When you turn someone else's words into your own narration, three things change. The tense of the verbs often shifts back. The pronouns swap to fit the new speaker's perspective. The time and place adverbials ("now", "today", "here") need to be reinterpreted from the reporter's vantage point. Spanish handles all three with a single tidy construction: a reporting verb (decir, contar, preguntar…) plus an introducer (que, si, or a wh-word) plus the reshaped clause. The default introducer for a statement is que, the default introducer for a yes/no question is si, and wh-questions keep their wh-word.
This page is the gateway for the reported-speech cluster. It surveys all the moving parts and points you to the deeper pages — tense shifts, dice vs dijo, reporting questions, reporting commands — for the mechanics of each piece.
Direct vs indirect: side by side
Direct speech (estilo directo) quotes the speaker verbatim, using punctuation to mark the boundary. Indirect speech (estilo indirecto) absorbs the words into the narrator's sentence, dropping the quotation marks and adjusting the grammar.
| Direct (verbatim quote) | Indirect (absorbed into narration) |
|---|---|
| Pablo dijo: «Estoy cansado.» | Pablo dijo que estaba cansado. |
| —No tengo hambre —contestó Marta. | Marta contestó que no tenía hambre. |
| «¿Vienes mañana?», me preguntó. | Me preguntó si iba al día siguiente. |
| «Llámame cuando llegues», me dijo. | Me dijo que la llamara cuando llegara. |
Pablo dijo: «Estoy cansado.»
Pablo said: 'I'm tired.' (direct)
Pablo dijo que estaba cansado.
Pablo said he was tired. (indirect)
Notice every shift: estoy → estaba (tense), implicit yo of the original → third-person él implied (pronoun), and the introducer que appears where in direct speech there was a colon. These are the three big adjustments, covered in turn below.
The reporting verb inventory
The reporting verb is the engine of the whole construction. The most common ones in peninsular Spanish:
| Verb | Typical use | Introducer it selects |
|---|---|---|
| decir | say / tell (most general) | que / que
|
| contar | tell, narrate | que |
| comentar | mention, remark | que |
| explicar | explain | que |
| afirmar, asegurar, sostener | state, assert, maintain | que (emphatic) |
| preguntar | ask | si / wh-word |
| contestar, responder | answer, reply | que |
| ordenar, mandar | order, command | que |
| pedir | ask (request) | que
|
| sugerir, recomendar | suggest, recommend | que
|
| prometer, jurar | promise, swear | que |
The split between que + indicative and que + subjunctive depends on what kind of speech act the reporting verb names. Verbs that report assertions (decir, contar, comentar, asegurar) keep the original mood. Verbs that report commands, requests, suggestions (ordenar, pedir, sugerir) impose the subjunctive on the reported clause — because the reported content is something to be done, not a fact.
Mi jefe dijo que iba a llamarme mañana.
My boss said he was going to call me tomorrow. (assertion → indicative)
Mi jefe me pidió que lo llamara mañana.
My boss asked me to call him tomorrow. (request → subjunctive)
The introducer: que, si, or a wh-word
What introduces the reported clause depends on what kind of utterance is being reported.
Que — for declarative statements
A statement in direct speech becomes que + indicative (or subjunctive, if the verb is a command-type). The que is obligatory in Spanish; don't drop it the way English drops that (he said he was tired — no that; in Spanish, dijo que estaba cansado, with que, no exceptions).
Me dijo que el tren llegaba a las cinco.
He told me the train was arriving at five.
Mi madre comentó que la película no le había gustado.
My mother remarked that she hadn't liked the film.
Si — for yes/no questions
A yes/no question in direct speech becomes si + indicative.
Me preguntó si tenía hambre.
He asked me if I was hungry.
Quería saber si habíamos terminado el informe.
She wanted to know if we'd finished the report.
The si here is the reported-speech si — it functions as "whether/if". Don't confuse it with the conditional si (si tienes hambre, te preparo algo). They look identical but live in different constructions.
Wh-word — for wh-questions
A question with a wh-word in direct speech keeps its wh-word in indirect speech. The wh-word keeps its written accent (it stays an interrogative even when embedded), and the subject still goes after the verb.
Me preguntó qué quería para cenar.
He asked me what I wanted for dinner.
No me dijo dónde había aparcado el coche.
He didn't tell me where he'd parked the car.
Quiero saber cuándo llegáis los del piso de arriba.
I want to know when you upstairs neighbours are arriving.
For the full picture of how indirect questions interact with mood, see indirect questions and mood.
Que + subjunctive — for commands and requests
A command in direct speech becomes que + subjunctive. The mood is forced because the reported content is something the speaker wanted the listener to do, not a fact about the world.
Me dijo que viniera a las ocho.
He told me to come at eight.
Mi profesora me pidió que leyera el capítulo entero.
My teacher asked me to read the whole chapter.
The tense of the subjunctive tracks the tense of the reporting verb: present reporting verb → present subjunctive; past reporting verb → imperfect subjunctive. (See tense shifts.)
The three big shifts
1. Tense shifts
The most famous adjustment. When the reporting verb is in the past, the reported clause's verb usually shifts one step back: present → imperfect, preterite → pluperfect, future → conditional. The full mechanics — including the cases where the shift is optional or blocked — live on the tense-shifts page. A taste:
Direct: «Estoy cansada.» → Indirect: Dijo que estaba cansada.
'I'm tired' → She said she was tired.
Direct: «Mañana iré al médico.» → Indirect: Dijo que al día siguiente iría al médico.
'Tomorrow I'll go to the doctor' → She said she'd go to the doctor the next day.
2. Pronoun shifts
Pronouns — subject, object, possessive, reflexive — swap to fit the reporter's frame of reference. Yo in the original becomes él/ella in indirect speech (or stays as yo if the speaker reports their own past words). Possessives swap the same way: mi casa → su casa.
Direct: «Mi hermano vive en mi casa.» → Indirect: Dijo que su hermano vivía en su casa.
'My brother lives in my house' → He said his brother lived in his house.
Direct: «Te llamo luego.» → Indirect: Me dijo que me llamaría luego.
'I'll call you later' (said to me) → He told me he'd call me later. (Both 'te' and the subject 'yo' shift.)
3. Time and place shifts
Adverbials anchored to the original speaker's time and place need to be re-anchored to the reporter's perspective.
| Direct | Indirect (reporter looking back) |
|---|---|
| hoy | aquel día / ese día |
| ahora | entonces / en aquel momento |
| mañana | al día siguiente |
| ayer | el día anterior |
| aquí | allí |
| este / esta (proximate) | aquel / aquella (distal) |
Direct: «Mañana iré al médico.» → Indirect: Dijo que al día siguiente iría al médico.
The 'mañana' anchored to the original speaker's day becomes 'al día siguiente' from the reporter's vantage point.
Direct: «Aquí estaremos a las nueve.» → Indirect: Dijo que allí estarían a las nueve.
'Aquí' (their location) becomes 'allí' (away from the reporter).
These shifts apply only when the reporting verb is in the past and the original deictic anchor is no longer current. If the deictic is still valid for the reporter, no shift is needed — see below.
The peninsular flexibility: shifts are defaults, not laws
Here is the honest truth that textbooks often gloss over: native speakers regularly break the tense-shift rule when the reported content is still current. If your friend told you yesterday that el tren llega a las cinco — and the train really does still arrive at five every day — peninsular Spanish prefers:
Dijo que el tren llega a las cinco.
He said the train arrives at five. (no shift; the fact is still current)
over the strictly-shifted dijo que el tren llegaba a las cinco. Both are grammatical. The unshifted form signals that the speaker still vouches for the truth of the statement at the moment of reporting; the shifted form is neutral and historicises the report.
The same flexibility applies to time-place shifts. If you're reporting "I'll see you tomorrow" while it is still today, mañana doesn't need to shift to al día siguiente — mañana still refers to tomorrow from the reporter's vantage point too.
Me ha dicho que mañana viene a verme.
He told me he's coming to see me tomorrow. (the deictic 'mañana' is still valid; no shift needed)
For the full machinery — including the present-perfect reporting verb (ha dicho que), which sits ambiguously between present and past — see dice vs dijo.
Punctuation: how to mark a direct quote in peninsular Spanish
Peninsular Spanish uses two main conventions for direct speech in writing. Both differ from English's curly double quotes.
- Em dash (—) for dialogue — the standard in novels and fiction. Each speaker turn opens with an em dash; a second em dash sets off the reporting attribution.
- Angle quotes («…») for embedded direct quotes, especially in journalism and academic prose. Curly double quotes ("...") exist but are seen as an Anglicism.
—No tengo hambre —contestó Marta—, ya he cenado en casa.
'I'm not hungry,' replied Marta, 'I already ate at home.' (novel-style dialogue)
El ministro afirmó que la reforma «no afectará a las pensiones más bajas».
The minister stated that the reform 'will not affect the lowest pensions'. (journalism)
A colon plus quotation marks is the school-style format for indirect-to-direct transitions: Pablo dijo: «Estoy cansado.»
What changes when: summary table
| Dimension | What changes | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Introducer | colon/quotes → que / si / wh-word / que + subj. | always (depending on speech act) |
| Verb mood | indicative kept; subjunctive imposed for commands/requests | type of reporting verb |
| Verb tense | shifts one step back: present→imperfect, preterite→pluperfect, future→conditional | past reporting verb + non-current content |
| Subject pronouns | 1st-person → 3rd-person (typically) | speaker ≠ reporter |
| Object / reflexive pronouns | 2nd-person → corresponding form for current speaker / addressee | change of conversation participants |
| Possessives | shift in parallel to subjects | same |
| Time adverbials | hoy → aquel día, mañana → al día siguiente, ayer → el día anterior… | past reporting verb + non-current deictic |
| Place adverbials | aquí → allí, este → aquel | change of location vantage |
Common Mistakes
❌ Dijo estaba cansado.
Wrong — 'que' is obligatory in Spanish, even though English drops 'that'.
✅ Dijo que estaba cansado.
He said he was tired.
❌ Pablo dijo, 'Estoy cansado.'
English-style curly quotes feel anglophone in peninsular writing. Use em dashes for dialogue or angle quotes for embedded quotes.
✅ Pablo dijo: «Estoy cansado.» / —Estoy cansado —dijo Pablo.
Pablo said: 'I'm tired.' (the peninsular conventions)
❌ Me dijo que viene mañana.
In context where the reporting is far in the past and the 'tomorrow' has long since passed, this fails to shift. Use the imperfect plus 'al día siguiente'.
✅ Me dijo que venía al día siguiente.
He told me he was coming the next day.
❌ Mi madre me dijo que viniera, pero le ignoré.
Wrong pronoun — 'ignorar' takes a direct object, and for a feminine human DO the standard form is 'la', not 'le'. Peninsular Spanish tolerates leísmo for masculine DOs (le vi a Juan), but using 'le' for a feminine DO is widely judged non-standard.
✅ Mi madre me dijo que viniera, pero la ignoré.
My mum told me to come, but I ignored her.
❌ Me preguntó que tenía hambre.
Wrong introducer — yes/no questions take 'si', not 'que'.
✅ Me preguntó si tenía hambre.
He asked me if I was hungry.
❌ Me dijo viniera a las ocho.
Wrong — even for commands, the 'que' is obligatory before the subjunctive.
✅ Me dijo que viniera a las ocho.
He told me to come at eight.
Key takeaways
- Reported speech in Spanish has three moving parts: a reporting verb, an introducer (que / si / wh-word / que
- subj.), and the reshaped clause.
- The introducer follows from the speech act: statements take que, yes/no questions take si, wh-questions keep their wh-word, commands take que
- subjunctive.
- The que is obligatory in Spanish — never drop it the way English drops that.
- Three shifts apply when moving from direct to indirect: tenses, pronouns, time/place adverbials. The shifts are defaults, not laws: peninsular speakers freely break them when the reported content is still current.
- Use em dashes or angle quotes for direct speech in writing; avoid English-style curly quotes.
- For the next level of detail: tense shifts, dice vs dijo, and the related indirect questions and mood.
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Cambios de tiempo en estilo indirectoB1 — The complete backshift table for peninsular Spanish reported speech — which tenses move, which stay put, why, and when speakers skip the shift entirely.
- Dice vs dijo: cuándo cambia el tiempoB1 — The tense of the reporting verb decides everything in Spanish indirect speech — dice preserves the original tense, dijo forces the backshift, and ha dicho sits ambiguously in between.
- Verbos de comunicación: decir, contar, explicarB1 — How Spanish verbs of speaking and informing case-mark the speaker, the addressee, and the message — including the trap of explicar.
- Estilo indirecto libreC2 — Free indirect discourse — the literary technique where the narrator's voice slips into a character's mind, fused through tense, pronoun, and modal cues without quotation marks or explicit 'dijo que'.
- Modo en interrogativas indirectasB2 — Mood choice in embedded questions — when 'preguntar', 'saber', 'no saber', and 'querer saber' allow or require subjunctive, and how Peninsular Spanish handles the indicative–subjunctive boundary.
- Condicionales en estilo indirectoB2 — How si-clauses shift when reported in indirect speech — the asymmetry between Type 1 (real) and Type 2/3 (hypothetical) conditionals, and the rule that the imperfect subjunctive stays put while the result clause backshifts.