Study Resource: How to report different types of speech indirectly in Brazilian Portuguese?

On this page you’ll find lists of reporting verbs and conjunctions that are helpful when you want to report what someone else said, wrote, or thought. The verb you will use depends on whether you’re reporting a statement, a question, or a command.

If you want the full details on how to say what someone else said in Brazilian Portuguese, check out our post on reported speech in Brazilian Portuguese!

You can report a statement indirectly by using the following reporting verbs:

• acrescentar (meaning to add)

• afirmar (meaning to claim)

• confirmar (meaning to confirm)

• declarar (meaning to declare)

• dizer (meaning to say)

• explicar (meaning to explain)

• falar (meaning to speak)

• informar (meaning to inform)

• insistir (meaning to insist)

• observar (meaning to observe)

• responder (meaning to respond)

• revelar (meaning to reveal)

When used to report statements, the subordinate clause will begin with one of the following conjunctions:

• que

• o que

• porque

• como

You can report a question indirectly using one of the reporting verbs below:

• perguntar (meaning to ask)

• questionar (meaning to question)

• querer saber (meaning to want to know)

The indirect question itself will be in a subordinate clause beginning with one of the following conjunctions:

• que (meaning what)

• o que (meaning what)

• qual (meaning which)

• ordenar (meaning to order)

• como (meaning how)

• quando (meaning when)

• onde (meaning where)

• quem (meaning who)

• quanto, quanta, quantos, quantas (meaning how much/how many)

You can use the following Brazilian Portuguese verbs to report commands:

• pedir (meaning to ask)

• exigir (meaning to demand)

• mandar (meaning to order)

• ordenar (meaning to order)

• insistir (meaning to insist)

• querer (meaning to want)

• sugerir (meaning to suggest)

• solicitar (meaning to request)

The reported command will always begin with the conjunction que (meaning that).