When you report what someone said using a past reporting verb — dijo, me contó, aseguraba, preguntó — the verbs inside the reported clause normally shift one step backwards in time. Dice que viene ("he says he's coming") becomes Dijo que venía ("he said he was coming"). This is the backshift, also called concordancia de tiempos or consecutio temporum, and it is the spine of Spanish indirect speech.
Two things matter from the start. First, the trigger is the tense of the reporting verb, not the timing of the original utterance. The shift only kicks in under a past reporting verb; under dice nothing moves (see Dice vs dijo). Second, forms that are already maximally backshifted don't shift further. The imperfect indicative, the pluperfect, the imperfect subjunctive, the pluperfect subjunctive — all of these are at the back of the queue already. They cannot retreat further because Spanish does not have a "past of the past of the past."
The underlying logic
Think of every reported clause as carrying a small clock. The clock used to be set to the original speaker's now. When you relay the speech under a past verb, you have to wind every hand back one notch so the clock reads from the reporter's now. Present becomes past; future becomes "future-from-a-past-viewpoint" (the conditional); recent past becomes more distant past.
The forms that already point as far back as Spanish can go — tenía, había tenido, tuviera, hubiera tenido — have no extra notch to give. They sit still. Once you internalise this, the shift table stops looking like an arbitrary list and starts looking like a single rule applied wherever it can apply.
The full shift table
This is the canonical table for peninsular Spanish, reporting under a past verb (dijo, contó, aseguró, me explicó).
| Direct quote tense | Indirect after past reporting verb |
|---|---|
| Present indicative (estudia) | Imperfect indicative (estudiaba) |
| Preterite (estudió) | Pluperfect indicative (había estudiado) |
| Present perfect (ha estudiado) | Pluperfect indicative (había estudiado) |
| Imperfect (estudiaba) | Imperfect (estudiaba) — no shift |
| Pluperfect (había estudiado) | Pluperfect (había estudiado) — no shift |
| Future (estudiará) | Conditional (estudiaría) |
| Future perfect (habrá estudiado) | Conditional perfect (habría estudiado) |
| Present subjunctive (estudie) | Imperfect subjunctive (estudiara) |
| Perfect subjunctive (haya estudiado) | Pluperfect subjunctive (hubiera estudiado) |
| Imperfect subjunctive (estudiara) | Imperfect subjunctive — no shift |
| Pluperfect subjunctive (hubiera estudiado) | Pluperfect subjunctive — no shift |
| Imperative (¡Estudia!) | Imperfect subjunctive (que estudiara) |
The rest of this page walks through the table row by row, with examples in peninsular voice and the reasoning behind each shift.
Present → imperfect
The default present-indicative form (estudia, vive, trabaja) shifts to imperfect indicative (estudiaba, vivía, trabajaba) under a past reporting verb. The imperfect is Spanish's "ongoing past" — it pictures the original speaker's now as a still-running situation from the reporter's then.
—Vivo en Madrid. → Me dijo que vivía en Madrid.
'I live in Madrid.' → She told me she lived in Madrid.
—Estoy harta del trabajo. → Comentó que estaba harta del trabajo.
'I'm fed up with my job.' → She mentioned that she was fed up with her job.
—Tenemos una reunión a las cinco. → Nos avisó de que tenían una reunión a las cinco.
'We have a meeting at five.' → He let us know they had a meeting at five.
Preterite and present perfect → pluperfect
Both completed pasts collapse onto a single backshifted form: the pluperfect indicative (había estudiado). The preterite (estudió) and the present perfect (ha estudiado) lose their distinction once reported under a past verb, because neither has its own "one step further back" form available — Spanish only has one pluperfect.
—Vi a Marta el sábado. → Me contó que había visto a Marta el sábado.
'I saw Marta on Saturday.' → He told me he'd seen Marta on Saturday.
—He terminado el informe. → Aseguró que había terminado el informe.
'I've finished the report.' → She assured us she'd finished the report.
—No he comido nada en todo el día. → Se quejó de que no había comido nada en todo el día.
'I haven't eaten all day.' → He complained that he hadn't eaten all day.
In peninsular Spanish, the present perfect carries a lot of weight in everyday speech (for anything that happened today or whose effects are still felt), so this preterite/perfect collapse to a single pluperfect is a frequent source of information loss. The reporter usually has to add a time adverbial (aquel sábado, aquella mañana) to recover the temporal nuance.
Imperfect and pluperfect → no shift
The imperfect (estudiaba) and pluperfect (había estudiado) are already as far back as Spanish goes. They sit still under reporting.
—De pequeño vivía en un pueblo. → Me dijo que de pequeño vivía en un pueblo.
'As a child I lived in a village.' → He told me that as a child he lived in a village.
—Cuando llegué, ya se había ido. → Comentó que cuando llegó, ya se había ido.
'When I arrived, he had already left.' → She mentioned that when she arrived, he had already left.
Notice in the second example how the preterite llegué in the temporal clause does shift to pluperfect había llegado? Actually no — peninsular speakers very often leave the preterite of a temporal subordinate clause untouched if the time relation is clear. This is one of the lived flexibilities of the system that the textbook table papers over.
Future and future perfect → conditional and conditional perfect
The simple future (estudiará) shifts to the conditional (estudiaría); the future perfect (habrá estudiado) shifts to the conditional perfect (habría estudiado). The conditional is morphologically the "future of the past" — it carries the -ría ending that signals a future viewed from a past anchor.
—Iré al médico mañana. → Me dijo que iría al médico al día siguiente.
'I'll go to the doctor tomorrow.' → She told me she'd go to the doctor the next day.
—Para entonces ya habré terminado. → Aseguró que para entonces ya habría terminado.
'I'll have finished by then.' → He assured us he would have finished by then.
—No te llamaré hasta la semana que viene. → Me avisó de que no me llamaría hasta la semana siguiente.
'I won't call you until next week.' → He let me know he wouldn't call me until the following week.
Subjunctive shifts: present → imperfect, perfect → pluperfect
When the original utterance used the subjunctive (quiero que vengas, espero que hayas terminado), the subjunctive moves backwards in step with everything else: present subjunctive (venga) becomes imperfect subjunctive (viniera); perfect subjunctive (haya terminado) becomes pluperfect subjunctive (hubiera terminado).
—Quiero que vengas conmigo. → Me dijo que quería que fuera con él.
'I want you to come with me.' → He told me he wanted me to go with him.
—Espero que hayas terminado para el viernes. → Insistió en que esperaba que hubiera terminado para el viernes.
'I hope you've finished by Friday.' → He insisted that he hoped I'd have finished by Friday.
—Dudo que sepa la respuesta. → Confesó que dudaba que supiera la respuesta.
'I doubt he knows the answer.' → He confessed that he doubted he knew the answer.
The imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive forms already sit at the back of the queue and do not shift further. (See the conditionals in reported speech page for how this plays out in si-clauses.)
In peninsular Spanish the -ra forms (viniera, fuera, hubiera) are far more common than the -se forms (viniese, fuese, hubiese). Both are correct; -ra is the default in most registers in Spain.
Imperative → que + imperfect subjunctive
A direct command (¡Estudia!, ¡Ven aquí!) cannot survive in indirect speech because the speaker is no longer the issuer. Under a past reporting verb, the imperative becomes que + imperfect subjunctive.
—¡Estudia más! → Me dijo que estudiara más.
'Study more!' → He told me to study more.
—¡No grites! → Me pidió que no gritara.
'Don't shout!' → He asked me not to shout.
—¡Llámame esta noche! → Me dijo que la llamara aquella noche.
'Call me tonight!' → She told me to call her that night.
This is covered in detail on reporting commands, including what happens to clitic pronouns when the imperative is unwound.
The "still current" exception
Here is the rule the textbooks soft-pedal: peninsular speakers routinely skip the backshift when the reported state is still true at the moment of reporting. If María told you yesterday that her train arrives at five, and you are now relaying this to a third person at four o'clock — the train still has not arrived — you can perfectly naturally say:
María me dijo que el tren llega a las cinco.
María told me the train arrives at five. (and it still does, as far as everyone knows)
This is not an error. The RAE recognises it; native speakers do it all the time. The backshift is morphological agreement with a past reporting verb, and Spanish allows the speaker to override that agreement when the reported content is felt to be "ongoing reality."
Me dijo que es vegetariana, así que mejor no pongas jamón.
She told me she's vegetarian, so better not put any ham on it. (she still is)
Mi madre me explicó que la receta lleva canela.
My mother explained that the recipe has cinnamon in it. (the recipe still has cinnamon, every time anyone makes it)
The flip side: if you want to mark distance from the original utterance — perhaps because the content is no longer true, or because you are quoting a position you do not endorse — use the full backshift.
Me dijo que era vegetariana, pero hoy se ha pedido un solomillo.
She told me she was vegetarian, but today she ordered a sirloin steak. (the past tense signals: turns out it wasn't quite true)
Modals and periphrastic verbs shift normally
A trap for English speakers: modal-like verbs (deber, poder, tener que, haber de, ir a) and periphrastic constructions all shift their finite verb just like any other verb. The infinitive on the back stays put.
—Debes terminarlo hoy. → Me dijo que debía terminarlo aquel día.
'You must finish it today.' → He told me I had to finish it that day.
—Tengo que salir pronto. → Comentó que tenía que salir pronto.
'I have to leave early.' → She mentioned she had to leave early.
—Vamos a comprar pan. → Dijo que iban a comprar pan.
'We're going to buy bread.' → He said they were going to buy bread.
—Puedo ayudarte mañana. → Me ofreció que podía ayudarme al día siguiente.
'I can help you tomorrow.' → He offered that he could help me the next day.
Note that ir a + infinitive (the periphrastic future) shifts to iba a + infinitive — not to a conditional. The periphrastic and the morphological future (vendré → vendría) behave separately.
Common Mistakes
❌ Dijo que estudia mucho.
No shift — under the past reporting verb 'dijo', the present 'estudia' should normally shift to imperfect 'estudiaba'.
✅ Dijo que estudiaba mucho.
He said he studied a lot.
❌ Me dijo que el tren llegaba a las cinco, y todavía no son las cinco.
Over-shift for a still-current situation — peninsular speakers normally leave the present in place when the state is still true at the moment of reporting.
✅ Me dijo que el tren llega a las cinco.
He told me the train arrives at five. (still true, no need to shift)
❌ Dijo que vendrá mañana.
Future not shifted — under 'dijo' the future 'vendrá' must become conditional 'vendría'. (Compare 'Dice que vendrá mañana', which is fine because the reporting verb is present.)
✅ Dijo que vendría al día siguiente.
He said he would come the next day.
❌ Me pidió que había estudiado más.
Wrong shift for a command — a request/command after a past reporting verb takes the imperfect subjunctive ('estudiara'), never the pluperfect indicative ('había estudiado'). The pluperfect would only appear if the original was a preterite or present perfect statement, not a command.
✅ Me pidió que estudiara más.
He asked me to study more.
❌ Comentó que tiene que salir pronto.
Modal not shifted — 'tiene que' must become 'tenía que' under a past reporting verb, even though the infinitive 'salir' stays put.
✅ Comentó que tenía que salir pronto.
She mentioned she had to leave early.
Key Takeaways
- The trigger for backshift is a past reporting verb (dijo, contó, aseguró, me explicó). Under a present reporting verb (dice, cuenta), nothing moves.
- The shift is a one-step retreat: present → imperfect, preterite/present perfect → pluperfect, future → conditional, present subjunctive → imperfect subjunctive.
- Forms that are already maximally backshifted (imperfect, pluperfect, imperfect subjunctive, pluperfect subjunctive) do not shift further. They have nowhere to go.
- The imperative is the one that doesn't just shift — it morphs into que
- imperfect subjunctive, because a command cannot survive third-person relay.
- Peninsular Spanish frequently skips the shift when the reported content is still true at the moment of reporting. Me dijo que es vegetariana is correct, idiomatic, and very common.
- Modal-like verbs (deber, poder, tener que, ir a) shift their finite verb normally; the infinitive on the back never changes.
- The -ra forms (viniera, fuera, hubiera) are the default in peninsular Spanish for the imperfect subjunctive; -se is correct but less frequent in everyday speech.
Now practice Spanish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Estilo indirecto: visión generalB1 — Reported speech in Spanish reshapes a quote along three dimensions — tenses, pronouns, and time-place adverbials — and the reporting verb decides what introduces the clause: que, si, a wh-word, or que + subjunctive.
- 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.
- Reportar mandatosB1 — Reported commands in Spanish replace the imperative with 'que' + subjunctive — present subjunctive after a present reporting verb, imperfect subjunctive after a past one — and reshuffle the clitic pronouns into pre-verbal position.
- Cambios de tiempo y lugar en estilo indirectoB2 — When you report past speech, every adverbial pointing at the original speaker's now and here has to re-anchor to the reporter's now and here — hoy becomes ese día, aquí becomes allí, este becomes aquel, and even venir flips into ir.
- 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.
- Disparadores en pasado: imperfecto de subjuntivoB2 — When the main clause is past-tense or conditional, subjunctive triggers force the subordinate verb back into the imperfect subjunctive — the sequence-of-tenses rule that drives most uses of -ra and -se.