Indirect speech in the Spanish language

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The indirect speech , estilo indirecto ( Latin oratio obliqua ) is a linguistic means of distancing, reporting playback of utterances of direct speech , estilo directo ( Latin oratio recta ). The reproduction of the utterance can be verbatim or changed, for example shortened; also reproduce the individual narrative parts in a different order than in the original.

This must be distinguished from free indirect speech , estilo indirecto libre, which represents an epic stylistic device and is located between direct and indirect speech, between self-talk and report .

The following facts are to be determined:

  • “Speaker” or “writer”, emisor as the producers of the statement, direct speech;
  • "Recipient A", receptor A the listener or reader of the verbalized information,
  • "Reporter" from recipient A, reportero if he passes on the statement he has heard or read, indirect reproduction or
  • “Recipient B”, receptor B the listener or reader of the statement reported by the reporter, the indirect reproduction.

Indirect speech in German

When converting a direct speech into an indirect speech , the following rules must be observed in German:

  • The verb of indirect speech is in the subjunctive I.
  • But if the verb of the subjunctive I does not differ from the conjugation form of the verb for the indicative, the subjunctive II is used.
  • Juana says: The neighbors are roasting a stork.

First use the subjunctive I:

  • Juana says the neighbors are roasting a stork. This is not possible because the conjugation form “roast” in the subjunctive I is identical to the present indicative.

Application of the subjunctive II:

  • Juana says the neighbors roasted a stork. Grammatically correct rendering.

Alternative paraphrase "would" - replacement form of the subjunctive II also "subjunctive III" after Becher u. Bergenholtz (1985)

  • Juana says the neighbors are roasting a stork.

Indirect speech in Spanish

In the case of indirect speech , estilo indirecto , the Consecutio temporum must be observed. But this differs from the German. While in German the subjunctive is mainly used in indirect speech , the Spanish subjunctive is precisely not used here. (If one disregards a few exceptions, so when the verb of the original sentence is in the imperative.) Although there are shifts of tenses or the sequence of tenses in Spanish in indirect speech, in contrast to German, with a few exceptions, the use of the mode is not changed .

In the Spanish language , the time at which the introductory sentence was set is decisive for the transformation. If the introductory clause, the main clause (apodosis), is in a time related to the present, the tense of direct speech remains in the subordinate clause (protasis).

Indirect speech reproduction is usually started with an introduction to speech ( inquiry formula ). This then often precedes the indirect speech reproduction so that it is clear to “recipient B” that the speech of a (different) “speaker” is being reproduced.

In the process of transforming direct speech into indirect speech in the Spanish language , the tense only changes if the introductory sentence or speech introduction for the beginning indirect speech is in the Inquit formula (Latin inquit, he says or he said) is in a past tense. The reporter from “Recipient A” introduces the indirect speech by using a verb (Inquit formula) that is in the word field of “Saying” ( verbum dicendi ) and the conjunction “que”. If several sentences are reproduced, the rule is that the "que" is repeated in each case. Indirect questions are introduced by the conjunction “si” or a question pronoun such as “qué”, “quién”. - Examples: 

decir; aludir; comentar; contestar; insistir en; mandar; ordenar; opinar; pedir; preguntar; recordar; responder; afirmar; informar; creer usw.

Ella afirma ... Presente de indicativo oder Él afirmó ...    Pretérito indefinido de indicativo
Ella dice.   Presente de indicativo oder Él dijo ...     Pretérito indefinido de indicativo
Ella exige ... Presente de indicativo oder Él exigió ...    Pretérito indefinido de indicativo
Él exclama ... Presente de indicativo oder Ella exclamó ...  Pretérito indefinido de indicativo
Él explica ... Presente de indicativo oder Ella explicó ...  Pretérito indefinido de indicativo
Ella cree ...  Presente de indicativo oder Ellos creyeron ... Pretérito indefinido de indicativo
Él pretende ... Presente de indicativo oder Ellas prendieron ...Pretérito indefinido de indicativo

In addition, in Spanish, comparable to German, some word elements in the transformation to indirect speech are adapted to the new utterance.

Introductory sentence or introduction to a present-day tense

Is this introductory verb from the word field of "Saying" in a present-day tense:

If the subordinate clause introduced with “que” ( protasis ) does not change, this means that the tenses of the subordinate clause correspond to those of the main clause ( apodosis ). The only exception to this rule is the imperativo, which is included in the times related to the present. There is no tense change here, but a mode change.

Direct speech tense Tense of the introductory sentence Indirect speech tense
Main clause ( apodosis )    related to the present Subordinate clause ( protasis )
Presente de indicativo     related to the present Presente de indicativo
Pretérito perfecto de indicativo    related to the present Pretérito perfecto de indicativo
Futuro simple    related to the present Futuro simple
Conditional simple    related to the present Conditional simple
Imperativo    related to the present Presente de subjuntivo

Introductory sentence or introduction to a past tense

As soon as the introductory sentence or the introductory verb of the introductory sentence is in a past tense, for example in Imperfecto, Indefinido or Pluscuamperfecto, the time of direct speech changes in the subordinate clause (Protasis). In other words, when the introductory verb of the introductory sentence is in a past tense:

then the tense in the subordinate clause (protasis) is changed from the form originally used in direct speech:

Direct speech tense Tense of the introductory sentence Indirect speech tense
Main clause ( apodosis )    related to the past Subordinate clause ( protasis )
Presente     related to the past Pretérito imperfecto de indicativo
Pretérito indefinido de indicativo     related to the past Pretérito pluscuamperfecto de indicativo
Pretérito imperfecto de indicativo    related to the past Pretérito imperfecto de indicativo
Pretérito perfecto de indicativo    related to the past Pretérito pluscuamperfecto de indicativo
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto de indicativo    related to the past Pretérito pluscuamperfecto de indicativo
Pretérito anterior de indicativo    related to the past Pretérito anterior de indicativo

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The indirect / reported speech - El estilo indirecto. Justo Fernández López, hispanoteca.eu
  2. ↑ to the so-called "subjunctive substitute form" , "dignity form" or subjunctive III according to Becher u. Bergenholtz (1985) Henning Bergenholtz, Marlis Becher: Be or not be. Problems of mode use in offline speech. Nouveaux Cahiers d'Allemand, Vol. 3, 1985, pp. 443-457.
  3. ↑ The subjunctive III (dignity form, subjunctive replacement form, conditional 1 + 2). cafe-deutsch.de (PDF; 96 kB)
  4. ↑ Elke Hentschel, Petra M. Vogel: Deutsche Morphologie. de Gruyter, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-021261-7 , pp. 207 f.
  5. ↑ Margarita Görrissen: Practice Spanish. Pons, Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-12-562794-9 , pp. 235-239.
  6. ↑ The great Spanish manual. Pons, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-12-561708-7 , pp. 128-130.
  7. ↑ José Vera-Morales: Spanish grammar. 5th edition. Oldenbourg, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-486-58645-9 , p. 677 f.
  8. ^ Hans-Georg Beckmann: New Spanish grammar. dnf-Verlag, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-9803483-3-4 , pp. 186-189.
  9. ^ Hans-Georg Beckmann: New Spanish grammar. dnf-Verlag, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-9803483-3-4 , pp. 186-189.