How many times a day do you tell someone what another person said to you? “He said he’d be late.” “She asked if you were coming to dinner.” “He told me to call him back.” We do it constantly, almost without noticing, in every language.
In Spanish, this is called estilo indirecto, and it’s what takes you from isolated sentences to real storytelling: recounting a conversation, passing on a message, relaying a request. Many learners find it tricky because it asks you to change several things at once: verb tenses, pronouns, possessives, time expressions and place adverbs. The good news is that if you’re comfortable with reported speech in English, you already know the basic logic. Spanish just has a few quirks of its own.
In this article, we’ll look at how estilo indirecto works, what changes it involves, and how to use it with confidence, with plenty of examples along the way.
1. What is estilo indirecto?
Estilo indirecto is how we report what another person has said to us. When we repeat someone’s words, we’re in a different situation from the one in which they were spoken: the time has changed, the place may have changed, and often the people involved have changed too. That’s why it isn’t enough to simply repeat the original sentence. We have to adapt it so that it keeps its original meaning.
Let’s look at an example. Mario, at the office, says to a colleague:
– Esta noche van a venir unos amigos míos a mi casa y vamos a ver un video. ¿Quieres venir con tu compañera de piso? Luego te llamo y quedamos en la hora.
Later, at home, the colleague tells his roommate:
– Mario me ha dicho que esta noche van a ir unos amigos suyos a su casa y que van a ver un video. Me ha preguntado si quiero ir contigo. También me ha dicho que me llamaría más tarde para quedar en la hora.
Did you spot all the little changes? Mis amigos becomes suyos, mi casa becomes su casa, tu compañera de piso becomes contigo, van a venir becomes van a ir, and te llamo becomes me llamaría. The meaning stays the same, but the sentence has been reworked to fit the new situation. That’s the heart of estilo indirecto.
2. What are we reporting? Four basic structures
The first step is to work out what we’re reporting, because that determines which introductory verb to use.
A piece of information. We use verbs like decir or comentar followed by que.
– Antonio ayer tuvo un accidente. → Me han dicho que Antonio ayer tuvo un accidente.
A question without a question word (one that can be answered with yes or no). We use preguntar followed by si.
– ¿Quieres ir al cine? → Me ha preguntado si quiero ir al cine.
A question with a question word. We use preguntar followed by the question word itself (qué, quién, cuándo, dónde, con quién…).
– ¿Quién vino ayer? → Me ha preguntado quién vino ayer.
An order or a request. We use verbs like pedir, decir or ordenar followed by que and the content of the order.
– Cierra la puerta, por favor. → Me pidió que cerrara la puerta.
Watch out for two traps that catch English speakers. First, English uses “ask” for both of these, but Spanish splits it in two: preguntar means to ask a question, while pedir means to ask for something. Second, where English says “He told me to close the door”, with an infinitive, Spanish builds the sentence with que and the subjunctive (Me dijo que cerrara la puerta).
3. The tense of the introductory verb
Now we come to the part that worries learners most: verb tenses. The good news is that the rule is very logical, and it depends on just one thing, the introductory verb, the one that “opens” the sentence (dice, ha dicho, dijo…).
3.1 Introductory verb in the present
If the introductory verb is in the present tense, the tense of the reported sentence doesn’t change. Only the elements that need to change do, such as pronouns.
– María dice: “No puedo ir al parque porque tengo que estudiar”. → María dice que no puede ir al parque porque tiene que estudiar.
Here, puedo becomes puede and tengo becomes tiene only because the speaker has changed, not because the tense has.
3.2 Introductory verb in the past
If the introductory verb is in the past (ha dicho, dijo, decía, había dicho que…), the verb in the reported sentence changes too, in what we can think of as a “step back” in time. This is the same backshift you already know from English reported speech.
| Estilo directo | Estilo indirecto |
|---|---|
| Presente | Pretérito imperfecto |
| Pretérito indefinido | Pretérito pluscuamperfecto |
| Pretérito perfecto | Pretérito indefinido / Pretérito pluscuamperfecto |
| Futuro | Condicional |
| Presente de subjuntivo | Imperfecto de subjuntivo |
| Perfecto de subjuntivo | Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo |
| Imperativo | Imperfecto de subjuntivo |
Let’s see the pattern in action, one tense at a time.
Presente → pretérito imperfecto
When the original sentence is in the present, it becomes the pretérito imperfecto in estilo indirecto, because the action is seen as simultaneous with a moment in the past.
– Marta explicó: “Tengo que estudiar para las oposiciones”. → Marta explicó que tenía que estudiar para las oposiciones.
Pretérito indefinido → pretérito pluscuamperfecto
When the original sentence is in the pretérito indefinido, it becomes the pretérito pluscuamperfecto in estilo indirecto, to show that the action happened before the moment of the report.
– El acusado confesó: “Robé el traje por una apuesta”. → El acusado confesó que había robado el traje por una apuesta.
Pretérito perfecto → pretérito indefinido or pluscuamperfecto
When the original sentence is in the pretérito perfecto, it can become either the pretérito indefinido or the pretérito pluscuamperfecto in estilo indirecto. Both options are correct.
– Marcos comentó: “He asistido a un concierto de Tori Amos, y me ha encantado”. → Marcos comentó que asistió a un concierto de Tori Amos y le encantó (oppure: …que había asistido… y le había encantado).
Futuro → condicional
When the original sentence is in the future, it becomes the condicional in estilo indirecto, because the action is seen as coming after a point in the past. It works just like “will” becoming “would” in English.
– El jefe anunció: “El próximo mes se subirá el sueldo”. → El jefe anunció que el mes siguiente se subiría el sueldo.
Presente de subjuntivo → imperfecto de subjuntivo
When the original sentence contains a presente de subjuntivo, it becomes the imperfecto de subjuntivo in estilo indirecto.
– El director dijo: “Quiero que terminéis el trabajo para mañana”. → El director dijo que quería que termináramos el trabajo para el día siguiente.
Perfecto de subjuntivo → pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
When the original sentence contains a perfecto de subjuntivo, it becomes the pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo in estilo indirecto.
– Lucía comentó a su amiga: “Espero que haya llegado mi marido”. → Lucía comentó a su amiga que esperaba que hubiera llegado su marido.
Imperativo → imperfecto de subjuntivo
When the original sentence is an order or a request (imperative), the verb becomes the imperfecto de subjuntivo in estilo indirecto, introduced by que.
– La madre de Matías le dijo: “Haz los deberes o no saldrás esta tarde”. → La madre de Matías le dijo que hiciera los deberes o no saldría esa tarde.
As you can see, the pattern is consistent: every tense takes “a step back” toward the past. Once you’ve grasped this logic, the changes become much more predictable.
If you’re unsure how to form any of the tenses mentioned, you’ll also find a grammar sheet for each of them in the Sillabi grammar resources, so you can review their conjugation before going back to the examples.
3.3 An important exception
Some tenses don’t change when we move to estilo indirecto: the imperfecto and the pluscuamperfecto (both indicative and subjunctive), and the condicional. They’re already “back” in time, so they stay the same. English works in much the same way: the past perfect and “would” don’t change in reported speech either.
– Mi padre siempre me decía: “Yo con trece años ya iba al trabajo”. → Mi padre siempre me decía que él con trece años ya iba al trabajo.
4. Changes to pronouns, possessives and demonstratives
Besides verb tenses, everything that depends on the speaker’s point of view changes too. Here again, it pays to think about the meaning of the sentence: who is speaking, who is listening, and who is being talked about?
| Pronouns | Possessives | Demonstratives |
|---|---|---|
| yo → él / ella | mi → su | este/a/os/as → ese/a/os/as |
| tú / usted → yo | tu → mi | |
| nosotros/as → ellos/as | su (de usted) → mi | |
| vosotros/as → nosotros/as | vuestro/a/os/as → nuestro/a/os/as |
5. Changes to time and place expressions
When we report what someone said, the point of reference shifts: it’s no longer the moment when the words were spoken, but the moment when we report them. That’s why expressions like ayer or mañana have to be adapted, just as “yesterday” becomes “the day before” and “tomorrow” becomes “the next day” in English.
| Estilo directo | Estilo indirecto |
|---|---|
| anteayer | dos días antes |
| ayer | el día anterior |
| hoy | ese día |
| mañana | el día siguiente |
| pasado mañana | dos días después |
| ahora | entonces, en ese momento, en aquel momento |
| anoche | la noche anterior |
| aquí | ahí / allí |
Some verbs of movement change as well, depending on where the speaker is:
- ir → venir
- llevar → traer
Here’s an example that brings many of these changes together:
– Ana me dijo: “Mañana te llevaré mi libro aquí”. → Ana me dijo que al día siguiente me traería su libro allí.
In a single sentence, the verb tense (llevaré → traería), the time expression (mañana → al día siguiente), the verb of movement (llevar → traer), the possessive (mi → su) and the place adverb (aquí → allí) all change.
6. The key steps to remember
When you move from estilo directo to estilo indirecto, you can run through this short checklist:
- choose the right introductory verb for what you’re reporting: information (decir que), yes/no question (preguntar si), open question (preguntar + question word) or order (pedir / decir que + subjunctive)
- check whether the introductory verb is in the present or the past: this tells you straight away whether you need to change the verb tenses
- adapt the pronouns, possessives and demonstratives to the new point of view
- change the time and place expressions and, if needed, the verbs of movement
- reread the sentence to make sure the original meaning hasn’t changed
7. Test yourself
Try turning these sentences into estilo indirecto, with the introductory verb in the past:
- Carlos dijo: “Mañana tengo un examen”.
- Laura preguntó: “¿Dónde vives?”
- El profesor nos pidió: “Estudiad esta lección”.
Answers:
- Carlos dijo que al día siguiente tenía un examen.
- Laura preguntó dónde vivía.
- El profesor nos pidió que estudiáramos esa lección.
If you got something wrong, don’t worry: it’s perfectly normal to go back over tenses and pronouns several times before it becomes second nature.
8. Want to learn more?
If you’d like to review these rules with more examples and a complete overview, take a look at the grammar sheet on El estilo indirecto.
The sheet lets you quickly review all the changes and gives you a clear reference point to keep at hand while you study.
9. And to keep improving your Spanish…
Understanding how estilo indirecto works is an important step toward telling and reporting things in Spanish with ease. But to use it with real confidence, you need to practice and meet it in real-life contexts.
The ¡Ojalá! course is designed for exactly that: to help you consolidate the grammar basics and use them naturally in everyday communication. With clear explanations, concrete examples and step-by-step exercises, you’ll build confidence and fluency.
And if you don’t know where to start, you can take the placement test: in just a few minutes, you’ll find out which level of the course is the right one for you.