When you repeat what someone said, you have two choices. You can quote them exactly — direct speech — or you can fold their words into your own sentence — reported (indirect) speech. Compare Ele disse: "Vou viajar" ("He said: 'I'm going to travel'") with Ele disse que ia viajar ("He said he was going to travel"). The second version absorbs the quote into the flow of the sentence, and in doing so, several things shift: the introducing verb, the pronouns, the words for time and place, and — most famously — the verb tenses. This page covers everything except the tense shifts, which are detailed enough to get their own page.
The basic mechanism: a que clause
Reported statements in Portuguese are built with a reporting verb + que + clause. The quotation marks disappear, the colon disappears, and que ("that") links the report to the speaker.
Ela disse que está cansada.
She said (that) she's tired.
O médico falou que eu preciso descansar mais.
The doctor said that I need to rest more.
Two things English speakers should note immediately. First, Portuguese keeps que — it's not optional the way English "that" is. You can drop "that" in "She said she's tired," but you cannot drop que in Ela disse que.... Second, the report is one continuous sentence with no quotation marks.
The reporting verbs: dizer que vs. falar que
The default verb for reporting statements is dizer ("to say/tell"). But in Brazil, everyday speech overwhelmingly prefers falar ("to speak/say") in this role. Falar que is the colloquial workhorse; dizer que sounds more careful, written, or formal.
| Verb | Register | Example |
|---|---|---|
| dizer que | (formal) / writing / neutral | Ele disse que ia chegar atrasado. |
| falar que | (informal) / everyday BR speech | Ele falou que ia chegar atrasado. |
A Marina falou que não vem mais hoje.
Marina said she's not coming anymore today. (everyday speech)
O presidente disse que o país vai investir em educação.
The president said the country will invest in education. (news register)
In a newspaper, a court transcript, or formal writing, you'll see dizer, afirmar ("to state"), declarar ("to declare"), and comentar ("to remark"). In a WhatsApp message to a friend, you'll see falar. Both are fully correct in their registers — but a learner who only knows dizer will sound oddly stiff in casual conversation, and one who only knows falar will sound too casual in writing.
Reporting questions
When the original utterance was a question, you don't use que. Questions split into two types:
Yes/no questions are reported with perguntar se ("to ask if/whether"):
Ele perguntou se eu queria carona.
He asked if I wanted a ride.
Ela me perguntou se a reunião ainda estava de pé.
She asked me whether the meeting was still on.
Wh-questions (with que, quem, onde, quando, como, por que, quanto) keep the question word, with no se and no que:
Ela perguntou onde eu morava.
She asked where I lived.
O entrevistador perguntou por que eu queria a vaga.
The interviewer asked why I wanted the position.
Note that the reported question is not a question anymore — there's no question mark, and the word order is statement order (onde eu morava, not onde morava eu). This is the same as English: "She asked where I lived," not "She asked where did I live." Reporting questions has its own dedicated page; this is the preview.
The shifts: pronouns, time, and place
Because reporting means re-telling from your vantage point, the original speaker's "I," "here," and "today" have to be recalculated relative to you and the moment of reporting. This is pure logic, not memorization — but it trips people up because it happens automatically in your native language and you have to do it consciously in Portuguese.
Pronoun shifts
João disse: "Eu te amo." → João disse que me amava.
João said: "I love you." → João said he loved me. (the "eu" becomes "ele", the "te" becomes "me")
The original eu ("I," = João) becomes ele in your report; the original te/você (whoever he addressed) becomes whatever pronoun fits from your perspective.
A Ana falou que ela mesma ia cuidar disso.
Ana said she herself would take care of it. (Ana's 'eu' → 'ela')
Time and place shifts
When the reporting verb is in the past, words anchored to "the moment of speaking" shift to "that moment in the past":
| Direct (speaker's now) | Reported (past report) | English |
|---|---|---|
| aqui | lá / ali | here → there |
| hoje | naquele dia | today → that day |
| amanhã | no dia seguinte | tomorrow → the next day |
| ontem | no dia anterior | yesterday → the day before |
| agora | naquele momento | now → at that moment |
| este/esse | aquele | this → that |
Ele disse: "Vou viajar amanhã." → Ele disse que ia viajar no dia seguinte.
He said: "I will travel tomorrow." → He said he was going to travel the next day.
Ela falou que tinha chegado naquele dia, mas a gente só descobriu depois.
She said she had arrived that day, but we only found out later.
Tense shifts (preview)
The verb tenses also move when the reporting verb is past — present becomes imperfect, preterite becomes pluperfect, future becomes conditional. That's the heart of reported speech, and it's covered in full on its own page.
Ele disse: "Eu vou." → Ele disse que ia.
He said: "I am going." → He said he was going. (present "vou" → imperfect "ia")
When the reporting verb is in the present (Ele diz que...), nothing shifts — you simply relay the same tense: Ele diz que vai viajar ("He says he's going to travel").
Common Mistakes
❌ Ele falou ele ia chegar atrasado.
Incorrect — 'que' is missing; Portuguese never drops it.
✅ Ele falou que ia chegar atrasado.
He said he was going to arrive late.
The English habit of dropping "that" produces que-less reports that sound broken in Portuguese.
❌ Ela perguntou que eu queria carona.
Incorrect — a yes/no question is reported with 'se', not 'que'.
✅ Ela perguntou se eu queria carona.
She asked if I wanted a ride.
Reporting verbs of asking take se (yes/no) or a wh-word — never que.
❌ Ele perguntou onde morava eu.
Incorrect — reported questions use statement word order.
✅ Ele perguntou onde eu morava.
He asked where I lived.
Don't keep the inverted question word order in the report.
❌ A Marina disse que vou chegar tarde.
Incorrect — the pronoun didn't shift; 'vou' (I) clashes with reporting about Marina.
✅ A Marina disse que ia chegar tarde.
Marina said she was going to arrive late. (her 'eu vou' → 'ela ia')
Failing to shift the person turns "Marina said she'd be late" into the nonsensical "Marina said I'll be late."
❌ Ele disse: que ia viajar amanhã.
Incorrect — you can't mix the colon/quote punctuation of direct speech with the 'que' of indirect speech.
✅ Ele disse que ia viajar no dia seguinte.
He said he would travel the next day. (use indirect speech consistently)
Key Takeaways
- Reported statements use reporting verb + que + clause, and que is never dropped.
- BR speech uses falar que (informal) where formal BR and writing use dizer que.
- Questions use perguntar se (yes/no) or perguntar + wh-word, with statement word order and no que.
- Pronouns and deictics (aqui, hoje, amanhã, este) shift to match your perspective; the verb-tense shifts have their own page.
Now practice Portuguese
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Tense Shifts in Reported SpeechB1 — The backshift system for Brazilian Portuguese — when the reporting verb is past, present becomes imperfect, preterite becomes pluperfect, future becomes conditional, and commands become 'que' + imperfect subjunctive.
- Reporting Questions in BRB1 — How to turn a direct question into reported (indirect) speech in Brazilian Portuguese — using 'perguntar se' for yes/no questions and a question word for wh-questions, with statement word order and tense backshift.
- Reporting Commands and RequestsB1 — How to report an imperative in Brazilian Portuguese — turning a direct command into 'pedir/mandar/dizer que' + subjunctive (tense matching the reporting verb), or the colloquial 'pra + infinitive' that BR speech prefers.
- Conditional as Future-in-the-Past (Reported Speech)B1 — How the conditional reports a future statement made in the past, mapping cleanly to English 'would' in indirect speech.