Direct speech repeats someone’s exact words, while indirect speech reports what they said without quoting them verbatim. This guide covers how to switch between them in Spanish.
Direct Speech
Direct speech reproduces an utterance exactly and normally uses quotation marks or dashes in Spanish to enclose the spoken words. The narrator stays neutral and the original tense and person remain intact.
Format
Show the speaker with a reporting verb, then include the exact phrase between quotes or after a dash, and keep the verbal forms as in the original utterance.
Examples
Indirect Speech
Indirect speech relays what someone said without quoting them literally; it often introduces the idea with que and adjusts tense, person, and time expressions to fit the reporting context. Quotation marks disappear and the sentence becomes part of the narrator’s own voice.
Format
Use a reporting verb followed by que for statements, and change the original sentence to fit the new perspective and time frame with appropriate backshifts.
Examples
Backshifting Tenses
Backshifting moves verb tenses back one step when changing from direct to indirect speech aligning the reported action with the reporting time and preserving meaning.
Present Tense to Imperfect
When the original is in the present, the reported clause commonly shifts to the imperfect: estoy becomes estaba to show a past-referenced ongoing state.
| Direct Speech Spanish | Indirect Speech Spanish | Direct Speech English | Indirect Speech English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Estoy en la playa" | estaba en la playa | "I am at the beach" | I was at the beach | |
| "Estoy cansado" | estaba cansado | "I am tired" | I was tired | |
| "Estoy listo" | estaba listo | "I am ready" | I was ready |
Preterite to Past Perfect
A preterite in direct speech typically becomes the past perfect in indirect speech to show an earlier completed action relative to the reporting moment.
| Direct Speech Spanish | Indirect Speech Spanish | Direct Speech English | Indirect Speech English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "He terminado" | había terminado | "I have finished" | I had finished | |
| "Has llegado" | habías llegado | "You have arrived" | You had arrived | |
| "Han comido" | habían comido | "They have eaten" | They had eaten |
Future to Conditional
Future forms in direct speech usually shift to the conditional in indirect speech, so iré becomes iría to reflect reported intent from a past perspective.
| Direct Speech Spanish | Indirect Speech Spanish | Direct Speech English | Indirect Speech English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Irá a la playa" | iría a la playa | "He will go to the beach" | He would go to the beach | |
| "Iremos al mar" | iríamos al mar | "We will go to the sea" | We would go to the sea | |
| "Irán a surfear" | irían a surfear | "They will go surfing" | They would go surfing |
Time Expressions
Indirect Questions
Indirect questions embed a question within a reporting structure, dropping quotation marks and using introductory verbs plus the appropriate question word like cuándo, dónde or si.
Format
Begin with a reporting verb, follow with the question word if needed, and state the clause as a declarative sentence while backshifting tense when required.
Examples
Summary
Direct speech keeps the original wording and punctuation, while indirect speech rephrases the idea within the narrator’s voice and adjusts tense and perspective; mastering reporting verbs and time shifts makes conversion between them natural and precise.
Changing Tenses
When converting from direct to indirect speech in Spanish, backshift the verb tense if the reporting verb is in the past and adjust time expressions accordingly; if the reporting verb is in the present, tense usually stays the same. This ensures that the reported action fits naturally in the narrative timeline.
Present to Imperfect
Preterite to Past Perfect
Future to Conditional
Time Expressions
Reporting Verbs
Common reporting verbs like decir, preguntar, afirmar, and respondre signal how the information is introduced and whether the speech is direct or indirect; each can be followed by different structures depending on whether you report an assertion, a question, or a command.
Questions and Commands
Indirect questions use the reporting verb plus a subordinate clause without quotation marks, and the question word remains; indirect commands turn the original command into an infinitive or use a subjunctive clause after verbs like pedir or mandar. This allows smooth integration into the reporting sentence.
Last updated: Fri Oct 24, 2025