There are a number of ways to build a sentence that reports what someone said, thought, or wrote in Brazilian Portuguese. However, these sentences fall into two major groups, depending on how we represent the reported speech (i.e. the words someone said, thought, or wrote).
Direct speech → The speech is reported by quoting the exact words spoken by someone.
Indirect speech → The message of the words is reported without giving the original speaker’s exact words.
Both methods will use a reporting verb, like dizer meaning to say, falar meaning to speak, or perguntar meaning to ask, but the reported speech itself will be structured very differently.
For example, if Marta said, “Eu viajei no fim de semana” meaning I traveled for the weekend, we could report this using direct or indirect speech:
- Direct Speech:“Eu viajei no fim de semana” - disse Marta.Translation: “I traveled for the weekend,” said Marta.
- Indirect Speech:Marta disse que tinha viajado no fim de semana.Translation: Marta said she had traveled for the weekend.
To report speech indirectly, you will need to make adjustments to the original phrasing (e.g. changes in tense, pronouns, adverbs of place and time, ...) that are not necessary if you’re using direct speech. But though using direct speech may be grammatically simpler, indirect speech is common in everyday language. Keep reading this post to find out more on how to report speech in Brazilian Portuguese!
What is direct vs. indirect speech in Brazilian Portuguese?
As in other languages, the main difference between direct speech (discurso direto) and indirect speech (discurso indireto) in Brazilian Portuguese lies in whether or not the speaker’s original phrasing is used. For example:
- Direct Speech:"Estou com fome!", disse Ana.Translation: "I'm hungry," said Ana.
- Indirect Speech:Ana disse que estava com fome.Translation: Ana said that she was hungry.
But there is more to learn about how to build a sentence that uses direct or indirect speech! Let's get to know each in detail.
How to use direct reported speech in Brazilian Portuguese?
Direct reported speech occurs when we directly quote someone (using their exact words). It’s often used in news articles, narrative writing, and transcriptions, where the speech is indicated between quotation marks to highlight the beginning and the end of the speaker's words.
In Brazilian Portuguese, we say that a direct quote is entre aspas meaning between quotation marks. Aspas is the name for the quotation marks ( “ ” ).
In the sentence above, the direct speech, (vamos diminuir a inflação), is written between quotation marks, signaling that this was exactly what the president said.
This construction is useful for conveying the speaker’s tone and exact words. There are also other punctuation marks that may appear in direct speech, so let's get to know a little bit about them!
Punctuation marks in direct speech
Punctuation marks play an essential role in direct speech, and sometimes the punctuation rules for Brazilian Portuguese are not the same as they are in English. In addition to quotation marks, other punctuation marks are also commonly used:
Exclamation mark ( ! ):
An exclamation mark (ponto de exclamação) is used to denote strong emotions, like surprise or emphatic statements, as in:
- Lúcia disse: “Que bebê lindo!”Translation: Lucia said, “What a beautiful baby!”
- Pedro exclamou: “Nossa, que incrível! Parabéns!”Translation: Pedro exclaimed, “Wow, that's amazing! Congratulations!”
Dash ( — ):
The dash (travessão) is used to introduce the spoken words, much like quotation marks. It’s common in dialogues and fiction books, as in:
Maria disse: –Estou muito feliz com essa notícia!Translation: Maria said, “I am very happy with this news.”
How to use indirect reported speech in Brazilian Portuguese?
Indirect speech (discurso indireto) occurs when we report the message of someone’s speech, thought, or writing without using their exact words. It’s very common in everyday spoken language.
- Direct Speech:Ana: Eu trabalho em um banco.Translation: Ana: I work at a bank.
- Indirect Speech:Ana disse que trabalhava em um banco.Translation: Ana said she worked at a bank.
A sentence in Brazilian Portuguese that uses indirect speech will always have the following structure:
reporting clause
conjunction
subordinate clause
Now let's take a closer look at each of these three elements that form the reported speech.
The reporting clause
We introduce the reported speech with a reporting verb. Dizer meaning to say and falar meaning to speak are common verbs of reporting. However, many other verbs can be used. For example:
comentar meaning to comment
confirmar meaning to confirm
declarar meaning to declare
informar meaning to inform
lembrar meaning to remember
mandar meaning to send
pedir meaning to ask
perguntar meaning to ask
Depending on the context of the reporting message, reporting verbs are usually conjugated in the preterite tense to show that something was said in the past.
reporting verbAna falou que vai se mudar para um apartamento novo.Translation: Ana said she's going to move to a new apartmentTeodoro perguntou à Pati como tinham sido as férias dela.Translation: Teodoro asked Pati how her vacation had been.The Conjunction
Que meaning that is the most common conjunction used to report a statement, but it's also possible to use other conjunctions like se meaning if in reported questions or the preposition para meaning for, to in reported indirect commands.
conjunctionRoberto perguntou se Pedro queria ir ao cinema.Translation: Roberto asked if Pedro wanted to go to the cinema.A professora pediu para os alunos fecharem a porta da sala de aula.Translation: The teacher asked the students to close the classroom door.The indirect reported speech
The indirect reported speech is a subordinate clause that represents the message of the original speaker’s words.
When using indirect speech in Brazilian Portuguese, it is important to pay attention to the fact that the tense of the verb in this clause is usually shifted back in time from the tense used in the original quote. Also, pronouns and some other elements in the sentence may also need to be adjusted to reflect the differences between the perspective of the original speaker and the perspective of the reporter.
- Direct Speech:- O hotel é caro.Translation: The hotel is expensive.
- Indirect Speech:Ele disse que o hotel era caro.Translation: He said that the hotel was expensive.
Notice that the verb tense in the indirect reported speech above undergoes a change. The present tense verb é meaning is in the direct speech is transformed into the past tense verb era meaning was in the reporting clause.
This change reflects that, from the perspective of the reporter, the situation being described existed in the past, as it's necessary to adjust the verb tense to accurately convey the original message.
What are the verb tense changes in indirect speech?
As we saw above, we sometimes have to change the verb tense to indirectly report someone’s speech. Notice how the tense is usually shifted back in time when it changes from direct speech to indirect speech.
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
Simple present: Célia: - A comida do restaurante é boa! Translation: Célia: - The food at the restaurant is good! | Imperfect: Célia disse que a comida do restaurante era boa. Translation: Celia said the food at the restaurant was good. |
Preterite: - Eu cheguei cedo em casa. Translation: - I got home early. | Pluperfect: Ele disse que tinha chegado cedo em casa. Translation: He said he got home early. |
Imperative: - Escute essa música. Translation: - Listen to this music. | Personal infinitive: Ela disse para eu escutar essa música. Translation: She told me to listen to this song. |
The changes above are very common in indirect reported speech, but there are also many other possible ways to change the verb tense. For instance, when there are other elements in the sentence referring to the future of the past, for instance, the verb tense changes accordingly.
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
Simple future: - Eu terei uma reunião amanhã. Translation: I will have a meeting tomorrow. | Conditional: Ele disse que teria uma reunião amanhã. Translation: He said he would have a meeting tomorrow. |
In the example above, the original quote used the future tense and therefore it refers to something that might or might not actually happen at that future time. By the time the person reporting the message indirectly is speaking, it might or might not have already happened, so the speech is reported using the conditional instead. But in both versions, the adverb of time amanhã meaning tomorrow is preserved, to show that the original speaker was talking about the future.
There are various possibilities of verb tense change to convey the original statement. See this full list with verb changes in Brazilian Portuguese indirect speech and see how there are many ways to report what someone else said.
What are the pronoun changes in indirect reported speech?
Not only do verbs sometimes require changes in indirect speech, but other elements in the sentence do, as well, like subject pronouns, possessive pronouns, and demonstrative words. When reporting indirect speech with first person and second person pronouns, like eu meaning I and você meaning you, we also have to adjust them accordingly, as below.
Change of subject and possessive pronouns:
- Direct Speech:Eu quero usar meu cachecol novo.Translation: I want to wear my new scarf.
- Indirect Speech:Paula disse que ela queria usar seu cachecol novo.Translation: Paula said she wanted to wear her new scarf.
See that we change the personal and the possessive pronouns from the first person (eu, meu) to the third person (ela, seu) in indirect speech, since the speaker's perspective has changed.
Changes to demonstrative words:
Similar changes occur with demonstrative words.
- Direct Speech:Este carro é lindo!Translation: This car is beautiful!
- Indirect Speech:Ele disse que aquele carro era lindo.Translation: He said that car was beautiful.
The original speaker referred to the car using the demonstrative word este meaning this, which indicates proximity to the speaker. However, the person reporting that statement instead used aquele meaning that, which indicates distance from both the speaker (the reporter) and the person the speech is being reported to.
Check out our article about demonstrative adjectives and pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese to learn more about words like este and aquele.
Other changes in indirect speech
It's also necessary to adjust other elements in the sentence, such as adverbs of place and adverbs of time. For example:
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
Hoje eu fui ali na farmácia e comprei um remédio. Translation: Today I went to the pharmacy and bought some medicine. | Joice disse que naquele dia tinha ido lá na farmácia e tinha comprado um remédio. Translation: Joice said that that day she had gone to the pharmacy and bought some medicine. |
Não quero ir ao teatro hoje! Agora só quero descansar. Translation: I don't want to go to the theater today! Now I just want to rest. | Carlos disse que não queria ir ao teatro naquele dia e que naquele momento só queria descansar. Translation: Carlos said that he didn't want to go to the theater that day and that at that moment he just wanted to rest. |
See in the examples above, that not only has the verb tense changed in the indirect speech, but the words that reference locations and times have also changed, because the original speaker’s position in time and space is different from the reporter’s.
Now see our useful list with the most common changes in pronouns, adverbs of place and time with indirect speech in Brazilian Portuguese.
How to report indirect statements in Brazilian Portuguese?
When indirectly reporting statements, it’s most common to use the verbs dizer meaning to say or falar meaning to speak in the reporting clause, and the conjunction que meaning that is the usual conjunction that introduces the subordinate clause.
However, to accurately report the speech, we can also use other verbs, such as prometeu meaning promised in the example below.
The verb, pronoun, and adverb changes discussed above also apply to indirect reported statements. Check out this chart of the most common ways to indirectly report statements in Brazilian Portuguese!
How to form indirect questions in Brazilian Portuguese?
When reporting questions in Brazilian Portuguese, the verb perguntar meaning to ask is often used in the reporting clause, followed by the conjunction se meaning if.
Although the structure perguntar + se + reporting clause is the most common, there are also other ways to report a question.
When reporting a question indirectly, we can also use interrogative pronouns instead of a conjunction like se, depending on the information being asked.
- Fernanda perguntou quanto custou o almoço no restaurante.Translation: Fernanda asked how much lunch at the restaurant cost.
- Cláudia queria saber onde as crianças estavam.Translation: Claudia wanted to know where the children were.
Take a look at our list with more verbs and interrogative pronouns used to report questions in Brazilian Portuguese!
How to form indirect commands in Brazilian Portuguese?
The structure of indirect commands is similar to the structure of indirect statements and questions. However, after a verb of command, it's common to use the preposition para meaning from, to instead of the conjunction que meaning that to introduce the indirect reported speech, since para indicates the purpose or goal of the action requested or suggested.
However, it's also possible to use the conjunction que meaning that, as long as you change the verb mood. We'll talk about this soon!
The most common reporting verbs that are used to report commands indirectly are verbs like pedir meaning to ask, mandar meaning to order, and querer meaning to want.
- Direct Speech:Espere a sua vez de entrar.Translation: Wait your turn to enter.
- Indirect Speech:Ele pediu para eu esperar a minha vez de entrar.Translation: He asked me to wait my turn to enter.
Notice that, in the sentence above, the imperative changed into the personal infinitive, and the possessive sua meaning your changed into the possessive minha meaning my, mine.
Now, what happens if you do decide to use que to introduce indirect reported speech?
When to use the subjunctive in indirect reported speech?
Certain reporting verbs require the verb in the indirect speech clause to be in the subjunctive mood. In these cases, the subordinate clause is introduced by the conjunction que meaning that.
For example, when the verb querer meaning to want is in the reporting clause, we have to change the subordinate clause into the imperfect subjunctive.
- Direct Speech:Espere lá fora, por favor.Translation: Wait outside, please.
- Indirect Speech:subjunctiveEle quis que eu esperasse aqui fora.Translation: He wanted me to wait outside.
However, with most of the verbs of request, we can use either the personal infinitive or the imperfect subjunctive, with no difference in meaning.
- Direct Speech:Fale mais baixo no hospital.Translation: Speak lower in the hospital.
- Indirect Speech:personal infinitivesubjunctiveEla pediu para eu falar mais baixo no hospital.
Ela pediu que eu falasse mais baixo no hospital.Translation: He wanted me to wait outside.
See other verbs that are used to report commands in Brazilian Portuguese!
To sum up
In this post, we saw that:
We use direct speech to give exact quotes, and indirect speech to report the message of someone’s words without quoting them.
To report speech indirectly, you need a reporting verb, like dizer meaning to say, perguntar meaning to ask, or pedir meaning to ask, a conjunction or interrogative word, and a subordinate clause (the indirect speech) that contains the message of someone’s speech.
When we report speech indirectly, we will often not use the same forms of verbs, pronouns, or adverbs that were used in the original speech. They change to reflect the perspective of the person reporting the speech, rather than the perspective of the original speaker.
Now if you want to practice using reported speech in Brazilian Portuguese, don't miss our activity. Happy learning!
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