Sequence of Tense in Indirect Speech
Spanish: AQA A Level, topic 16.24.1
Estilo indirecto - Indirect Speech
When we want to tell someone something that someone else said, we use the indirect speech.
Indirect Speech
- Indirect speech in Spanish is introduced by verbs such as;
- exclamar - to exclaim
- explicar - to explain
- decir - to say
- contar - to tell
- preguntar - to ask
Sequencing of Tense
- Sometimes, the tense will need to change when changing the sentence from direct speech tindirect speech.
- If the introductory verb (decir, contar, etc.) is in the past, we need to do the following changes in tenses:
- present imperfect
- past pluperfect
Examples
- Sergio dijo que no se encontraba muy bien esta mañana.
- Sergio said that he didn’t feel very well this morning.
- El problema fue que Juan no podía explicar su situación económica.
- The problem was that Juan could not explain his economic situation.
- Los niños nos dijeron que echaban de menos a sus padres.
- The children said that they missed their parents.