Reported Speech: Present to Imperfect
When catching up at an event like a reunion, you will often report what other people said. This is known as reported speech (estilo indirecto).
To report a statement, use a reporting verb like decir (to say), mencionar (to mention), or jurar (to swear), followed by the conjunction que (that).
When the reporting verb is in a past tense (like the preterite), the verb in the reported statement shifts one step back in time. Specifically, a quote originally spoken in the present tense shifts to the imperfect tense.
| The alumni said that they missed their graduation. | Los exalumnos dijeron que extrañaban su graduación. |
| An alumnus mentioned that the teacher was aging very badly. | Un exalumno mencionó que el profesor envejecía muy mal. |
Notice how the original present-tense ideas ("We miss it", "He is aging") become imperfect (extrañaban, envejecía) because the reporting verbs (dijeron, mencionó) are in the past.
Other common reporting verbs include contar (to tell), explicar (to explain), and comentar (to comment). The same rule applies:
| They told me that he still hated his old nickname. | Me contaron que él todavía odiaba su viejo apodo. |
| He explained that he was no longer practicing, because he was setting up a new business. | Él explicó que ya no ejercía, porque montaba un negocio nuevo. |
When reporting multiple statements from the same person, you can link them together using y que (and that):
| He commented that he resided in the city and that he was setting up an agency. | Comentó que residía en la ciudad y que montaba una agencia. |