Indirect Speech – part II

It’s time to pay attention to the rest of the nuances of Indirect Speech. This is something that may not be so obvious, but to know is necessary. Indirect speech is not only a transition from quotes to retelling other people’s words, it is also an expression of one’s own thoughts. Therefore, whether we like it or not, we still have to use the following rules.

Conditional

When translated from direct speech to indirect, the Future Tenses in the subordinate clause turn into Condicional Presente. What then happens to the Condicional Presente when the tenses are sequences? We hasten to please you! The Condicional Presente does not change and remains the Condicional Presente!

O Chris exclamou: “Gostaria de abrir uma escola de português também!” (Chris exclaimed: “I would like to open a Portuguese School too!”) – direct speech

O Chris exclamou que gostaria de abrir uma escola de português também. (Chris exclaimed that he would like to open a Portuguese School too!) – indirect speech

Imperative in Indirect Speech

As you understand, the imperative is not a verbal tense, so it is impossible to agree on it. The second reason is that the imperative always comes from the first person, and in indirect speech we convey the information of the object, that is, the second or third person. However, we cannot leave the imperative unchanged; otherwise the phrase will sound strange. What way out of the situation do we propose? For example, use other verbs. For example:

O Vitor disse: “Monica, faz o exercício!” (Victor said: “Monica, do the exercise!”) – direct speech

O Vitor mandou a Monica fazer o exercício. (Victor ordered Monica to do the exercise.) – indirect speech

In this case, we can convey the expression of an exclamation mark using the verb “mandar” (to order). Similarly, we can act in different situations – choose the right verb to translate the imperative from direct speech into indirect speech. More examples:

Nós dissemos: “Feche a janela, se faz favor!” (We said: “Close the window, please!”) – direct speech

Nos pedimos para fechar a janela. (We asked to close the window.) – indirect speech

As you can see, our ingenuity is at work here. Moreover, when transmitting information from another person, we can always choose a convenient form for this and color it with our personal emotions.

Conjuntivo in Indirect Speech

Another interesting option is to use the tenses from the Conjuntivo mode. We will need this only if we use the verbs “querer” (to want) or “gostar” (to like). However, there is an important detail – one object must want something from another, and not from itself. Namely:

A Catarina diz: “Ana, abre a porta!” (Catarina says: “Ana, open the door!”) – direct speech

And Catarina quer que a Ana abra a porta. (Katarina wants Ana to open the window.) – indirect speech

That is, when the main part of the sentence is in the present tense, we turn the imperative into Presente do Conjuntivo because of the verb “querer” in this case. If the main part of the sentence is in the past tense, then we will have to use Pretérito Imperfeito do Conjuntivo, that is:

A Catarina queria que an Ana abrisse a porta. (Katarina wanted Anna to open the door.) – indirect speech

Over time, Futuro do Conjuntivo, we do the same and in indirect speech we also change it to Pretérito Imperfeito do Conjuntivo:

O presidente disse: “Se eu continuar a ser útil para o meu país, estarei feliz!” (The President said, “If I continue to be useful to my country, I will be happy!”) – direct speech

O presidente disse que se continuasse a ser útil para o país dele, estaria muito feliz! (The President said that if he continued to be useful for is country, he would be very happy.) – indirect speech

Adverbs and demonstrative pronouns

In indirect speech, not only verbal tenses change, but also adverbs of time and demonstrative pronouns. By the way, these changes are also related to the time to which they refer. That is, if in direct speech we say “hoje” (today), then in indirect speech we should already say “naquele dia” (on that day). In general, let’s look at the table

Simply put, we mentally transfer all these words to the past. The object that was next to the speaker in direct speech is already far away from us speaking in indirect speech. Thus “tomorrow” becomes “the next day” after the day the object reported the information. All changes of adverbs and pronouns are subject to this logic.

A Carla escreveu: “Hoje almoço com o meu pai, amanhã vou jantar contigo.” (Carla said: “Today I have lunch with my father, and tomorrow I have dinner with you.”) – direct speech

A Carla escreveu que naquele dia ela almoçava com o pai dela e no dia seguinte ia jantar comigo. (Carla wrote that she had lunch with her father that day and would have dinner with me the next day.) – indirect speech

And also, do not forget to pay attention that if a person speaks about himself in the first person, then in indirect speech we change personal and possessive pronouns. That is, instead of “eu” we say “ele“, instead of “tu” – “eu“, instead of “meu/minha” – “dele/dela“.

O Marco concluiu: “Concordo contigo. A minha mãe gosta do teu pai. Eu e tu temos de ajuda-los a casar.” (Marco concluded: “I agree with you. My mom likes your dad. You and I should help them get married.) – direct speech

O Marco concluiu que ele concordava comigo, que a mãe dele gostava do meu pai, e que ele e eu tínhamos de ajudá-los casar. (Mark concluded that he agreed with me that his mom liked my dad and that we should help them get married). – indirect speech

Conclusion

At first, you will have to analyze each phrase and act strictly according to schemes and formulas. To speed up the process of transition from direct to indirect speech, practice more often. Just take an interview, for example, and paraphrase the journalist’s questions and the interviewee’s answers. And, of course, come to our school, and soon Indirect Speech will become a new conquered peak!