato mapping is the single most distinctive feature of Italian reported speech and the one most likely to trip up English speakers. We'll come back to it.
Key exception: when the reporting verb is in the present tense (dice, dico, dicono), no tense shift is required:
Marco dice che è stanco.
Marco says he's tired. (no shift — reporting verb is present)
Anna dice che ha visto Luca ieri.
Anna says she saw Luca yesterday. (no shift — passato prossimo stays)
Shift 3 — Time and place markers
Deictic words (those that anchor to the moment and place of speaking) get re-anchored to the moment and place of the original utterance. The everyday list:
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| oggi | quel giorno |
| ieri | il giorno prima / il giorno precedente |
| domani | il giorno dopo / il giorno seguente |
| adesso / ora | allora / in quel momento |
| qui / qua | lì / là |
| questo / questa | quello / quella |
| stamattina | quella mattina |
| stasera | quella sera |
| la settimana scorsa | la settimana precedente |
| la settimana prossima | la settimana successiva / dopo |
| fa (ago) | prima |
«Sono arrivato ieri», disse Marco. → Marco disse che era arrivato il giorno prima.
'I arrived yesterday,' Marco said. → Marco said he had arrived the day before.
«Vado a Roma domani», disse Anna. → Anna disse che sarebbe andata a Roma il giorno dopo.
'I'm going to Rome tomorrow,' Anna said. → Anna said she would go to Rome the next day.
«Vieni qui!», mi gridò. → Mi gridò di andare lì.
'Come here!' he shouted at me. → He shouted at me to go there.
«Adesso sto lavorando», disse Luca. → Luca disse che in quel momento stava lavorando.
'I'm working right now,' Luca said. → Luca said he was working at that moment.
Shift 4 — The connector: che, se, or di
Different reporting verbs license different connectors, and the choice depends on what kind of utterance you're embedding.
CHE — for declarative statements
The default. Used after dire, affermare, dichiarare, rispondere, spiegare, ammettere, raccontare, confessare, giurare, promettere (when introducing a statement), pensare, credere, sapere.
Marco ha detto che sarebbe arrivato in ritardo.
Marco said he would arrive late.
Anna mi ha spiegato che il treno era stato cancellato.
Anna explained to me that the train had been cancelled.
Ha ammesso che non sapeva la risposta.
He admitted he didn't know the answer.
Mi ha raccontato che era stata in Giappone.
She told me she had been to Japan.
SE — for yes/no questions
When you embed a question that could be answered with yes or no, you use se (if/whether):
Mi ha chiesto se ero stanco.
He asked me if I was tired.
Volevo sapere se avevi finito i compiti.
I wanted to know whether you had finished your homework.
For wh-questions (chi, cosa, dove, quando, come, perché), use the wh-word itself as the connector — covered in detail on the questions page.
DI + infinitive — for commands and certain reports
When the original utterance was an imperative (a command, request, or piece of advice), it transforms into di + infinitive:
«Vieni qui!» → Mi ha detto di andare lì.
'Come here!' → He told me to go there.
«Studia!» → Le ha ordinato di studiare.
'Study!' → He ordered her to study.
The same construction is used after verbs whose meaning inherently directs an action: ordinare, chiedere (in the sense of ask someone to do), pregare, consigliare, proibire, permettere, suggerire.
Mi ha consigliato di non comprare quella macchina.
He advised me not to buy that car.
Le ha proibito di uscire la sera.
He forbade her to go out in the evening.
A small set of verbs takes a rather than di: invitare a, incoraggiare a, costringere a, obbligare a, autorizzare a.
L'ho invitata a cena.
I invited her to dinner.
Il professore ci ha incoraggiati a leggere di più.
The professor encouraged us to read more.
Verbs of saying — a working vocabulary
| Verb | Connector | Use |
|---|---|---|
| dire | che / di + inf | most general — say, tell |
| raccontare | che | tell (a story, an event) |
| affermare | che | claim, state |
| dichiarare | che | declare (more formal) |
| spiegare | che | explain |
| rispondere | che | answer |
| ammettere | che | admit |
| confessare | che | confess |
| chiedere | se / wh- / di + inf | ask |
| domandare | se / wh- | ask (slightly more formal) |
| ordinare | di + inf | order |
| pregare | di + inf | beg, ask politely |
| consigliare | di + inf | advise |
| suggerire | di + inf | suggest |
| proibire / vietare | di + inf | forbid |
| permettere | di + inf | allow |
Putting it together — a complete example
Direct speech, original moment Tuesday afternoon, Marco speaking to Anna in his apartment:
«Anna, oggi sono molto stanco. Ho lavorato dieci ore e adesso voglio solo dormire. Domani però ti porterò al ristorante. Non preoccuparti per la cena di stasera, ho già mangiato.»
Recounted by Anna on Wednesday afternoon to a friend, in a different place:
Marco mi ha detto che quel giorno era molto stanco. Aveva lavorato dieci ore e in quel momento voleva solo dormire. Il giorno dopo però mi avrebbe portato al ristorante. Mi ha detto di non preoccuparmi per la cena di quella sera, perché aveva già mangiato.
Marco told me that he was very tired that day. He had worked ten hours and at that moment he just wanted to sleep. The next day, though, he would take me to a restaurant. He told me not to worry about dinner that evening, because he had already eaten.
Notice every shift in action: pronouns (io→lui, ti→mi, tu→io as appropriate), tenses (sono→era, ho lavorato→aveva lavorato, voglio→voleva, porterò→avrebbe portato), time adverbs (oggi→quel giorno, adesso→in quel momento, domani→il giorno dopo, stasera→quella sera), and an imperative (non preoccuparti→di non preoccuparmi).
Common mistakes
❌ Marco ha detto che sono stanco.
Wrong — pronoun didn't shift; sounds like Marco is talking about the speaker, not himself.
✅ Marco ha detto che era stanco.
Marco said he was tired.
❌ Maria disse che verrà domani.
Wrong — 'verrà' (futuro) doesn't shift back; needs 'sarebbe venuta'. Also 'domani' should be 'il giorno dopo'.
✅ Maria disse che sarebbe venuta il giorno dopo.
Maria said she would come the next day.
❌ Mi ha chiesto sono stanco.
Wrong — needs 'se' to introduce the embedded yes/no question.
✅ Mi ha chiesto se ero stanco.
He asked me if I was tired.
❌ Mi ha detto che vieni qui.
Wrong — an imperative ('vieni!') was rendered as if it were a statement; should be 'di venire'.
✅ Mi ha detto di venire lì.
He told me to come there.
❌ Marco ha detto che oggi era stanco.
Mismatched — if 'today' still applies for the speaker recounting, no time shift is needed; if it doesn't, use 'quel giorno'.
✅ Marco ha detto che quel giorno era stanco.
Marco said he was tired that day.
Key takeaways
- Indirect speech triggers four simultaneous shifts: pronouns, tenses, time/place adverbs, connector.
- Past reporting verb → tenses shift back; present reporting verb → no shift.
- Three connectors: che (statements), se (yes/no questions; wh-words for wh-questions), di + infinitive (commands, requests).
- The futuro → condizionale passato shift is the most distinctive feature of Italian discorso indiretto; mark it well now and it will serve you for years.
- The system is consistent: once you know which shifts apply, you can transform any utterance.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Reported Speech: Tense ShiftsB1 — The full mechanics of how Italian tenses shift backward when the reporting verb is in the past — including the distinctive futuro-to-condizionale-passato shift.
- Reporting QuestionsB1 — How to convert direct questions into indirect form — yes/no questions with se, wh-questions with the wh-word as connector, and the indicative-vs-subjunctive choice in the embedded clause.
- Reporting CommandsB1 — How Italian transforms imperatives into indirect speech using the 'di + infinitive' construction — including clitic placement, negative commands, and the verbs that govern this pattern.
- Condizionale for Future-in-the-Past (Reported Speech)B1 — Why Italian uses the condizionale passato — not the presente — to report a future event from a past viewpoint, and why 'Ha detto che sarebbe venuto' confuses every English speaker on first contact.
- Imperativo: Complete ReferenceA2 — The full imperative paradigm for the most-used Italian verbs across all five persons, with the doubling rule, the negation rules, and the politeness ladder collected in one place.
- Sequence of Tenses (Concordanza dei Tempi)B2 — Once the main verb commits to a tense, the congiuntivo in the subordinate clause has only four cells to choose from — laid out by time relation and main-clause tense.