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Spanish Grammar for Beginners: The 9 Parts of Speech

One of the most important parts of Spanish grammar for beginners is parts of speech!

You’ve probably heard your Spanish teacher talk about terms like sustantivo, verbo, and artículo in class, but what do they mean? Well, these are just a few of the parts of speech in Spanish!

Today, you’ll learn what these terms mean as I go over the 9 parts of speech in Spanish. Understanding how to use these terms can even help you learn Spanish faster! You can even test your new knowledge at the end of the post with a fun grammar quiz. 

What is a “Part of Speech”?

There are thousands of words in English and Spanish. Luckily, parts of speech exist to help categorize these words.

Parts of speech group words together based on their function in a sentence. In Spanish, the main parts of speech are: 

• Preposition
• Conjunction
• interjection 

The parts of speech are one of the most important Spanish grammar rules for beginners. There is lots of information packed into these 9 categories!

Knowing the Parts of Speech Makes Learning Spanish Easier

Understanding parts of speech is incredibly useful when learning a foreign language. Knowing a word’s part of speech tells you how to use it in a sentence. This knowledge makes it easier to properly construct sentences. 

Additionally, it’s important to know the parts of speech so that you’re not confused when your Spanish teacher talks about conjunctions, adverbs, and articles. Knowing some basic grammar terminology will help you better understand what’s going on in class. 

Discover the 9 Parts of Speech in Spanish

If you want to learn Spanish grammar for beginners, then knowing the parts of speech is a must. These categories are the building blocks for Spanish grammar. 

1. Articles ( Los artículos )

Articles draw special attention to the noun that they precede. The type of article shows the way that the speaker is thinking about the noun. The speaker could be talking about the noun in a general sense or as a specific item. The two distinct types of articles are definite and indefinite. 

Definite Articles

Definite articles specify which object, person, or place the speaker is talking about.

“The” is the only definite article in English. In Spanish, however, there are 4 definitive articles: los, las, el , and la . 

Again, these artículos change depending on the noun that they precede.

• Masculine singular: el
• Masculine plural: los
• Feminine singular: la
• Feminine plural: las

Let’s look at some examples.

La maestra pone el lápiz en la mesa. The teacher puts the pencil on the table.

El perro corre en el patio. The dog runs in the yard.

Indefinite Articles

Indefinite articles are a nonspecific way to refer to a noun. “A” and “an” are the only two English indefinite articles that exist. However, in Spanish, there are four.

Again, these artículos change depending on the noun that they proceed.

• Masculine singular: un 
• Masculine plural: unos
• Feminine singular: una 
• Feminine plural: unas

Look how the sentences change with indefinite articles.

Una maestra pone un lápiz en una mesa. A teacher puts a pencil on a table.

Un perro corre en un patio. A dog runs in a yard.

2. Nouns ( Los sustantivos )

You’ve probably heard that nouns in English are people, places, and things. Luckily, the same holds true in Spanish!

Nouns, or sustantivos , can be objects, feelings, and even concepts. They help you talk about the physical and imaginary world. Nouns are essentially names that identify objects. 

Many Spanish words have a specific ending that tells you that the word is a noun. 

Spanish Noun Endings

– ción/-ión

• canción – song
• transición – transition
• aprobación – approval
• unidad – unity
• profundidad – depth
• hermandad – brother/sisterhood
• sencillez – simplicity
• fluidez – fluidity
• diez – ten

Nouns can occur anywhere in a sentence, but they usually appear as the subject at the beginning of the sentence or as an object at the end. 

El perro corre en el jardín. The dog runs in the yard.

Los niños juegan con el gato en la sala. The children play with the cat in the living room.

3. Adjectives (Los adjetivos)

Adjectives describe nouns. You use adjectives all the time! They add creativity, detail, and personality to your sentences. Adjectives help describe people, places, and the things around you. 

Common Adjectives

• grande – big/large
• hermoso –  beautiful
• azul – blue
• rápido – fast

Be careful with your adjective placement! In English, adjectives come before the noun that they describe. However, in Spanish, they come after the noun. 

Example Sentences

La maestra nueva pone el lápiz amarillo en la mesa sucia. The new teacher puts the yellow pencil on the dirty table.

El perro feo corre en el patio grande. The ugly dog runs in the big yard.

Los niños traviesos juegan con el gato gris en la sala desorganizada. The mischievous children play with the gray cat in the messy living room.

4.  Verbs ( Los verbos )

Los verbos describe an action or a state of being. Verbs make up an important part of Spanish grammar for beginners. Every sentence has a verb! 

Common Verbs

• pensar – to think
• vivir – to live
• ser – to be

The above verbs are in their neutral state, which is called the infinitive form. You can tell when a verb is in its infinitive form because it will end in -ar, -er, or -ir . 

However, most sentences won’t use verbs in their infinitive form. Instead, verbs are usually conjugated in the present, past, future, or other tenses. Spanish verbs require a lot of conjugating! Learn more about Spanish verb conjugation with this guide .

See if you can identify the verbs in each of the following sentences. 

La maestra pone el lápiz en la mesa. (poner) The teacher puts the pencil on the table.

El perro corre en el patio. (correr) The dog runs in the yard.

5.  Adverbs ( Los adverbios )

Just like how adjectives describe nouns, adverbs add a description to verbs. Adverb even has the word “verb” inside of it!

For example, instead of saying “he runs,” you can say “he runs fast.” “Fast” describes how the action is done. 

Common Spanish Adverbs

Los adverbios in Spanish have many different forms, but the most common ending is – mente . In English, they end in -ly. 

• lentamente – slowly
• felizmente – happily
• cuidadosamente – carefully

Take a look at how adverbs affect these sentences.

La maestra pone el lápiz cuidadosamente en la mesa. The teacher carefully puts the pencil on the table.

El perro corre rápidamente en el patio. The dog runs quickly in the yard.

Los niños juegan silenciosamente con el gato en la sala. The children play quietly with the cat in the living room.

6. Pronouns ( Los pronombres )

A pronoun is essentially a word that substitutes a noun. You don’t want to keep using the same noun over and over again when telling a story. This repetition would sound boring and cluttered. Instead, you use a pronoun to replace the noun that you are talking about. 

Take a look at this paragraph without pronouns:

The teacher walked into class. Then the teacher told us that the teacher had a surprise. The teacher brought cupcakes to class!

Now take a look at the same paragraph using pronouns:

The teacher walked into class. Then she told us that she had a surprise. She brought cupcakes to class!

See how important pronouns are? They make the paragraph much more clear and concise!

Spanish Subject Pronouns

Spanish subject pronouns are the most common type of pronoun. They are broken down by the gender and number of the noun they replace. 

Try to identify the subject pronouns in these sentences. 

Ella pone el lápiz en la mesa. She puts the pencil on the table.

Él corre en el patio. He runs in the yard.

7. Prepositions ( Las preposiciones )

Prepositions explain the relationships between nouns. They tell you how two nouns are related, often referring to a location. 

Common Spanish Prepositions

• en – in, on
• por – by, because of
• debajo – below
• adentro – inside

These words are normally sandwiched by two nouns, as you can see in the following examples.

El perro corre alrededor del patio. The dog runs around the yard.

8. Conjunctions ( Las conjunciones )

Conjunctions are words that connect nouns, verbs, phrases, and sentences. They help you piece together different ideas. 

There are two main types of conjunctions: simple and complex. The simple conjunctions are the ones that you use all the time. In English, they are “and”, “but”, and “or”. Complex conjunctions, on the other hand, have a little more depth. 

Simple Spanish Conjunctions

• y – and
• o – or
• pero – but

Complex Spanish Conjunctions

• sin embargo – however 
• por lo tanto – therefore 
• así que – so
• aunque – even though

Take a look at how these conjunctions act in a sentence. 

La maestra pone el lápiz en la mesa pero se cae. The teacher puts the pencil on the table but it falls off.

Aunque el perro y el niño corrieron en el patio, todavía tienen energía. Even though the dog and the boy ran in the yard, they still have energy.

Los niños juegan con el gato en la sala. Así que, no nos van a molestar. The children play with the cat in the living room. So, they will not bother us.

9. Interjections ( Las interjecciones )

Interjections are abrupt remarks that help you to express different emotions. They also help to improve your Spanish by making it sound more natural! 

Interjections are a fun part of Spanish grammar for beginners. They are short words or phrases so they are easy to remember. Plus, native speakers will love hearing you use these natural Spanish sounds. 

Common Interjections in English

Common interjections in spanish.

Interjections can vary in their meaning. Context is extremely important to help decode them. Volume, pitch, and speed can also help show meaning. Interjections can also be filler words. They are a way to fill in a space or pause while the speaker thinks of the next thing they want to say. In this way, they are a means of not giving up airtime or preventing someone from interrupting.

Take a look at how interjections add emotion and feeling to these sentences. 

¡Venga! La maestra ya ha empezado la clase. Come on! The teacher already started class.

¡Ay! El perro está fuera del patio. Hey! The dog is outside of the yard.

Spanish Grammar Books

Here are some of the best Spanish grammar for beginners books. Whether you’re looking for grammar books for preschoolers , kids , or adults , there is a book for everyone!

Spanish Grammar for Beginners Quiz

Grammar exercises are a great way to reinforce what you’ve learned. This Spanish grammar test for beginners is an easy way to practice. Try to see if you can get all 10 questions right!

1. Gato is a…

2. ella is a…, 3. alto is an…, 5. en is a...., 6. las is an…, 7. ah is an…, 8. lentamente is an…, 9. correr is a…, 10. ciudad is a…, learn even more spanish grammar for beginners with a free class.

Now that you’ve explored Spanish grammar for beginners, it’s time to impress your language teacher! If you’re still searching for the perfect Spanish teacher, consider trying a free class with Homeschool Spanish Academy. We offer programs for students of all ages at competitive pricing . Sign up today and our certified teachers from Guatemala will have you speaking Spanish after just one class!

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar and vocabulary? Check these out!

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• A Complete Guide to Imperfect Conjugation for Beginners
• How to Talk About the Temperature in Spanish: Fahrenheit, Celcius, and Descriptions
• A Complete Guide to Preterite Conjugation for Beginners
• Spanish Words with Multiple Meanings in Latin America
• How Many Words Are in the Spanish Language? Really?
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Prepare to give a Speech in a foreign language Draft

Have you ever stood in front of people with the intention to instruct them, teach them something you know, or something you’re learning? Most of us, have had to do this, maybe because we were studying at a school or university, or because of our job we had to stand in front of more than one person and we had to start talking about a topic we knew or a topic we did some research on. However, have you ever had to give a speech in a foreign language ?

I know, that’s a different story. It’s more difficult than it is in your own language, and it is way more difficult if you are shy. However, don’t worry too much, here we’ll give you some ideas on how can you prepare yourself to give a Speech in a foreign language.

The info is like food

Every good thing requires preparation. If you are thinking about sharing ideas to a group of people in a foreign language, you definitely need to be prepared because it is as if you’re a chef who is serving food to them, and the food needs to be appealing and good in order for them to like it. So, how can prepare yourself to do this?

If the information that you are going to present is something your audience and you are learning , a good thing to do is to get the whole picture and understand the info as much as you can. I mean not just understanding in your own way, but trying to transform the info in something as simple as possible.

You can do this by breaking the info in different parts (divide and conquer). When you apply this, you can get the main points easily. When you get the main points of the info then it’s easier to get the full meaning of the topic and give the speech in a proper and appealing manner.

Search on dictionary

Don’t think you know it all, just because you can speak Spanish . You may have made amazing advancement in the language, but there is always be some words you don’t know how to use properly. There are also some synonyms you don’t know yet that would perfectly fit the speech you are going to give. Go to the dictionary if you don’t understand perfectly something, and you will find amazing information that will help you get the speech more appealing and simple.

For example, you can look for synonyms of some of the most difficult words in your speech, and change them to make it easier for your audience to understand you. This way you won’t lose the purpose of your speech, your important points and content will not disappear, it will be like changing some ingredients in your food, to get the food taste better for the people you’re giving it to.

divide and conquer

Do research

Research is very important when giving a speech. Would you go to any market to buy the food, you and your family want to eat? Would you buy fresh fish or a fish that has been there for long enough for you to notice is not fresh? I bet you would not buy an old fish. It’s just the same with the information you need for your speech. You need to do proper research in order to give an accurate and good presentation.

Can you imagine putting time doing research and then people telling you and others that the info you gave them wasn’t right? That would be embarrassing! Researching also helps you. When you research topics you are forced to learn new words and their meaning, and you’re also forced to learn new phrases . These things will help you, be more accurate when giving the speech.

Would you say that a soup made by someone that makes it the second time, is the same soup made by someone that makes it the 50th time? Surely not. The person that has done it for 50 times, surely knows more about how to make it properly. He knows how much salt, how much water and how much of the other ingredients he needs to put.

The other person instead, it’s just learning and it’s just getting used to these new things. Basically, this one has to read the instructions, he has to call someone, or maybe watch a video about that, and if he messes with one of the ingredients, most of the time he doesn’t know how to handle that. Yes, there’s a difference between rice and a rice soup!

With speeches and rehearsing it’s basically the same. You don’t have to rehearse a speech 50 times to do it well. However, you need to rehearse it a good amount of times to be better at it. When you rehearse you start feeling more confident about the speech and you start losing the fears that may have.

For example, if you make mistakes you know how to change the speech to fit what you are talking about. Also, when you rehearse, you start learning the speech and it would be easy for you to highlight the most important parts of it.

Who is your audience?

This is the main reason you have been doing all this work. You want your audience to enjoy, you want them to be smarter, you want them to be relaxed, and you want them to feel like at home. So, when preparing, you can do all of what we talked about, but if you don’t do this, you will not succeed.

To everyone is very important to feel special, to feel that someone else has any interest in them. So, before you give a speech, you should think about whom you are going to talk to. You don’t want to be just throwing facts and info at people, maybe saying things they are not going to remember or something that they don’t care about. You don’t want people to walk away in the middle of the speech, if that happens, you will be destroyed after seen that.

So, you need to think carefully, who is your audience? What’s their interest? How can you make the topic interesting to them? What facts about the research that you have done will change their view of the topic? When you do these you are actually making your food (Speech) very appealing and something worth listening to.

So, work hard now, and reap the fruits of your hard work later. There’s nothing like having an audience paying very careful attention to what you have to say.

For more tips on foreign languages, keep tune at spanishtomind.com.

Diego Cuadros

Diego Cuadros is a blogger and a Spanish online teacher. He uses stories to help Spanish lovers understand fast-speaking native speakers, so they don't freeze and panic in conversations.

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To Give A Speech in Spanish

1. Start with “dar un discurso” or “pronunciar un discurso” 2. Use “ofrecer una charla” for a more informal speech 3. “Hacer una presentación” is also a common phrase for giving a speech 4. Remember to use proper verb conjugation and accentuation 5. Practice your speech beforehand for fluency and confidence.

Understanding the Phrase “To Give A Speech” in Spanish

Giving a speech, the act of delivering a formal presentation or address to an audience, can be expressed in Spanish through the phrase “dar un discurso”. This phrase is commonly used when discussing public speaking or presenting information to a group of people. Let’s explore the different aspects of giving a speech in Spanish.

Preparing for a Speech

Researching the topic.

When it comes to preparing for a speech, you can use the phrase “investigar el tema” in Spanish. This involves gathering information, conducting research, and becoming knowledgeable about the subject matter to deliver a well-informed and engaging speech.

Organizing the Content

If you want to express the action of organizing the content for a speech, you would say “organizar el contenido” in Spanish. This refers to structuring the speech, outlining key points, and arranging the information in a logical and coherent manner.

Delivering the Speech

Opening with an introduction.

When delivering a speech, it’s important to start with a strong introduction. In Spanish, you can use the phrase “comenzar con una introducción” to express this. This involves capturing the audience’s attention, stating the purpose of the speech, and providing an overview of what will be discussed.

Presenting Key Points

To convey the idea of presenting key points in a speech, you can use the phrase “presentar puntos clave” in Spanish. This involves discussing the main ideas, supporting them with relevant examples or evidence, and maintaining a clear and organized flow of information.

Engaging the Audience

In order to engage the audience during a speech, you can use the phrase “involucrar a la audiencia” in Spanish. This includes techniques such as using rhetorical questions, employing storytelling techniques, and encouraging active participation through gestures or interactive elements.

Giving a speech, expressed as “dar un discurso” in Spanish, is a powerful means of communicating ideas and engaging with an audience. By preparing effectively, organizing the content, and delivering the speech with confidence and engagement, you can deliver a compelling and impactful presentation. Whether it’s delivering a speech in a formal setting, academic environment, or public event, understanding the correct usage of “to give a speech” in Spanish is essential for effective communication and successful public speaking. I Will Return Spanish I Will Do in Spanish

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Reported Speech in Spanish: Master the Art of Talking About What Other People Say

Reported speech is everywhere.

In English, you use it dozens (if not hundreds) of times every day without even realizing it.

The good news is that you can be that natural in Spanish, too. You’re literally just an article away from becoming a Spanish reported speech master yourself!

Don’t believe me? Give this post just 10 minutes of your time, and you’ll see how easy it can be.

What Is Spanish Reported Speech?

Basics of spanish reported speech, spanish reporting verbs, decir  (to say, to tell), preguntar  (to ask), querer saber (to want to know), pedir  (to ask), querer (to want), other reporting verbs in spanish, using  que (that), spanish reported speech word order: subject + verb + object, spanish reported speech based on questions, yes or no questions, “wh-” questions, other changes in spanish reported speech, personal pronouns and possessives, time and place expressions, verb tenses, and one more thing….

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Direct and reported speech are two of the most frequently-used grammar points in languages, and Spanish is no exception. Whenever you talk about what someone else has said, you use either direct or reported speech.

When you repeat exactly what another person has said and explicitly indicate who said it, you’re using direct speech. For example:

Daniel dice: “Estoy muy cansado hoy.” (Daniel says: “I am very tired today.”)

Now, let’s say you don’t remember exactly what your  compadre (buddy) Daniel said, but you do remember the gist of it. If someone else asks you what Daniel said, you’d say something like:

Daniel dice que está muy cansado hoy.  (Daniel says he is very tired today.)

That, in a nutshell, is reported speech. Spanish reported speech is where you talk about someone (other than yourself and the person you’re talking to) and what that person said without necessarily quoting them verbatim.

In written texts or messages, it’s usually easier to differentiate between Spanish direct and reported speech. For starters, direct speech uses quotation marks to enclose the statement being quoted, while reported speech doesn’t. Direct speech quotes the person being talked about word-for-word, while reported speech may or may not use their exact words, though the gist of what they said is always present.

So that’s it, right? Differentiating direct and reported speech in Spanish is just a matter of using the right punctuation marks and whether you used the other person’s exact words, yes? 

Not quite. Although English and Spanish reported speech are similar for the most part, the latter has some unique quirks that we’ll be discussing in the next sections.

Like in English, reported speech in Spanish consists of a few basic elements: reporting verbs, connecting words like que (“that”) and the message from the person being talked about—whether the message is verbatim or not.

Let’s break them down below.

Similar to English, Spanish reporting verbs (also known as communication verbs ) are used to signal that you’re either quoting someone directly (direct speech) or paraphrasing them (reported speech).

There are dozens of reporting verbs in every language, although we tend to use some of them more often than others.

Here are a few of the most common reporting verbs in Spanish:

Decir is probably the most common Spanish word to use when talking about what someone else said.

If you want to tell someone about what another person is asking, use preguntar.

Querer saber can be used in a similar way as preguntar.

When you’re talking about what someone else wants, use pedir.

Instead of pedir, you can also use querer.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, there are so many Spanish reporting verbs that it would be impossible to list them all here. However, I can give you some of the most common ones:

You may have noticed that almost all of our examples above have the word que . I’m telling you now: que is going to be your new best friend, because every single reported statement and command in Spanish will include it, even if you omit or don’t need “that” in English.

Let’s look at a few examples:

It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about a statement, command or question. The word order will always be Subject + Verb + Object, as is typical of Spanish sentence structure .

When the reported speech Spanish speakers use is based on questions , it deviates slightly from the structure we just discussed and is based on whether you’re using a “yes or no” question or a “wh-” question.

In reported speech that’s based on this kind of question, you use si (if, whether) instead of que .

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

When you’re reporting a “wh-” question, you use the appropriate question words above instead of  que or  si .

One thing to keep in mind: when using the verb preguntar , you can add que just before the question word.

Don’t be afraid to write two que together! They aren’t the same word, and they don’t have the same function.

In reported speech, the personal pronouns and possessives change from the reported version. Luckily, it works the same way in English—that is, the change is necessary so that the core message isn’t lost or misinterpreted.

Again like English, time and place expressions in the reported speech Spanish speakers use change from their direct counterparts.

Here are some of the main changes that take place:

There’s a group of words I’d like to include in this section. They’re neither time nor place expressions, but they imply distance from the speaker.

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

The good news is that these changes don’t happen all the time, and you have almost identical changes in English.

But when do we need to make changes in verb tenses? How do we know?

The only thing you have to bear in mind here is the reporting verb. Yes, that little friend present at the beginning of the reported sentences we studied before.

There are only two straightforward rules, really:

1. If the reporting verb is in the present simple or the present perfect tense, you DON’T have to change any verb tenses unless you have a command.

2. If the reporting verb is in the preterite, the imperfect or the past perfect tense ( pluscuamperfecto ), you DO need to make changes.

Have a look at the following examples. The reporting verbs (in bold) are in the present simple or the present perfect, so there are no verb changes in the reported sentences.

As stated before, when you have a command, you do need to make changes even when the reporting verb is in the present or the present perfect tense. Therefore, the imperative changes into the present subjunctive .

Similarly, if the command’s reporting verb is in the past tense, the imperative changes into the imperfect subjunctive.

In those sentences where the reporting verb appears in the past tense, you need to make verb tense changes in the reported fragment. These changes are almost identical to those in English, but here are the most important ones for your convenience:

In those sentences where the verb is in the imperfect , conditional or past perfect ( pluscuamperfecto ), there are no tense changes.

I know this can all sound very overwhelming and confusing, so I’d like to introduce you to the language learning platform FluentU , where you can watch reported speech in Spanish in action.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

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And that’s all!

As you can see, Spanish and English reported speeches are very similar.

Just remember the few rules I’ve taught you in this post, and you’ll have no problem at all!

If you've made it this far that means you probably enjoy learning Spanish with engaging material and will then love FluentU .

Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You’ll learn Spanish as it’s actually spoken by real people.

FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list.

Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab .

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The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they’re learning with the same video.

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Spanish Grammar Lesson: Direct vs Indirect Speech

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March 25, 2017

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The difference between direct and indirect speech (also called reported speech) is pretty easy to understand.  

But it's not very easy to apply when speaking in a foreign language. It is a very important part of communicating, however, and plays an major role in most conversations.

Read on for a quick introduction and guide to direct vs indirect speech in Spanish.

So, what’s the difference?

That’s a very good question! Before we get too far ahead of ourselves with all the little technicalities, let’s make sure that we understand what we’re dealing with here.

In order to do this, take the following conversation:

Pedro: Where are you going?

Jose: To the store.

1: Will you get milk?

2: Sure, no problem.

Now, let’s say Pedro later goes on to have a conversation with someone else, about the above mentioned interaction. There are some options for how they could go about doing this. Let’s just say it looked something like this:

• Pedro: I asked Jose where he was going. He said, “to the store.” So, I asked if he would get some milk, and he said “sure, no problem.”

The above recounting of a previous event or exchange with another person is what we’re going to look at. You have two options when doing this.

The first, is by using quotation marks. This is direct speech. This means that the words are being repeated exactly like they were said.

• He said, “to the store.”
• ...and he said, “sure, no problem.”

The second way of recounting a conversation is through indirect speech. In the example above, this is done through changing the verb tense, although that isn’t always required (we will look at that more later).  

• Reported: I asked him where he was going.
• Reported: I asked if he would get some milk.

Basically, there are 3 important rules to keep in mind when using indirect (reported) speech. They are:

• You will not use quotation marks
• Since you’re not quoting, you don’t need to say word-for-word what the person said
• When reporting what someone said, you generally change the verb tense.

Reporting Verbs

There are still a few things we need to talk about before getting into everyone’s favorite part about grammar--the technicalities.

In order to identify that something is being “reported” or to communicate that you are repeating something that someone said previously, you’ll use a reporting verb. We have them in English as well. The most common are:

*Most common of the most common

“Que”--your new best friend

You’ll notice that (almost) all of the examples above in the chart using reported speech include the little word “que.” This is not a coincidence.

When speaking in reported speech you will always use the “que” (meaning “that”). Even if in English we can and would omit the “that” you still need it in Spanish.”  

“She said that she was tired.”- Here, in English the “that” is optional. This is not the case in Spanish.

“He asked that I go to the store.” (He asked me to go to the store.) - this is one of the examples where the “that” wouldn’t be use in English, but it would in Spanish.

But wait… the questions…

If you’re reporting a question, you have a few options available as they don’t always need the “que”.

Yes and No Questions.

If the answer to the question being reported can be “yes” or “no” you don’t need the “que.” In these situation we would use the “si” like in English (if).

“He asked me if I could go to the store.”- Me preguntó si iba a la tienda .

Questions with question words

If you are reporting a question that contained the question words  (where, who, when, etc.) you will not need the “que” but stick with the question word used in the original context.

• María: Where is Sara? ( ¿Dónde está Sara? )

Reported speech: Maria wanted to know where Sara was. ( María quería saber donde estaba Sara. )

Let’s get a little more technical.

We’ll try to ease you into all of this grammatical stuff. It seems like a lot to remember. But, a lot of it is very common in English as well, so try to not to get too overwhelmed!

Personal pronouns and Possessive pronouns.

Again, let’s start with an example:

• María: Can you tell my brother that I need to talk to him? ¿Puedes decirle a mi hermano que le tengo que hablar?

Here, obviously a few things need to change if you want to report this statement. For one, he’s not your brother and for another you’re not the one that needs to speak to him.

In this situation, the personal pronouns (you, I) need to change, as well as the possessive (my). Here’s how this statement would sound when repeating it later on to someone else:

• The pronouns remain the same.
• Here, you can see that the pronouns did change.

So far so good, right? It’s pretty basic stuff up to this point. Just like in English, we need to change the subject and the pronouns.

Time phrases

Obviously, more often than not, if you’re reporting something that happened it’s because the person you’re recounting the event to wasn’t there when it took place--i.e. it was in the past.

So, here’s how you would change around your time phrases so they line up with what you’re saying:

As you’ll notice above, all of the examples are written in the past. This is also something important to pay attention to, and probably one of the most important grammatical points of reported speech. So, let’s go ahead and dive right into that!

Verb tenses in indirect (reported) speech.

The tense the reporting verb is in (present, past, future) will have a big impact on the rest of the sentence. Not only will you need to pay attention to the tense, but also to what is being said.

Command/Request vs information

Depending on the context of the conversation being reported, you’ll need to use different ways of repeating it.

This is where things can start to get a little tricky. We do have similar rules in English as they do in Spanish, but in English they are a little more flexible, and followed less frequently.

Here are some good rules to keep in mind when using indirect speech in Spanish:

• If the reporting verb is in the present or present perfect tense you do not need to change the verb tense--unless it’s a command (we’ll talk more about this in a minute).
• If the reporting verb is in the preterite, imperfect, or the past perfect tense you do need to change the  verb tense.

Let’s look at a quick scenario and see what we have:

Scenario: Let’s say you’re texting with someone, and your friend (who you’re with physically) wants to know what the person texting you is saying.

Person 1: What did he say?

Person 2: He asked if we are free tonight. ( reporting information )

1: Why? What does he want?

2: He wants us to help him move. ( reporting a request )

Here, we can see that in the first part, Person 2 is simply repeating the information . He asked a question, and this is what it is. The reporting verb “want to know” is in the present, so the second verb is in the present as well.

In the second part of the exchange, the reporting verb is in the present, so in English, we keep the it in the present as well. In Spanish, however, if we are reporting a request or command , we need to use the subjunctive. In this case it will be the present subjunctive because the reporting verb is in present.

In Spanish the conversation would go like this:

Person 1: ¿Qué dijo?”

Person 2: Quiere saber si estamos libres esta noche. (present-present)

1: ¿Por qué? ¿Qué quiere?

2: Quiere que le ayudemos a hacer la mudanza. (present-present subjunctive)

Note: This change to the subjunctive only happens with certain verbs: Decir, Pedir, Querer. An easy way to remember this is if they verb will be followed by “si” or “que.”

• Quiere saber si podemos salir esta noche. (He wants to know if I can go out tonight.)
• Me pregunta si quiero quedar mañana. (He’s asking if I can meet up tomorrow.)
• Again, in this situation you’re not necessarily relaying the request or the command, but merely the information contained in the request itself.
• Me dice que tenga cuidado. (He tells me to be careful.)
• Frenando me pide que le ayude con los deberes. (Franks asks me to help with the homework.)
• Fernando me dice que tengo que ir a clase mañana.

Verb Tense Changes

So, if you feel like all of that has settled into your mind and it’s not going to explode just yet, let’s keep chugging along!

As mentioned above, if the reporting verb is in present, it will only change (to present subjunctive) if the thing being reported is a command/ request. When the reporting verb is in the past, however, the rest of the information being reported will need to change tense. Here’s how that is going to work:

Present Simple--Imperfect

• Direct speech: Angela dijo, “No puedo ir.” (Angela said, “I can’t go.”)
• Indirect/ Reported speech: Angela dijo que no podía ir. (Angela said that she couldn’t go.)

Preterite--Pluscuamperfecto (past perfect)

• Direct speech: Sergio dijo, “Ayer compré un movil nuevo.”  (Sergio said, “Yesterday I bought a new cell phone.)
• Indirect/ Reported speech: Sergio dijo que el día anterior había comprado un movil nuevo. (Sergio said that the day before he had bought a new phone.)

Future simple (will)--Conditional simple (would)

• Direct speech : Candela dijo, “Llegaré tarde.” - (Candela said, “I’ll arrive late.”)
• Indirect/ Reported speech: Candela dijo que llegaría tarde. - (Candela said that she would arrive late.)

Imperfect/Conditional/Past Perfect

With these, you will not change second verb tense. Yay!

• Direct speech: Juan dijo, “la playa era muy bonita.” (Juan said, “the beach was very pretty.”)
• Indirect/ Reported speech: Juan dijo que la playa era muy bonita . (Juan said that beach was very pretty.)

Conditional:  

• Direct speech: María dijo, “Me gustaría vivir en Nueva York.” (Maria said, “I would like to live in New York.”
• Indirect/ Reported speech: María dijo que le gustaría vivir en Nueva York. (Maria said she would like to live in New York.
• Past Perfect
• Direct speech: Mi padre me dijo, “a las 5 ya había llegado. ” (My dad told me, “at 5 I had already arrived.”)
• Indirect/ Reported speech: Mi padre me dijo que a las 5 ya había llegado . (My dad told me that a 5 he had already arrived.)

Just one more thing… I promise!

One last thing to remember, like we saw with the present tense, if the verb in the past is a reporting verb, and what is being reported is a command or request, you will use the subjunctive--past subjunctive this time!

• Direct speech: Mis padres me dijeron, “vuelve a casa a las 23.00. ” (My parents told me, “be home at 11:00pm.)
• Indirect/ Reported speech: Mis padres me dijeron que volviera a casa a las 23.00 . (My parents told me to be home by 11:00 pm.)

¡Madre Mía! That was a lot of information!

Let’s see if we can condense it down just a little bit.

Important rules to remember. If you are using reporting speech:

If you do need to change the verb tense, this is why and when:

• Commands or requests with a present tense reporting verb will take the present subjunctive conjugation in the following verb.
• Again, commands or requests with a past tense reporting verb will need to take the past subjunctive conjugation in the following verb.

If the reporting verb is in the past, these are the changes you’ll make:

• Present simple--imperfect
• Preterite-Past Perfect (Pluscuamperfecto)
• Will future--simple continual (would)

Verbs that will not change the tense of the others verbs:

• Conditional

Things to keep in mind:

• Remember your reporting verbs
• Remember to change the personal and possessive pronouns
• Remember your time phrases

In reality, it’s not as complicated as it looks. It may take a little practice to get used to, but after a while, you’ll find that is relatively similar to what we do in English. Do you have any shortcuts you use to remember the rules mentioned above? Is reported (indirect) speech something you struggle with? Let us know in the comments!

About the author 

Anastasia is a Chicago, Illinois native. She began studying Spanish over 10 years ago, and hasn’t stopped since. Living in Spain since 2012, she loves Spanish tortilla, vino tinto, and anything that contains jamón ibérico.

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Top 87 Basic & Common Spanish Phrases You Must Know

If you’re beginner or want to sound more natural, in this article, you’ll find some common Spanish phrases that can help you get around in daily situations and engage in simple conversations.

Here is how I’ve classified these basic phrase: 

• Greetings & Polite Phrases
• Basic Spanish Phrases for Daily Situations
• Phrases for Restaurants
• Basic Sentences for Moving Around the City 
• Common Phrases for Work & School
• Downloadable PDF

Popular Spanish Greetings & Polite Phrases

• Buenos días : Good day
• Con permiso : Excuse me
• De nada : You’re welcome
• El gusto es mío : The pleasure is mine
• Hasta luego : See you later
• Hasta mañana : See you tomorrow 
• Hola, ¿cómo estás? : Hi, how are you?
• Muchas gracias : Thank you very much
• Mucho gusto : Nice to meet you
• Muy bien, ¿y tú? : Very well and you?
• No hay problema : No problem
• No muy bien : Not very well
• Nos vemos luego : See you later
• Que le vaya bien : Have a good day / Hope everything goes well
• Que tengas buen día : Have a good day

Common Spanish Phrases for Daily Situations

• Ahorita regreso / Ahorita vuelvo : I’ll be right back 
• Como quieras : As you wish
• Espérame : Wait for me
• Estoy muy cansado : I’m very tired
• Estoy ocupado : I’m busy
• ¿Me puedes ayudar?: Can you help me?
• No entiendo : I don’t understand
• No es necesario : It’s not necessary
• No estoy seguro : I’m not sure
• No puedo : I can’t
• No sé : I don’t know
• No sé cómo + [infinitivo] : I don’t know how to…
• No tiene sentido : It doesn’t make sense
• No te puedo ayudar : I can’t help you
• Pobre de ti : Poor of you
• Porque sí : Because
• ¡Qué bueno! : Good!
• ¿Qué haces? : What are you doing? / What are you up to?
• ¿Qué necesitas? : What do you need?
• ¿Qué quieres decir? : What do you want to say?
• ¿Qué quieres hacer? : What do you want to do?
• Siento oír eso : I’m sorry to hear that
• Supongo que sí : I guess so
• Tiene sentido: It makes sense
• Tienes razon: You’re right
• Tengo ganas de : I feel like
• Tengo mucha hambre : I’m very hungry
• Tómate tu tiempo : Take your time 
• Ya me voy : I’m leaving
• Vamos a + [lugar / verbo] : Let’s go to…
• Vamos por + [sustantivo] : Let’s go get…
• Vámonos : Let’s go

Check these examples: 

¿ Vamos a ir al cine más tarde? Are we going to the movies later?

¿ Qué haces ? ¿Estás ocupado? What are you doing ? Are you busy?

Basic Spanish Phrases for Restaurants

Whether you’re learning Spanish for traveling or have different goals, you likely need to use some Spanish to order food . Here are some common phrases native speakers use in this context:

• Es para llevar : It’s to go
• ¿Esta silla está ocupada?: Is this seat taken?
• La cuenta, por favor : The bill, please
• ¿Me da..? : Can you give me?
• ¿Me puede dar unos minutos? : Can you give me a few minutes?
• ¿Me puede traer…? : Can you bring me…?
• Mesa para… : Table for…
• ¿Puedo ver el menú, por favor? : Can I see the menu, please?
• Quisiera… : I would like…
• ¿Tendrá una mesa disponible? : Do you have a table available?

Check these sentences:

¿ Me puede traer un tenedor limpio? Can you bring me a clean fork?

Quisiera la ensalada de pollo y sopa. I would like the chicken salad and soup.

Mesa para cinco, por favor.  Table for five, please.  

Common Spanish Phrases for Moving Around the City

• Abre a : It opens at
• ¿A qué hora pasa el autobús? : What time does the bus come?
• Cierra a : It closes at
• ¿Cómo llego a…? : How do I get to…?
• ¿Cuánto hace a…? : How long to…? 
• ¿Dónde está…? : Where is…?
• ¿Dónde hay…? : Where is…?
• ¿Dónde puedo tomar un taxi? : Where can I take a cab?
• Estoy buscando : I’m looking for
• Estoy perdido : I’m lost
• Necesito llegar a : I need to get to

And here are some examples of how to use these basic Spanish phrases in context:

Necesito llegar al hospital.  I need to get to the hospital. 

Disculpe, ¿ dónde hay una librería? Excuse me, where is the library?

El museo abre a las 8 y cierra a las 9.  The museum opens at 8 and closes at 9. 

Take Note : If you want to ask or give directions in Spanish , you should learn some essential prepositions of place and specific questions for this context. 

Key Phrases for Work & School

• ¿A qué hora es…? : What time is…?
• ¿A qué hora se termina…? : What time does the…end?
• ¿A qué estamos hoy? : What’s today’s date?
• ¿Cómo se escribe…? : How do you spell…?
• ¿Cuál es la fecha de entrega? : What’s the deadline?
• ¿De qué se trató…? What was the…about?
• ¿En qué le puedo ayudar? : How can I help you?
• Estoy de acuerdo : I agree with you
• Estoy por: I am about to
• ¿Me puedes explicar otra vez? : Can you explain this to me again?
• ¿Qué día es…? : What day is…?
• ¿Qué opinas? : What do you think?
• ¿Qué página? : What page?
• Permítame un momento : Give me a moment
• Por favor, llámeme a : Please, call me at
• Yo tampoco entiendo : I don’t understand either
• Yo tampoco sé : I don’t know either
• Vamos a tomar una pausa : Let’s take a break

Check these examples:

¿ A qué hora es la reunión? What time is the meeting?

¿ Qué día es el examen? What day is the exam? 

Estoy por terminar tu diseño.  I am about to finish your design. 

¿ De qué se trató la clase? What was the class about?

Additional Resources for Spanish Beginners

Now that you know some common Spanish phrases, you may also want to learn basic words and common questions we can use in daily life situations. If you’re ready to take your Spanish to the next level, you should learn basic common verbs and conjugation rules so you start customizing your questions and phrases. 

Download the Common Spanish Phrases & Sentences PDF

Reading all of these phrases and sentences in Spanish is one thing. Knowing them by heart, how they work, and how to customize them takes time and practice. If you’d like to take this list of common Spanish phrases with you, feel free to download the PDF for this guide. It has all the phrases grouped by category so you can start applying them in your conversations.

Daniela Sanchez

¡Hola! Soy Daniela Sanchez, I've been studying Spanish professionally as well as teaching it in Mexico and online for over 10 years. I’ve taught Spanish to a wide array of foreigners from many backgrounds. Over the years, I've made it my mission to work hard on refining many challenging to understand grammar topics to make my students' learning experiences easier, faster and more enjoyable. Read More About Me

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What is the translation of "give a speech" in Spanish?

"give a speech" in spanish, give a speech {vb}.

• volume_up discursear

Translations

Give a speech {verb}.

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• warning Request revision

Context sentences

English spanish contextual examples of "give a speech" in spanish.

These sentences come from external sources and may not be accurate. bab.la is not responsible for their content.

Monolingual examples

English how to use "give a speech" in a sentence, english how to use "discursar" in a sentence, similar translations, similar translations for "give a speech" in spanish.

• forma de hablar
• disertación
• give a sermon
• give a shout
• give a shout-out
• give a shout-out to
• give a shrug
• give a sigh
• give a signal
• give a smile
• give a sneak
• give a specific
• give a speech
• give a stipend
• give a strength
• give a suggestion
• give a synopsis
• give a talk
• give a taste of
• give a thing and take a thing, to wear the devil's gold ring
• give a thought
• give a thumb
• give a thumbs-down

Moreover, bab.la provides the English-Finnish dictionary for more translations.

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Translation of speech – English-Spanish dictionary

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• She suffers from a speech defect .
• From her slow , deliberate speech I guessed she must be drunk .
• Freedom of speech and freedom of thought were both denied under the dictatorship .
• As a child , she had some speech problems .
• We use these aids to develop speech in small children .

FORMAL TALK

• Her speech was received with cheers and a standing ovation .
• She closed the meeting with a short speech.
• The vicar's forgetting his lines in the middle of the speech provided some good comedy .
• Her speech caused outrage among the gay community .
• She concluded the speech by reminding us of our responsibility .

(Translation of speech from the Cambridge English-Spanish Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Translation of speech | GLOBAL English–Spanish Dictionary

(Translation of speech from the GLOBAL English-Spanish Dictionary © 2020 K Dictionaries Ltd)

Examples of speech

Translations of speech.

Get a quick, free translation!

Word of the Day

the fact that people or animals do what they are told to do

Binding, nailing, and gluing: talking about fastening things together

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• 6 Pronunciation Mistakes Spanish Speakers Make in English (And How To Fix Them)

• Posted on 11/11/2020
• Categories: Blog
• Tags: Phonetics , Pronunciation , Resources to learn English , Speaking

One of the biggest challenges for Spanish speakers when learning English is pronunciation. Often it’s a struggle to produce certain vowel sounds. Sometimes it’s a case of dropping consonants at the end of words. And for some people it’s mispronunciation of the letter ‘h’ – a lot like Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady (more about this later).

Whatever the problem, there’s an easy explanation for it.

In Spanish there’s a tendency to pronounce things the way that they’re written. There are also some big differences between English and Spanish phonetics . Improving your pronunciation is not about sounding native, it’s about making yourself understood. And let’s face it, sometimes the mistakes are so ingrained they sound okay to you.

To help you overcome these problems, we’ve made a list of six of the most common pronunciation mistakes Spanish speakers make in English. We’ve also given you some fun tips on how to fix them.

So relax your tongue. Loosen those lips. And let’s get practising your pronunciation!

1. Dropping consonant sounds at the end of words

When speaking English, Spanish speakers may drop consonants at the end of words. This is not a fatal mistake, but it is one that often falls through the net .

For example, instead of saying ‘text’, Spanish speakers may say ‘tex’ or ‘brefas’ rather than ‘breakfast’. Instead of ‘mind’ you might say ‘mine’.

This is because consonant clusters never appear at the ends of words in Spanish. As a result, you may drop the last consonant sound in English without even noticing.

Often this creates problems with ‘ed’ verb endings – meaning words like ‘worked’ or ‘loved’ may be pronounced ‘work’ or ‘love’.

One way you can overcome this is by linking words in a sentence – just like a native would.

That way you’re not trying to hit every single sound.

Try saying a complete sentence and moving the consonant sound over to the next word:

• ‘We worked on it’ – ‘we work don it’.
• ‘Im having breakfast at the cafe’ – I’m having breakfas tat the cafe.’
• ‘I don’t mind if we stay home’ – ‘I don’t min dif we stay home.’

Go on, practise it now and record yourself on your phone! How was it?

2.Short and long vowel sounds often sound the same

If Spanish is your mother tongue, you may have difficulties with vowel sounds. This is because there are around twenty distinct vowel sounds in English, whereas in Spanish there are only five. Catalan also only has eight.

As a result, Spanish speakers tend to stretch out the vowel sound too much to overcompensate, or merge it with the closest sound in Spanish.

This can lead to embarrassing misunderstandings such as “Miss, can I have a sheeet ?” and “Are we going to the beeech ?”

There are both short and long vowel sounds in English. Have a go at practising these minimal pairs so all the words sound different:

i / i: | æ / ɑ: | e/ eɪ | ɒ / əʊ | ʊ / u:

If you want to hear the pronunciation of any of these words – look them up on Cambridge Dictionary where you can hear both British and American pronunciation.

3. The V and the B are pronounced the same

“Have you seen the Voice?” Or “Have you seen the boys?”

Record yourself saying these sentences on your phone and play them back. Do they sound the same to you? If they do, you may need to work on your pronunciation of the /b/ and /v/ sounds.

In English, the /v/ is fricative , which means the teeth and lips must touch when you say it. The /b/ on the other hand, is plosive . This means both the lips touch together (imagine the motion you’d do when applying lipstick or blowing a kiss).

Mispronunciation of these sounds can cause some confusion. The word ‘very’ sounds more like ‘berry’, ‘van’ sounds like ‘ban’ and ‘vase’ sounds like ‘bars’.

Practise saying both sets of words and check your pronunciation is different for each. Make sure that for the /v/ sound air passes between your teeth and lips with a vibration.

4. Vowel sound added to words starting with ‘s’ and a consonant

Practise saying the word ‘Spain’ does it sound more like ‘Espain’ ? If so, then you’re guilty of this next one.

Spanish speakers sometimes add an ‘e’ to the beginning of words starting with ‘s’ and a consonant. As a result, you pronounce the words ‘street’ and ‘school’ as ‘estreet’ or ‘eschool’ .

This happens because words in Spanish don’t normally begin with a consonant cluster – so sounds like sp, st, sk, sl, sm always have a vowel sound before.

The way to practise is to start with an ‘sssssss’ sound and once you’ve mastered that, then move on to the next consonant. Try saying this tongue twister five times. First slowly. Then get quicker and quicker.

‘SpongeBob SquarePants speaks Spanish at school.’

5. Mispronunciation of the ‘h’ sound

It isn’t just Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady who has problems with this one. Many Spanish speakers also mispronounce the ‘h’ sound.

This happens normally for one of two reasons. People often omit the ‘h’ when it should be pronounced – because it is silent in Spanish. Take the words ‘hola’, ‘enhorabuena’ and ‘albahaca’ for example.

On the other hand, you may find yourself over pronouncing it – much like the ‘J’ sound in ‘jalepeño’ or ‘japon’.

In English, however the ‘h’ is much softer – more of a whisper. Think about the action you do when you want to warm your hands or steam up a mirror with your breath.

Try saying these words which all have the letter ‘h’ in them:

he, her, home, help, happy, behind, behave .

As you’re saying them, hold a piece of paper in front of your mouth. It should move a little every time you say the ‘h’ sounds.

6.Sentence stress

Spanish is a syllable-timed language, which means you stress every syllable. English on the other hand, is a stress-timed language. This means that we don’t give the same emphasis to all the sounds that we make. Instead, we shorten unstressed syllables to fit the rhythm.

We often stress the important words. These are words that carry information – like nouns, adjectives and main verbs.

And we speed up on words with less importance – like articles ‘and’, ‘a’, and ‘the’ and auxiliary verbs ‘don’t’, ‘does,’ ‘will’ etc.

Confused? Have a go at this fun activity below.

1. Say each line twice before moving on to the next.

2. Stress the main words.(*)

3. Speed up on the unimportant words.

4. Make sure the timing stays the same but the rhythm changes.

Practise makes perfect!

So there you have it! We’ve let you in on the little secrets of English pronunciation. Now, it’s your turn to go home and practise what you’ve learnt.

If you’d like more about phonetics in English, take a look at our articles:

Improving your English with the phonemic chart and 5 tools to perfect your pronunciation at home .

And if you really want to perfect your pronunciation, why not sign up for one of our private language classes ?

Glossary for Language Learners

Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn’t know.

Struggle (v): to have difficulty in doing something.

Dropping (n): the loss of something.

Ingrained (adj): firmly fixed.

Falls through the net (exp): if something falls through the net you fail to notice it.

Clusters (n): a group.

Stretch out (v): to elongate.

Fricative (adj): a type of consonant made by the friction of the breath.

Plosive (adj): a consonant that is produced by stopping the airflow with the lips.

Steam sth up (v): when glass becomes covered in a thin layer of condensation.

Speed up (v): to get quicker.

let somebody in on something (pv): to consider something when making a decision.

adj = adjective

exp = expression

pv = phrasal verb

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6 Ways You Can Learn English with Alexa

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Resource Articles

How to use reported speech in Spanish?

• Natalia Molina Ceballos
• March 8, 2023
• Author(s): Brittmarie Solís
• Sentence Structure , Sentences , Spanish

Reported speech, also known as indirect discourse , is the reproduction or “repackaging” of someone else’s message. In English and in Spanish, we normally begin reported speech with a reporting verb ( dijo (he/she said), preguntó (he/she asked), etc.), followed by a conjunction ( que,  that) and then the message. With that said, reported speech in Spanish has a few rules we need to keep in mind. Are you ready to be the messenger? Let’s get started!

Table of Contents

Direct vs indirect speech.

Spanish and English both have different means of communicating what someone has said. One way is called direct speech . Direct speech works the same in both languages: you use direct quotations and a punctuation mark to introduce the message . In English, we use a comma, but in Spanish, we introduce direct speech with a colon. Here is an example of direct speech:

El profesor fue claro. Nos dijo : “Hagan la tarea para mañana.” The professor was clear. He told us , “Do your homework for tomorrow.”

Indirect speech, while still relaying a message, has a few more things to consider. In Spanish, we can indirectly report statements, questions (yes/no and content), and commands/requests. Because we use indirect speech way more than direct speech in our daily life, we need to make sure you know how to use it and how to build it to avoid confusion or mixed messages. What does indirect speech look like, you ask? Here are some examples:

• Indirect statement: La señora explicó que para abrir la puerta necesitábamos jalar, no empujar. The lady explained that to open the door we needed to pull, not push.
• Indirect command: Mi mamá me dijo que hiciera la cama y guardara los platos. My mom told me to make the bed and put away the dishes.
• Indirect question: Mi hermana nos preguntó si íbamos a reunirnos para su cumpleaños . My sister asked us if we were going to get together for her birthday.

While still relaying a message, see how the reported/indirect messages have to change in both languages? Let’s get our learning going!

How to build indirect speech in Spanish?

• Before we begin any type of indirect speech, we must start our clause with a verb of reporting . The following are some frequently used verbs of reporting: Verbs of Reporting
• decir (to say, to tell)
• preguntar (to ask)
• querer (to want)
• explicar (to explain)
• afirmar (to assert)
• añadir (to add)
• contestar (to reply, to answer)
• insistir (to insist)

The verb of reporting can refer to the present or the past . If it refers to the present, the verb of reporting will be in the present (simple or progressive) or present perfect:

El niño dice/ha dicho que quiere su biberón. The boy says/has said that he wants his bottle.

If it refers to the past, the most common form is the preterite :

2. The second ingredient in indirect speech is a conjunction that follows the verb of reporting. The conjunctions are normally que (that) or si (if).

3. Finally, we must adapt three additional items when building indirect speech. The three changes are: relation, time, and location . Keep reading to learn more!

Subject pronouns and possessives

When using indirect speech, we need to make sure we change subject pronouns and possessives to match the message that was given . This also happens in English. Here’s an example:

Direct speech: María dijo: “( yo ) Quiero mi burrito.” María said, “ I want my burrito.” Indirect speech: María dijo que ella quería su burrito. María said that she wanted her burrito.

Notice how the indirect speech goes from first to third person since we are indirectly referring to what has been said. We will always match the possessives to whatever pronoun we are using.

Change in location and time

When we are using indirect speech, we must adjust our time and location references as well. This also happens in English! It should not be too difficult to pick up.

Time changes:

• hoy (today) → ese día/aquel día (that day)

Direct speech:

Julio dice: “Llego hoy.” Julio says, “I arrive today.”

Julio dijo que llegaba ese día. Julio said that he would arrive that day.

• ahora (now) → entonces (then)

Indirect speech:

• mañana (tomorrow) → al día siguiente (the next day)

Click the link to see some additional Spanish expressions and how they change with indirect speech (p.3)!

Notice that if you’re reporting in the present, you might not need to change the time reference. It’s all a matter of time relativity! For instance, “llego hoy” (I arrive today), if you’re relaying this message on the same day then there is no need to change: Dice Julio que llega hoy . Julio says he arrives today.

Location changes:

• Adverbs of place : aquí (here) → allí, ahí (there)
• These include demonstratives adjectives and pronouns because they deal with distance from the speaker! este, esta (this) → ese, esa, aquel, aquella (that) estos, estas (these) → esos, esas, aquellos, aquellas (those)

⤷TIP  Directionality/verbs of direction will also change!

• llevar (to take) → traer (to bring)
• ir (to go) → venir (to come)

Ana dice: “ Llevo café para todos.”

Ana says, “I’ll bring coffee for everyone.”

Ana dice que trae café para todos .

Ana says she’ll bring coffee for everyone.

For more on how to use these particular verbs in Spanish , head over to our post.

Adapting verb tenses in indirect speech

The last crucial change in building indirect speech happens to verb tenses. Just like we change time expressions above, sometimes we need to change verb tenses to ensure the message is being communicated appropriately. Here are a couple of examples:

• If the reporting verb is related to the present , then there is NO NEED to change the verb tense.

El doctor dice : “No puedo atenderte.”                                    ⤷ present The doctor says, “I can’t see you.”

El doctor dice que no puede atenderme.                                             ⤷ present The doctor said he cannot see me.   

• If the reporting verb is related to the past , then you will need to change the verb tense.

El doctor dijo : “No puedo atenderte.”                                      ⤷ present The doctor said, “I can’t see you.”

We will see next that these rules also apply to indirect questions, but they do not when using commands. Keep reading to find out which verb tenses you use with Spanish commands.

Indirect questions in Spanish

If you are relaying a question with indirect speech, there are a couple of different options for doing so. However, the most common verbs of reporting for questions are: preguntar (to ask) and querer saber (to want to know). With regard to verb tenses, it works exactly like the indirect statements above. Let’s check questions and indirect speech, shall we?

Yes and no questions

If you are reporting a question that can be answered by a “yes” or “no,” you do not need the conjunction que (that), but rather si (if). For example:

Direct → Mi hermano preguntó: “¿Tienes chicle?”                 My brother asked, “Do you have gum?”

Indirect → Mi hermano preguntó si tenía chicle.        My brother asked if I had gum.

⤷TIP  To report a yes/no answer, you can say:

Dice que sí/no . He/she says yes/no.

Dijo que sí/no . He/she said yes/no.

Questions words

If you are reporting a question that originally had a question word (who, what, when, where, etc.), you will not require the use of que (that) or si (if). Instead, you will keep the original question word in Spanish as your “bridge” between the reporting verb and indirect speech. For example:

Indirect: →

Erica quiere saber cuándo es la asamblea. Erica wants to know when the assembly is.

⤷TIP  In colloquial speech it is common to insert “ que ” between the reporting verb “ preguntar ” and the question word or before si for yes/no indirect questions.

Enrique me preguntó (que) por qué habías llegado tarde. Enrique asked me why you had arrived late.

Los estudiantes preguntaron (que) si podían tener una extensión. The students asked if they could have an extension.

For more on questions, check out: “ How to build questions in Spanish? ”

Indirect commands in Spanish

To use indirect speech to relay commands, the format continues being similar to indirect statements:

• Introduce the indirect speech with a verb of reporting.
• exigir (to demand)
• mandar (to command)
• pedir (to ask for/request)

2. Follow it with the conjunction que (that).

3. Finally, if the verb of reporting is in the present, present continuous, or present perfect, the command will be in the present subjunctive . For example:

Command: “Compra leche, por favor.”

 Indirect command: Tu papá pide que compres leche, por favor.     Your dad asks that you buy milk, please.

On the other hand, if the verb of reporting is in the preterite, imperfect, or past perfect, then the command will be in the imperfect subjunctive .

Indirect command: Tu papá pidió que compraras leche, por favor. Your dad asked you to buy milk, please.

Need a refresher on these subjunctive tenses? We have you covered with these posts on the Spanish present subjunctive and the Spanish imperfect subjunctive .

To sum it up

Indirect speech is used for indirectly reporting statements, questions (yes/no and content), and commands/requests. In order to build indirect speech appropriately, we need to keep in mind the following pieces:

• Start the clause with a verb of reporting , such as decir (to say, to tell), preguntar (to ask), querer (to want), etc.
• que (that) for indirect statements and commands, or
• si (if) for yes/no questions
• a question word (who, what, when, where, etc.) for content questions.
• Time changes: making sure the time expressions are appropriately adjusted to fit an indirect message.
• Location changes: making sure words that imply distance from the speaker also match the indirect speech.
• Statements and questions use verbs in the indicative.
• Commands use verbs in the subjunctive.

While it seems like a lot of stuff to remember, these changes make sense because so many of them also happen in English. The best way to master indirect speech is to practice it, so I have created an activity for you to get you started with it. You can check it out by clicking the link!

To embark on your next language adventure, join the Mango fam!

Extra Resources:

Activities:

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Indirect Speech in Spanish

El estilo indirecto ( indirect speech / reported speech ) is used in Spanish to report what someone has said without quoting them directly . In this article, you’ll learn the difference between direct and indirect speech and about the different types of indirect speech.

Direct Speech vs. Indirect Speech

Just like in English, we can report what another person said with direct speech or indirect speech. Direct speech is used to narrate the exact words expressed by the speaker. It is primarily used in writing.

Let’s take a look at a few examples using direct speech!

By using indirect speech, we don’t have to repeat what the speaker has said word-for-word. By omitting the direct quotation, we can paraphrase someone else's words, focusing more on the content of what someone said, rather than their exact words. Note that, since it is used to relay what someone said, it is almost always used in a past tense.

Let’s change the previous examples of direct speech to indirect speech.

He Said, She Said

There are three types of indirect speech: indirect statements , indirect questions , and indirect commands . Let’s take a closer look.

Indirect Statements

Reporting verbs , followed by the conjunction que ( that ), are used to introduce someone else's statement indirectly . Decir ( to say / to tell ) is the most common verb used to report a statement, but there are many more:

Let’s take a look at some examples!

Indirect Questions

When reporting a question, we use the verb preguntar ( to ask ) or the verb phrase querer saber ( to want to know ) followed by si ( if / whether ).

For example:

When reporting who , what , where , when , why , or how questions, use preguntar or querer saber followed by the question word. Since it is indirect speech, we do not need to use question marks.

Indirect Commands or Requests

To report a command, we use a variety of reporting verbs followed by que . Here is a list of the most common verbs used to report a command or request:

Check out these examples!

Important Changes

When using indirect speech, you often need to change the verb tense. Here's a table to help you remember what tense you need to use!

Pronouns and Possessives

When changing direct speech to reported speech, make sure to change any necessary pronouns and possessive adjectives .

Time and Place Expressions

Finally, when using indirect speech, we need to change references to time and place. Here’s a list of the most common changes:

When using indirect speech, you need to know your past tenses well. Review your past tenses in Spanish with these articles!

• Preterite vs. Imperfect
• Verbs that Change Meaning in the Preterite
• Past Participles
• Irregular Spanish Past Participles
• Sequence of Tenses in Spanish
• The Simple Past vs. Past Continuous in Spanish
• Past Perfect Progressive in Spanish
• Past Perfect
• Past Perfect Subjunctive

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Guest Essay

Some Words Feel Truer in Spanish

By Natalia Sylvester

Ms. Sylvester is the author of the forthcoming children’s book “A Maleta Full of Treasures” (“La Maleta de Tesoros”).

My earliest relationship with language was defined by rules. As an immigrant who came to this country from Peru at age 4, I spent half of my days in kindergarten occupied with learning the rules of the English language. There was the tricky inconsistency of pronunciation to navigate and, once I learned to speak it, the challenge of translating what I’d learned into reading skills.

At home, my mom would often create games to help my sister and me preserve our Spanish and improve our grammar. Driving around our neighborhood in Miami, she’d point at a traffic light, hold up four fingers and say, “Se-ma-fo-ro — on which syllable do you put the accent?”

Each language had its defined space: English in school, Spanish at home. But as my parents became more fluent (and my sister and I more dominant) in English, the boundaries became blurred. Being bilingual empowered us to break barriers beyond the rules and definitions attached to words. Some things were simply untranslatable, because they spoke to this new space we were living in — within, between and around language. We were making a new home here, same as so many immigrants who end up shaping language as much as it shapes us.

It became evident as the phrase “Cómo se dice?” or “How do you say?” became a constant in my home. Sometimes, it’d be my parents who asked, “How do you say” followed by a word like “sobremesa” or “ganas.” It seemed simple enough in theory, but proved nearly impossible for us to translate without elaborating using full sentences or phrases. After all, to have a word to describe a long conversation that keeps you at the table and extends a meal, you’d have to value the concept enough to name it. Some ideas are so embedded in Latin American and Spanish cultures that they exist implicitly. Of course “ganas” can be something you feel but also give, and be at once more tame yet more powerful than “desire.” (If you know, you know.)

Other times, it’d be my sister and I who were curious about a word’s Spanish counterpart. Was there really no differentiating in Spanish between the fingers (dedos) on our hands, and those on our feet we call toes? When we wanted to say we were excited about something, the word “emocionada” seemed to fall short of capturing our specific, well, emotion. Sometimes we would blank on a word. But sometimes, we would find that the perfect word isn’t necessarily in the language we’re speaking.

What I’m describing, of course, has its own word: code switching. The act of shifting from one language or dialect to another, particularly based on social context, is often framed as something that so-called minorities do to fit into more mainstream spaces. It’s true that code switching can be a form of assimilation, a way of shielding ourselves from the prejudices rooted in racism, classism and xenophobia that can arise when we freely express our culture and language in spaces not designed to embrace them. But what I seldom see discussed is how code switching isn’t solely a reactionary response to feeling unwelcome. Within our own communities, it can signal comfort and belonging.

Take the Spanish word “maleta,” or “suitcase” in English. This year, I was at a writing conference and met up with two Mexican American authors, one of whom brought her suitcase to the venue because she had already checked out of the hotel. We walked the halls and offered to help with her maleta, making several jokes and references to it, but never once using the word “suitcase,” despite speaking mainly in English.

This was an entirely natural and unspoken decision. There are some words that simply feel truer in Spanish than they do in English. I call these home words and heart words because I associate them with the place I most grew up using them: at home, among family. Though the words might share a literal definition with their translation, one version carries emotional depth that enriches its meaning. To code switch this way among friends implies we share not only a language, but an intimate understanding of where we come from.

A suitcase is for clothes and possessions when someone travels, but to me, a maleta meant family had arrived from Peru, carrying flavors, textures and memories of my birthplace. Language is rooted in context, which is another way of saying that language is driven by memory. In this way, what we do or don’t choose to translate is another way of telling stories about our past.

Last year, a study on the specific way that Miamians use direct Spanish translations to form English phrases called the practice an emerging dialect. It’s a form of borrowing between languages that results in what is known as calques. For decades, expressions like “get down from the car” and “super hungry,” which are translated from Spanish, have made their way into regional speech, even in the case of non-Spanish speakers.

When I shared the article on social media, my DMs were flooded by friends and family — not only in Miami but also in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and in Southern California — who joked that they’ve been using these phrases since they were children, and their parents had, too. The novelty was not in their usage but in their validation (whether or not we sought that validation). My friends and I grew up being told to speak a certain way and respect the rules of both languages. We, in turn, didn’t so much break the rules as we simply played with them, swirling bits of English and Spanish together until it resembled something new yet familiar, our fingerprints proudly planted in its mess.

This is one of my greatest joys as a writer. I love language not only for all it can do but also for all it can’t and all the space it leaves in the gaps for creation. It is empowering that something as supposedly fixed as the meaning of a word or phrase is actually alive and evolving. It means we don’t have to lose parts of ourselves to assimilation; we can expand language to include the full breadth of our experiences.

Words are just sounds and letters until we collectively give them meaning through story. When we use language to connect, it’s one of the most beautiful things that make us human.

Natalia Sylvester is the author of the forthcoming children’s book “A Maleta Full of Treasures” (“La Maleta de Tesoros”).

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