Reported speech
Type the missing word in each sentence. You hear each sentence read by a native voice.
Tomás dijo que escéptico.
Tomás said that he was skeptical.
The rule
In Spanish, the verb tense shifts back when the reporting verb (dijo, preguntó, pidió) is in the past. English does the same thing ("he said he was tired"), so the logic is familiar, but the specific shifts and word-order rules differ.
The pattern
Use que before a reported statement. When the reporting verb is past tense, each tense shifts back one step.
| Direct speech | Reported speech | Shift |
|---|---|---|
| present | imperfect | "Tengo hambre" becomes Dijo que tenía hambre. |
| future | conditional | "Vendré mañana" becomes Dijo que vendría al día siguiente. |
| preterite | preterite or pluperfect | "Fui al cine" becomes Dijo que había ido al cine. |
| present subjunctive | past subjunctive | "Quiero que vengas" becomes Dijo que quería que viniera. |
The subjunctive forms in this table have their own lessons later in the course; what matters here is the shift.
Time and place words shift too: hoy becomes ese día, mañana becomes al día siguiente, aquí becomes allí, este becomes ese.
For reported yes/no questions, use si (not a question mark). For questions with a question word, use that word directly: me preguntó dónde vivía. Do not add que before it, and do not move the verb ahead of the subject.
Reported commands use que + past subjunctive: me dijo que me sentara.
Examples
- "Estoy cansado." becomes Dijo que estaba cansado.He said he was tired.
- "Tengo hambre." becomes Dijo que tenía hambre.He said he was hungry.
- "Vendré mañana." becomes Me prometió que vendría al día siguiente.He promised me he would come the next day.
- "Fui al cine." becomes Dijo que había ido al cine.He said he had gone to the movies.
- "¿Quieres café?" becomes Me preguntó si quería café.He asked me if I wanted coffee.
- "¿Dónde vives?" becomes Me preguntó dónde vivía.He asked me where I lived.
- "Siéntate." becomes Me dijo que me sentara.He told me to sit down.
Watch out
- Dijo que tiene hambre. Dijo que tenía hambre.After a past reporting verb, the present shifts to the imperfect.
- Dijo que vendrá mañana. (reported after that day). Dijo que vendría al día siguiente.The future shifts to the conditional, and mañana becomes al día siguiente.
- Me preguntó que dónde vivo. Me preguntó dónde vivía.Do not add que before a question word in reported questions.
- Me dijo que me siento. Me dijo que me sentara.Reported commands use the past subjunctive.