When you report someone's words and your reporting verb is in the past (disse, falou, perguntou), the tenses inside the report shift "one step back" into the past. This is called backshift, and English does exactly the same thing: "I'm tired" → "She said she was tired." The mechanism is identical in concept; only the specific tense pairs differ. This page gives you the full backshift table for Brazilian Portuguese — the single most useful thing to memorize for fluent reported speech. (For the reporting verbs themselves, pronoun shifts, and deictics, see the overview page.)
The core rule: a past reporting verb pushes everything back
The logic is simple and worth stating out loud, because it makes the whole table predictable: a past reporting verb relocates the report to a past vantage point, so each tense moves to whatever form expresses "the past relative to that past moment."
The backshift table
| Direct speech tense | Becomes (reported, past) | Example shift |
|---|---|---|
| Present (vou, faço) | Imperfect (ia, fazia) | "Eu vou." → disse que ia. |
| Pretérito perfeito (fui, fiz) | Pluperfect (tinha ido, tinha feito) | "Eu fui." → disse que tinha ido. |
| Imperfect (ia, fazia) | Imperfect (no change) | "Eu ia." → disse que ia. |
| Future (farei / vou fazer) | Conditional (faria) / ia fazer | "Eu farei." → disse que faria. |
| Imperative (Saia!) | que
| "Saia!" → pediu que eu saísse. |
We'll walk through each row with natural examples.
Present → imperfect
The original present becomes the imperfect, because what was true "now" for the speaker is being reported as true "back then."
Ele disse: "Eu vou ao mercado." → Ele disse que ia ao mercado.
He said: "I am going to the market." → He said he was going to the market.
A médica falou que eu precisava descansar mais.
The doctor said I needed to rest more. (original: 'Você precisa descansar')
Eles falaram que estavam com pressa e não podiam ficar.
They said they were in a hurry and couldn't stay. (original: 'estamos com pressa, não podemos ficar')
Pretérito perfeito → pluperfect (tinha + particípio)
A completed past action in the original (fui, comi, cheguei) backshifts to the pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto: tinha + particípio. This expresses "a past before the past."
Ela disse: "Eu já fui no banco." → Ela disse que já tinha ido no banco.
She said: "I already went to the bank." → She said she had already gone to the bank.
Ele falou que tinha perdido o voo e por isso chegou só de noite.
He said he had missed the flight, which is why he only arrived at night. (original: 'perdi o voo')
Brazilian speech uses the tinha + particípio form here; the synthetic literary pluperfect (fora, fizera) exists but is (literary) and rarely heard in conversation.
Future → conditional (or colloquial ia + infinitive)
The future — whether the synthetic future (farei) or, more commonly in Brazil, the periphrastic vou fazer — backshifts to the conditional (faria). This is the famous "future-in-the-past": from a past standpoint, what would happen.
Ele disse: "Eu farei o relatório amanhã." → Ele disse que faria o relatório no dia seguinte.
He said: "I will do the report tomorrow." → He said he would do the report the next day.
In everyday Brazilian speech, the conditional often gives way to the colloquial ia + infinitive, which feels lighter and more natural in conversation:
Ela falou que ia viajar nas férias, mas no fim desistiu.
She said she was going to travel over the holidays, but in the end she gave up. (original: 'vou viajar')
| Reported future form | Register | Example |
|---|---|---|
| faria | (formal) / writing / careful speech | Disse que faria o relatório. |
| ia fazer | (informal) / everyday speech | Falou que ia fazer o relatório. |
Imperfect and conditional don't move
Tenses that are already "past-ish" have nowhere further back to go, so they stay put. The imperfect stays imperfect; the conditional stays conditional; the pluperfect stays pluperfect.
Ele disse: "Eu ia ligar pra você." → Ele disse que ia ligar pra mim.
He said: "I was going to call you." → He said he was going to call me. (imperfect unchanged; only the pronoun shifts)
Ela falou que gostaria de participar, se desse tempo.
She said she would like to take part, if there was time. (original conditional 'gostaria' stays)
Commands → que + imperfect subjunctive
This is where Portuguese diverges most sharply from English and deserves your full attention. An imperative in the original (a command or request) cannot stay imperative in a report — you can't embed "Leave!" inside "He asked that...". Instead, the command becomes que + imperfect subjunctive, introduced by a verb of requesting or ordering (pedir, mandar, dizer para, ordenar).
Ele disse: "Saia!" → Ele pediu que eu saísse.
He said: "Leave!" → He asked me to leave. (lit. "asked that I left")
A professora mandou que a gente fizesse o exercício em silêncio.
The teacher told us to do the exercise in silence. (original: 'Façam o exercício em silêncio!')
O médico recomendou que ele tomasse o remédio em jejum.
The doctor recommended that he take the medicine on an empty stomach. (original: 'Tome o remédio em jejum')
There's also a very common colloquial alternative in Brazil: dizer/falar para + infinitive, which sidesteps the subjunctive entirely:
Ele falou pra eu sair.
He told me to leave. (colloquial — 'falar para' + personal infinitive 'eu sair')
| Reported command form | Register | Example |
|---|---|---|
| pedir/mandar que + imperfect subjunctive | (formal) / careful | Pediu que eu saísse. |
| falar/dizer pra + infinitive | (informal) / everyday BR | Falou pra eu sair. |
Reporting commands has its own page with more detail; this row completes the backshift picture.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ele disse que vai ao mercado.
Incorrect for a past report — the present 'vai' should backshift after 'disse'.
✅ Ele disse que ia ao mercado.
He said he was going to the market.
The most frequent error: leaving the original present tense in place after a past reporting verb. Disse requires ia, not vai. (Note: Ele disse que vai is acceptable only if the action is still pending/true at the moment of reporting — a deliberate "non-shift" for current relevance, just as in English "He said he's coming.")
❌ Ela disse que foi ao banco.
Ambiguous/incorrect as a backshift — the bare preterite doesn't mark 'a past before the past'.
✅ Ela disse que tinha ido ao banco.
She said she had gone to the bank.
The preterite should backshift to the pluperfect tinha + particípio to show the action preceded the reporting moment.
❌ Ele disse que vai fazer o relatório amanhã.
Incorrect — future not backshifted, and 'amanhã' not shifted.
✅ Ele disse que ia fazer o relatório no dia seguinte.
He said he was going to do the report the next day.
The future becomes ia fazer / faria, and amanhã shifts to no dia seguinte.
❌ Ele pediu que eu saio.
Incorrect — a reported command needs the imperfect subjunctive, not the present indicative.
✅ Ele pediu que eu saísse.
He asked me to leave.
After pedir/mandar que in the past, use the imperfect subjunctive (saísse), never the indicative.
❌ A professora mandou nós fazer o exercício.
Incorrect — 'mandar que' requires the subjunctive, or use a bare infinitive without 'que'.
✅ A professora mandou que a gente fizesse o exercício.
The teacher told us to do the exercise. (subjunctive with 'que'; alternatively 'mandou a gente fazer' with bare infinitive and no 'que')
Key Takeaways
- A past reporting verb triggers backshift; a present reporting verb does not.
- Present → imperfect; pretérito perfeito → pluperfect (tinha + particípio); future → conditional (faria) or colloquial ia + infinitive.
- Imperfect, conditional, and pluperfect are already "back" and don't move.
- Commands become que + imperfect subjunctive (formal) or falar/dizer pra + infinitive (informal BR).
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Reported (Indirect) Speech: OverviewB1 — How to turn someone's exact words into a report in Brazilian Portuguese — the reporting verbs dizer/falar que and perguntar se, plus the pronoun, time, and place shifts that come with changing perspective.
- 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.
- Imperfeito do Subjuntivo: UsageB1 — When to use the imperfect subjunctive in Brazilian Portuguese — hypothetical 'se' clauses, past-tense triggers, 'como se', and softened wishes.