Reported speech I and indirect questions

What it is

Reported speech (estilo indirecto) passes on what someone said without quoting it word for word: «Estoy cansada» → Marta dice que está cansada. Indirect questions (interrogativas indirectas) do the same with questions, and they also appear on their own after verbs like saber: No sé dónde vive. When you report, up to three things change:

• the person: yo → ella, mi → su;
• the tense, when the reporting verb is in the past;
• time and place words (hoy → ese día, aquí → allí), when the time and place are no longer the same.

How to form it

Statements: verb + que + clause. With a reporting verb in the present (dice, cuenta, explica), the tenses stay as they were: Dice que está cansada. Dice que ha perdido las llaves. Dice que va a llegar tarde.

With a reporting verb in the past (dijo, contó, explicó), each tense moves one step back: the present becomes the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), and the perfect and the preterite become the pluperfect (pretérito pluscuamperfecto):

The future (vendré) becomes the conditional (dijo que vendría), a step you'll practise at B2; in Latin America, dijo que iba a venir is the everyday choice.

Commands and requests: que + present subjunctive (presente de subjuntivo). «Ven» → Dice que vengas. «No toques nada» → Dice que no toques nada. With pedir: Te pide que la llames. After a past verb (me pidió que…), Spanish uses the imperfect subjunctive, me pidió que fuera: that's B2.

Questions. Yes/no questions take si, with no accent: «¿Tienes hermanos?» → Me pregunta si tengo hermanos. Questions with a question word keep it, accent included: «¿Dónde vives?» → Me pregunta dónde vivo. The same goes for qué, quién, cuándo, cómo, cuánto and por qué. In the past, the tenses shift as usual: Me preguntó si tenía hermanos y dónde vivía.

Time and place words shift when the report happens at another time or in another place:

When to use it

Passing on messages, the main task of this unit:

• Te llamó Laura. Dice que la llames.Laura called. She says you should call her back.order → subjunctive
• Llamó el técnico: dijo que venía a las tres.The technician called: he said he was coming at three.present → imperfect
• Tu hermano pregunta si puedes prestarle el carro.Your brother is asking if you can lend him the car.yes/no question → si

Telling a story: Le pregunté qué pasaba y me dijo que había perdido el trabajo (I asked him what was wrong and he told me he had lost his job).

Asking politely. An indirect question inside a question sounds softer: ¿Sabe dónde está la estación? ¿Me puede decir cuánto cuesta? After saber, entender or decidir, indirect questions also express doubt: No sé si viene. No entiendo por qué se fue. With an infinitive: No sé qué hacer. No sé cómo decírselo.

Contrasts and traps

• dice or dijo? Use dice for a fresh message (Dice que no viene); use dijo for a past conversation, and shift the tenses.
• Still true? The present is possible. Me dijo que vive en Quito is fine if she still lives there; vivía is always safe.
• Preterite or pluperfect? After dijo que, había llegado is the standard choice; llegó is common in Latin American speech.
• Fact or order? Dice que vienes = he says you're coming; Dice que vengas = he wants you to come.
• pedir or preguntar? preguntar asks a question; pedir asks for something, or asks someone to do something.
• si or sí? "If, whether" is si; sí means "yes".
• Colloquial que si. In conversation you'll hear Me preguntó que si quería ir; understand it, but say and write Me preguntó si quería ir.

If you also speak Portuguese

Portuguese reports speech the same way, so trust it: ela disse que estava cansada → dijo que estaba cansada. Watch three small differences: se → si, tinha chegado → había llegado, and the accent on dónde, cuándo and cómo. For reported orders, Spanish has no personal infinitive: ela diz pra você ligar → dice que la llames.