When you report what someone else said without quoting them directly, you use indirect speech (discorso indiretto). In Italian, connect the reporting verb to the statement using che (that).
Because you are reporting from a new perspective, you must shift the subject pronouns and their verb conjugations. For example, if a neighbor says, "I am against the fee," you report it as, "He says that he is against the fee."
| The neighbors explain that they are against the new fee. | I vicini spiegano che sono contrari alla nuova quota. |
| The lady specifies that she wants to speak at the next assembly. | La signora precisa che vuole parlare alla prossima assemblea. |
Shifting Possessives
Possessives also shift to match the new perspective. A speaker's original "my" (mio) or "our" (nostro) typically becomes "his/her" (suo) or "their" (loro) in indirect speech.
| The manager declares that he manages his condominium, not ours. | L'amministratore dichiara che gestisce il suo condominio, non il nostro. |
| They reiterate that they are signing their minutes, but not yours. | Ribadiscono che firmano il loro verbale, ma non il tuo. |
Reporting in the Past
When reporting a conversation from the past, the tenses in the dependent clause shift to align with the main verb. If the reporting verb is in the past (like the imperfetto), an originally present-tense statement shifts to the imperfetto.
| The doctor used to read the minutes and state that she was in favor. | La dottoressa leggeva il verbale e affermava che era favorevole. |
| Before, the manager used to work a lot and say that his condominium was perfect. | Prima, l'amministratore lavorava molto e diceva che il suo condominio era perfetto. |