Turning direct quotes into reported speech in Spanish is simpler than it looks. Master a few building blocks and you will transform “She said, ‘I’m tired’” into natural Spanish like “Dijo que estaba cansada.”
This guide gives you the essentials, the tense shifts that matter, and lots of examples you can reuse. For a deeper dive, see our reference on reported speech (estilo indirecto). If you need tense refreshers, check out pretérito vs. imperfecto and the pluscuamperfecto.
The core idea in one minute
- Use que to report statements.
- Use si to report yes or no questions, and keep question words like qué, cuándo, dónde for information questions.
- After a past reporting verb like dijo or preguntó, Spanish usually shifts tenses backward.
- Adjust pronouns and time or place words to match the new point of view.
Tiny toolkit you will use all the time
- quethat for statements
- siif for yes or no questions
- Past reporting verb often triggers a backshift in tense
- Change deictics like hoytoday, ayeryesterday, aquíhere
Want to practice these moves in context? Read short dialogues in our Spanish Stories.
Reporting statements
-
Present reporting verb, no backshift:
- Ella dice, “Vivo en Madrid” → Ella dice que vive en Madrid.
-
Past reporting verb, usual backshift:
- Ella dijo, “Vivo en Madrid” → Ella dijo que vivía en Madrid.
Drag the handle to compare
More quick conversions:
- Pretérito → Pluscuamperfecto: “Fui” → dijo que había ido
- Presente → Imperfecto: “Trabajo” → dijo que trabajaba
- Presente perfecto → Pluscuamperfecto: “He visto” → dijo que había visto
- Futuro → Condicional: “Iré” → dijo que iría
- Progresivo → Progresivo en imperfecto: “Estoy estudiando” → dijo que estaba estudiando
- Condicional → Condicional: “Haría” → dijo que haría
Why backshift?
Backshift keeps timelines clear when the reporting verb is in the past. If the fact is still true or you want immediacy, native speakers may keep the original tense. Both choices can be acceptable depending on context.
Need a quick tense tune‑up? Review the simple future, the conditional, and the present perfect.
Reporting questions
- Yes or no questions use si and statement word order.
- Él preguntó, “¿Vienes?” → Él preguntó si venía.
- “¿Han llegado?” → Preguntó si habían llegado.
Drag the handle to compare
- Information questions keep the question word, then normal statement order.
- “¿Dónde vives?” → Preguntó dónde vivía.
- “¿Cuándo salen?” → Preguntó cuándo salían.
- “¿Qué has hecho?” → Preguntó qué había hecho.
No question marks in reported questions
Reported questions become statements, so drop the ¿? and keep normal statement order.
Don’t confuse si for yes/no questions with si in conditional sentences. For conditionals, see si clauses.
Reporting commands and requests
Spanish often uses que + subjunctive to report commands, orders, and suggestions.
- “Cierra la ventana” → Dijo que cerrara la ventana.
- “No llegues tarde” → Me pidió que no llegara tarde.
- “Estudia más” → Me recomendó que estudiara más.
You will also hear infinitives with some verbs, especially when the subject stays the same.
- “Prohíbo fumar aquí” → Prohibió fumar allí.
- “Prometo llamar” → Prometió llamar.
Drag the handle to compare
Subjunctive stays subjunctive
If the original idea already required subjunctive, it remains subjunctive in reported speech, and it usually backshifts after a past reporting verb.
- “No creo que venga” → Dijo que no creía que viniera.
- “Quiero que vayas” → Dijo que quería que fuéramos.
If commands or the subjunctive feel rusty, review affirmative commands (imperative), present subjunctive formation, and the imperfect subjunctive.
Pronouns, time, and place shift
When you change the speaker and the time frame, adjust these words.
-
Pronouns and possessives
- yo → él, ella; mi, mis → su, sus; nosotros → ellos (according to context)
-
Time words
- hoytoday → ese día
- ayeryesterday → el día anterior
- mañanatomorrow → al día siguiente
- ahoranow → entonces, en ese momento
-
Place and demonstratives
- aquíhere → allí, ahí
- este, esta → ese, esa
- “este año” → “ese año”
Mini examples:
- “Vengo aquí hoy” → Dijo que venía allí ese día.
- “Te llamo mañana” → Dijo que me llamaría al día siguiente.
For pronoun changes across speakers and objects, see how to use direct and indirect pronouns together.
Sequence of tenses at a glance
Here is the usual backshift when the reporting verb is in the past.
- Presente → Imperfecto
- Pretérito → Pluscuamperfecto
- Presente perfecto → Pluscuamperfecto
- Futuro → Condicional
- Futuro perfecto → Condicional perfecto
- Imperativo → Imperfecto de subjuntivo con que
- Progresivo → Progresivo en imperfecto
- Imperfecto and Pluscuamperfecto often stay the same
Context can override the chart
If the information is still valid or you want to emphasize current relevance, you may not backshift. For example
- “Ella dijo que vive en Madrid” works if she still lives there.
Curious about compound tenses here? Review futuro perfecto y condicional perfecto.
Quick practice
Choose the best reported version: Ella dijo, «Ayer terminé el informe».
Arrange the words to form a correct sentence:
Want more real‑world practice? Try our B1 Stories to see reported speech in context.
Common pitfalls to avoid
Drag the handle to compare
Drag the handle to compare
Drag the handle to compare
Put it all together
- Pick the right linker, quethat for statements or siif for yes or no questions.
- Use question words like qué, cuándo, dónde for information questions, then normal word order.
- Backshift tenses after a past reporting verb when appropriate.
- Update pronouns and time or place words so they fit the new speaker and moment.
With these moves, you can report anything clearly and naturally in Spanish.