Indirect Speech in Spanish Grammar

What is estilo indirecto?

Indirect speech or reported speech (el estilo indirecto) is when we repeat what another person has said without directly quoting it.

This means that we often have to adapt or change certain parts of speech such as pronouns, tenses and time and place markers to reflect that we are only reporting what was said, not repeating it word-for-word.

Learn all about reported speech in Spanish with Lingolia, then practise in the interactive exercises.

Example

Padre: «Hija, quiero que te quedes con la floristería de mi padre».
Lucía: «¡Guau, papá! ¡Qué ilusión me hace!»
Padre: «Serás una florista estupenda».
Lucía: «¿Qué tramites tenemos que hacer?»
Padre: «Necesito que firmes unos documentos para que la tienda esté a tu nombre».
Lucía: «Ya esta».
Padre:
«A partir de ahora la floristería es tuya».

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Marta, no te vas a creer lo que me pasó la semana pasada.

Mi padre vino a cenar a casa y me dijo que quería que me quedara con la floristería de su padre.

Asegura que seré una florista estupenda.

Tan solo me pidió que firmara unos documentos para que la tienda estuviera a mi nombre.

¡Y que a partir de entonces, la floristería es mía!

Indirect speech: the basics

Direct speech repeats someone’s utterance word-for-word and is placed within quotation marks (comillas: «…»).

Example:
«Serás una florista estupenda».“You will be a great florist.”

Indirect speech reproduces something a person has said without quoting them exactly. To do so, we use a reporting verb + que

Example:
Su padre le dijo que sería una florista estupenda.Her father told her that she would be a great florist.

The most common reporting verbs are decirsay, afirmarconfirm, contartell, exclamarexclaim, explicarexplain, preguntarask …

How to change direct speech to indirect speech

When converting direct speech to indirect speech in Spanish, we have to change several parts of speech.

Luckily, the process is almost exactly the same as it is in English, which means that you already know more than you realise!

Let’s start off with a sentence in English:

Example:
Lucía: “I have signed these documents for my father’s flower shop.”
→ Lucía said that she had signed those documents for her father’s flower shop.

In this example, we can see that the following parts of speech have changed:

  • personal pronoun (I → she)
  • verb conjugation (have signed → had signed)
  • demonstrative (these → those)
  • possessive (my → her)

In Spanish, we change the exact same things. Let’s break them down in detail with some Spanish examples:

Example:
Padre: «Quiero que te quedes con la floristería de mi padre». Father: “I want you to take over my father’s flower shop.”
→ Mi padre me dijo que quería que me quedara con la floristería de su padre. My father told me that he wants me to take over his father’s flower shop.
1st person singular (quiero) → 3rd person singular (quería)
Example:
Padre: «Quiero que te quedes con la floristería de mi padre». Father: “I want you to take over my father’s flower shop.”
→ Mi padre me dijo que quería que me quedara con la floristería de su padre. My father told me that he wants me to take over his father’s flower shop.
1st person singular (mi) → 3rd person singular (su)
Example:
Padre: «A partir de ahora la floristería es tuya». Father: “From now on, the flower shop is yours.”
→ ¡Me aseguró que a partir de entonces la floristería era mía! He told me that from then on the flower shop was mine!
ahoraentonces
  • the tense (see more directly below)
Example:
Padre: «Quiero que te quedes con la floristería de mi padre». Father: “I want you to take over my father’s flower shop.”
→ Mi padre me dijo que quería que me quedara con la floristería de su padre. My father told me that he wanted me to take over his father’s flower shop.
present tense (quiero) → imperfect tense (quería)

Changing the tense in indirect speech

If the reporting verb is in the present tense (dice, asegura …) or the perfect tense (ha dicho, ha asegurado …), the tense of the verb in the indirect speech stays the same.

Example:
Padre: «Serás una florista estupenda». Father: “You will be a great florist.”
→ Mi padre asegura que seré una florista estupenda. My father says that I will be a great florist.
serásseré (both future tense)

In general, the tense also remains unchanged when the information is scientific or expresses a universal truth.

Example:
Padre: «La floristería tiene más de 200 años». Father: “The flower shop is over 200 years old.”
→ Mi padre me contó que la floristería tiene más de 200 años. My father told me that the flower shop is over 200 years old.
reporting verb in the past (contó); present tense verb (tiene) in indirect speech to express a general fact

Otherwise, if the reporting verb is in a past tense, we have to set the tense in the indirect speech back by one degree. This is known as backshifting.

Example:
Padre: «Quiero que te quedes con la floristería de mi padre». Father: “I want you to take over my father’s flower shop.”
→ Mi padre me dijo que quería que me quedara con la floristería de su padre. My father told me that he wanted me to take over his father’s flower shop.
present tense (quiero) → imperfect tense (quería)

Table of tense changes

The table below shows how to backshift the tense in indirect speech in Spanish:

Tense in Direct Speech Tense in Indirect Speech Example
Present Imperfect Tengo una sorpresa para ti». “I have a surprise for you.”
→ Me dijo que tenía una sorpresa para mí. He told me he had a surprise for me.
Preterite Pluperfect «He puesto la floristería a tu nombre». “I’ve put the flower shop in your name.”
→ Me dijo que había puesto la floristería a mi nombre. He told me that he had put the flower shop in my name.
Perfect
Pluperfect
Imperfect Imperfect «La florestería era de mi padre». “The flower shop was my father’s.”
→ Me dijo que la florestería era de su padre. He told me that the flower shop was his father’s.
Future Conditional «Serás una florista estupenda». “You will be a great florist.”
→ Me dijo que sería una florista estupenda. He told me I would be a great florist.
Conditional
Future Perfect Conditional Perfect «Pronto habremos terminado con los trámites». “We will soon have the paperwork finished.”
→ Me aseguró que pronto habríamos terminado con los trámites. He told me that we would soon have the paperwork finished.
Conditional Perfect
Imperative* Imperfecto Subjunctive «Firma estos documentos». “Sign these documents.”
→ Me pidió que firmara esos documentos. He asked me to sign those documents.
Present Subjunctive
Imperfect Subjunctive
Past Perfect Subjunctive Past Perfect Subjunctive «Quizá haya olvidado algo». “I may have forgotten something.”
→ Confesó que quizá hubiera/hubiese olvidado algo. He confessed that he may have forgotten something.

*The imperative in indirect speech

As shown in the table above, the imperative becomes the imperfect subjunctive after a reporting verb in the past.

Example:
«Firma estos documentos». Sign these documents.
→ Mi padre me pidió que firmara esos documentos. My father told me to sign those documents.

However, unlike the other tenses, the imperative does not stay the same after a reporting verb in the present or perfect tenses; it becomes the present subjunctive.

Ejemplo:
«Firma estos documentos». Sign these documents.
→ Mi padre me ha pedido que firme esos documentos. My father has asked me to sign those documents.

Changing information about place and time in indirect speech

References to time and place also have to be adapted in indirect speech.

Example:
Padre: «A partir de ahora la floristería es tuya». Father: “From now on, the flower shop is yours.”
→ Me dijo que a partir de entonces la floristería era mía. He told me that from then on the flower shop was mine.
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
hoy today ese/aquel día that day
ahora now entonces then
ayer yesterday el día anterior the day before
la semana pasada last week la semana anterior the week before
la semana que viene next week la semana siguiente the following week
el próximo año next year al año siguiente the following year
mañana tomorrow al día siguiente the following day
aquí here allí there
este/a … this … ese/a, aquel/aquella … that

Questions in indirect speech

Questions in indirect speech do not appear between question marks (¿…?).

Yes-no questions (las oraciones interrogativas totales) are introduced by a reporting verb (preguntar, sugerir, proponer …) + (= if/whether).

They keep the word order subject + verb.

Example:
«¿(Tú) Tienes alguna duda?» “Do you have any doubts?”
→ Mi padre me preguntó si (yo) tenía alguna duda. My father asked me if I had any doubts.

When a question contains a question word (una oración interrogativa parcial), we use this question word in place of : reporting verb + question word.

They keep the word order verb + subject.

Example:
«¿Cuántos años tiene la floristería?» “How old is the flower shop?“
→ Le he preguntado a mi padre cuántos años tiene la floristería. I’ve asked my father how old the flower shop is.

Indirect questions

Remember: questions in indirect speech are not the same thing as indirect questions (las oraciones interrogativas indirectas).

Example:
Le pregunté a mi padre cuáles serán mis tareas como florista. I asked my father what my tasks will be as a florist.question in indirect speech
Me pregunto cuáles serán mis tareas como florista. I wonder what my tasks will be as a florist.indirect question

To learn more, check out our page on indirect questions in Spanish grammar.

The verbs ir/venir & llevar/traer in indirect speech

In Spanish, the use of the verb pairs ir/venir and llevar/traer in indirect speech depends on the perspective or location of the speaker.

When a sentence in indirect speech contains one of these verbs, we have to consider the location of the original speaker as well as the location of the speaker reporting the sentence and change the verb if necessary.

Example:
Padre: «Ven a la floristería la semana que viene». Father: “Come to the flower shop next week.”
verb: venir
Me ha dicho que vaya a la floristería la semana que viene. He told me to go to the flower shop next week.
verb ir
Example:
Padre: «Trae a alguna amiga». Father: “Bring a friend.”
verb traer
Me ha propuesto que lleve a alguna amiga. He suggested that I bring a friend.
verb llevar

→ Learn more about the verb pairs ir/venir and llevar/traer over in our section on Confusing Word Pairs.