Reported Speech
Let’s start with ‘told’ and ‘said’. Spanish uses ‘decir’ for both:
Mum told me to wait in the car.
Mum said to wait in the car.
In Spanish, “decir” can cover both “said” and “told.”
The difference comes from context:
reporting info (indicative) vs giving a command/request (subjunctive).
What’s the difference between direct speech and reported speech?
Direct speech
You repeat the exact words someone said, usually in quotes.
- Mamá me dijo: “Espera en el coche.”
(Mum told me: “Wait in the car.”)
👉 Direct = verbatim, the exact command as she said it.
Reported speech
You recast what was said without quoting exactly.
- Mamá me dijo que esperara en el coche.
(Mum told me to wait in the car.)
👉 Reported = the idea is passed along, but the grammar changes.
Direct speech is not conversational.
Direct speech (with quotes, repeating word-for-word) is much more common in writing, stories, or dramatisation than in everyday conversation.
In conversation, people almost always switch to reported speech, because it’s faster and smoother:
– Conversational: Mamá me dijo que esperara en el coche.
– Quoting: Mamá me dijo: “Espera en el coche.”
You’ll still hear direct speech when someone wants to imitate the exact words (like acting out a conversation: “Y él me dijo: ‘No quiero ir.’”). But for ordinary daily reporting, Spanish speakers use the reported form.
The phrase decir que by itself isn’t automatically subjunctive or indicative.
It can go either way, depending on what follows.
decir que as reporting info → indicative
If the speaker is just passing on information, the verb after que stays in the regular ‘statement’ form.
- Use imperfect indicative if the reported idea is a state or ongoing condition. (most common)
- Use preterite indicative if the reported idea is a completed event.
Examples:
- Mamá dijo que estaba cansada.
→ Mum said (that) she was tired.
👉 State = imperfect (estaba).- Hidden ‘que / that’
- Mamá dijo que se enfermó ayer.
→ Mum said (that) she got sick yesterday.
👉 Completed event = preterite (se enfermó).- Hidden ‘que / that’
decir que as reporting influence/request → subjunctive
If the speaker is influencing another subject’s action (telling me/you/someone else what to do), that change of subject + influence is what triggers the subjunctive.
- Mamá me dijo que esperara en el coche.
Mum told me to wait in the car.
👉 Influence + different subject = subjunctive (esperara).
When to use decir and decir que
Exact words, in quotes
Decir will be in the indicative.
And the Reported Speech, what someone literally said, word for word, is going to use the tense the speaker originally used.
- Mamá me dijo: “Espera en el coche.”
She told me: “Wait in the car.”
👉 That’s direct speech. You’re quoting. Whatever mood they used in the moment, you repeat it exactly.
Reporting info → Not Subjunctive
If decir is just reporting information — whether about a person, a thing, or a situation — stays in normal tenses (past, present and future).
- Mamá dijo que iba a la tienda.
Mum said she was going to the store.
👉 No influence here, no second subject, no need for subjunctive. It’s just information.
Reporting influence / command → Subjunctive
If what they “said” was actually telling you (or someone else) to do something, that’s where the subjunctive pops in.
- Mamá me dijo que esperara en el coche.
Mum told me to wait in the car.
👉 Same trigger you already know: two subjects + influence = subjunctive.
Example Sentences
Mum told me to wait in the car.
Mamá me dijo que esperara en el coche.
- Reporting influence/command → Subjunctive
- Why: me dijo que + command directed at me (esperara). Two subjects → subjunctive.
He said he’d already eaten, but then he grabbed half my fries.
Él dijo que ya había comido, pero luego agarró la mitad de mis papas fritas.
- Reporting info → Indicative
- Why: He’s giving information about himself (he’d already eaten). No command, no influence — just reporting what he said.
She told me to text her when I got home, and of course I forgot.
Ella me dijo que la texteara cuando llegara a casa, y claro que se me olvidó.
- Reporting influence/command → Subjunctive
- Why: She’s telling me what to do (text her). Two subjects + influence = subjunctive in Spanish (me dijo que la texteara).
They said the bus was full, but people kept squeezing on anyway.
Ellos dijeron que el camión estaba lleno, pero la gente siguió subiendo de todos modos.
- Reporting info → Indicative
- Why: The statement “the bus was full” is just information about a situation. No command, no subjunctive needed.
My neighbour told me not to park in front of his house again.
Mi vecino me dijo que no estacionara otra vez frente a su casa.
- Reporting influence/command → Subjunctive
- Why: He’s telling me what not to do. Negative command = subjunctive
Mum said she wasn’t tired, but she fell asleep on the couch five minutes later.
Mamá dijo que no estaba cansada, pero se quedó dormida en el sillón cinco minutos después.
- Reporting info → Indicative
- Why: Mum is reporting about herself (she wasn’t tired). That’s just information — so indicative.
Practice DECIR preterite
- yo dije
- tú dijiste
- él / ella / usted dijo
- nosotros dijimos
- ellos / ellas / ustedes dijeron
Things to remember for this exercise:
– the info being reported, if in the past, will most often use the imperfect tense
– watch for the hidden que
– check for second subject clause = subjunctive
She said it was too late. Ella dijo que era demasiado tarde.
He told me the truth yesterday. Él me dijo la verdad ayer.
They said they wanted more cake. Dijeron que quisimos más pastel.
✅ Corrected: Ellos dijeron que querían más pastel.
- …they wanted more cake. → that’s the reported part – needs imperfect not preterite
- In Spanish, after dijeron que, you keep the verb in the imperfect (querían), not the preterite (quisieron), because it’s describing an ongoing want in the past, not a one-time “tried/refused.”
I told you that already. Ya te dije eso.
We said goodbye at the station. Nos dijimos adiós a la estación.
✅ Corrected: Nos despedimos en la estación.
- Nos dijimos = “we told each other,” which isn’t the idea here.
- For “said goodbye,” Spanish uses decir adiós but not with nos — instead it’s just nos despedimos (from despedirse = to say goodbye).
- And the preposition is en la estación (not a la estación).
ChatGPT: My intention was to give you a sentence where decir might look like the obvious choice in English, but in Spanish the natural phrasing actually shifts. It’s a little “trap” sentence — useful to test whether you’d spot that decir doesn’t always map directly to “say.”
👉 Nos despedimos en la estación. Most common way in everyday Spanish:
👉 Dijimos adiós en la estación. is correct, but it feels more formal/literal, less common in casual speech.
He told her to wait outside. Le dijo que esperara afuera. SUBJUNCTIVE
She said she was very tired. Dijo que estaba (imperfect) muy cansada.
They told us about their trip. Nos dijeron sobre su viaje.
- decir doesn’t usually pair with sobre like English “about.”
- Nos dijeron de su viaje.
I said I didn’t understand. Dije que no entendía (imperfect).
You told me it was a secret. Me dijiste que era (imperfect) un secreto.