Reported speech is in all places.

In English, you employ it dozens (if not lots of) of instances each day with out even realizing it.

The excellent news is you could be that pure in Spanish, too. You’re actually simply an article away from turning into a Spanish reported speech grasp your self!

Don’t consider me? Give this publish simply 10 minutes of your time, and also you’ll see how simple it may be.

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What Is Spanish Reported Speech?

Direct and reported speech are two of essentially the most frequently-used grammar factors in languages, and Spanish isn’t any exception. Everytime you speak about what another person has stated, you employ both direct or reported speech.

While you repeat precisely what one other particular person has stated and explicitly point out who stated it, you’re utilizing direct speech. For instance:

Daniel cube: “Estoy muy cansado hoy.”
(Daniel says: “I’m very drained at this time.”)

Now, let’s say you don’t bear in mind precisely what your  compadre
(buddy) Daniel stated, however you do bear in mind the gist of it. If another person asks you what Daniel stated, you’d say one thing like:

Daniel cube que está muy cansado hoy.
 (Daniel says he’s very drained at this time.)

That, in a nutshell, is reported speech. Spanish reported speech is the place you speak about somebody (apart from your self and the particular person you’re speaking to) and what that particular person stated with out essentially quoting them verbatim.

In written texts or messages, it’s often simpler to distinguish between Spanish direct and reported speech. For starters, direct speech makes use of citation marks to surround the assertion being quoted, whereas reported speech doesn’t. Direct speech quotes the particular person being talked about word-for-word, whereas reported speech might or might not use their precise phrases, although the gist of what they stated is all the time current.

In order that’s it, proper? Differentiating direct and reported speech in Spanish is only a matter of utilizing the proper punctuation marks and whether or not you used the opposite particular person’s precise phrases, sure? 

Not fairly. Though English and Spanish reported speech are related for essentially the most half, the latter has some distinctive quirks that we’ll be discussing within the subsequent sections.

Fundamentals of Spanish Reported Speech

Like in English, reported speech in Spanish consists of some fundamental parts: reporting verbs, connecting phrases like que (“that”) and the message from the particular person being talked about—whether or not the message is verbatim or not.

Let’s break them down beneath.

Spanish Reporting Verbs

Just like English, Spanish reporting verbs (also called communication verbs) are used to sign that you just’re both quoting somebody straight (direct speech) or paraphrasing them (reported speech).

There are dozens of reporting verbs in each language, though we have a tendency to make use of a few of them extra usually than others.

Listed below are just a few of the commonest reporting verbs in Spanish:

Decir
 (to say, to inform)

Decir might be the commonest Spanish phrase to make use of when speaking about what another person stated.

Preguntar
 (to ask)

If you wish to inform somebody about what one other particular person is asking, use preguntar.

Querer saber
(to wish to know)

Querer saber can be utilized in the same method as preguntar.

Pedir
 (to ask)

While you’re speaking about what another person needs, use pedir.

Querer
(to need)

As an alternative of pedir, you may as well use querer.

Different Reporting Verbs in Spanish

As I’ve talked about earlier, there are such a lot of Spanish reporting verbs that it could be unattainable to listing all of them right here. Nevertheless, I may give you among the commonest ones:

Utilizing  Que
(That)

You will have observed that the majority of our examples above have the phrase que. I’m telling you now: que goes to be your new greatest buddy, as a result of each single reported assertion and command in Spanish will embrace it, even when you omit or don’t want “that” in English.

Let’s have a look at just a few examples:

Spanish Reported Speech Phrase Order: Topic + Verb + Object

It doesn’t matter when you’re speaking a couple of assertion, command or query. The phrase order will all the time be Topic + Verb + Object, as is typical of Spanish sentence construction.

Spanish Reported Speech Primarily based on Questions

When the reported speech Spanish audio system use is predicated on questions, it deviates barely from the construction we simply mentioned and is predicated on whether or not you’re utilizing a “sure or no” query or a “wh-” query.

Sure or No Questions

In reported speech that’s primarily based on this sort of query, you employ si
(if, whether or not) as a substitute of que.

“Wh-” Questions

Recall the Spanish equivalents of the English “wh-” questions:

While you’re reporting a “wh-” query, you employ the suitable query phrases above as a substitute of que or si.

One factor to bear in mind: when utilizing the verb preguntar, you may add que simply earlier than the query phrase.

Don’t be afraid to put in writing two que collectively! They aren’t the identical phrase, and so they don’t have the identical operate.

Different Modifications in Spanish Reported Speech

Private Pronouns and Possessives

In reported speech, the private pronouns and possessives change from the reported model. Fortunately, it really works the identical method in English—that’s, the change is critical in order that the core message isn’t misplaced or misinterpreted.

Time and Place Expressions

Once more like English, time and place expressions within the reported speech Spanish audio system use change from their direct counterparts.

Listed below are among the principal adjustments that happen:

There’s a bunch of phrases I’d like to incorporate on this part. They’re neither time nor place expressions, however they indicate distance from the speaker.

Verb Tenses

Undoubtedly, essentially the most troublesome a part of reported speech in Spanish is that the verbs change their tenses.

The excellent news is that these adjustments don’t occur on a regular basis, and you’ve got nearly similar adjustments in English.

However when do we have to make adjustments in verb tenses? How do we all know?

The one factor you could have to remember right here is the reporting verb. Sure, that little buddy current at the start of the reported sentences we studied earlier than.

There are solely two easy guidelines, actually:

1. If the reporting verb is within the current easy or the current excellent tense, you DON’T have to alter any verb tenses until you could have a command.

2. If the reporting verb is within the preterite, the imperfect or the previous excellent tense (pluscuamperfecto), you DO must make adjustments.

Take a look on the following examples. The reporting verbs (in daring) are within the current easy or the current excellent, so there aren’t any verb adjustments within the reported sentences.

As acknowledged earlier than, when you could have a command, you do must make adjustments even when the reporting verb is within the current or the current excellent tense. Subsequently, the crucial adjustments into the current subjunctive.

Equally, if the command’s reporting verb is prior to now tense, the crucial adjustments into the imperfect subjunctive.

In these sentences the place the reporting verb seems prior to now tense, it is advisable to make verb tense adjustments within the reported fragment. These adjustments are nearly similar to these in English, however listed below are a very powerful ones in your comfort:

In these sentences the place the verb is within the imperfect, conditional or previous excellent ( pluscuamperfecto
), there aren’t any tense adjustments.

I do know this will all sound very overwhelming and complicated, so I’d wish to introduce you to the language studying platform FluentU, the place you may watch reported speech in Spanish in motion.

And that’s all!

As you may see, Spanish and English reported speeches are very related.

Simply bear in mind the few guidelines I’ve taught you on this publish, and also you’ll haven’t any downside in any respect!

Obtain:
This weblog publish is accessible as a handy and moveable PDF that you just
can take anyplace.
Click on right here to get a replica. (Obtain)