Reporting the words spoken by someone else can be really frustrating in Italian! There are too many changes in verb moods and tenses, aren’t they? But don’t worry! We have created the best lesson about direct discourse that’s ever been made! (Modesty is not our thing)
ITALIAN REPORTED SPEECH
The Indirect Discourse is the means to report what is said (news, questions, commands…)
You need to be very careful with tense concordance, on the basis of what we have to report (news, questions, commands) and on the basis of the tense of what we are reporting: present (“dice (he says), chiede (he asks), ordina (he orders)…”) or past (“ha detto (he said), chiese (he asked), ha ordinato (he ordered)…”).
To report NEWS, INFORMATION
| Dice che…
(He says that…) | Ha detto che…
(He said that…) | |
| Present
(«Ho fame» → I’m hungry) | Present
(… ha fame → … he is hungry) | Imperfect
(… aveva fame → … he was hungry) |
| Imperfect
(«Avevo un cane» → I had a dog) | Imperfect
(… aveva un cane → … he had a dog) | Imperfect
(… aveva un cane → … he had a dog) |
| Passato prossimo
(«Sono tornata» → I’m back) | Passato prossimo
(… è tornata → … she is back) | Trapassato
prossimo (… era tornata → … she was back) |
| Passato remoto
(«Vidi» → I saw) | Passato remoto
(… vide → … he saw) | Trapassato
prossimo (… aveva visto → … he had seen) |
| Trapassato prossimo
(«Avevo letto» → I had read) | Trapassato prossimo
(… aveva letto → … he had read) | Trapassato
prossimo (… aveva letto → … he had read) |
| Simple
future («Mangerò» → I will eat) | Simple
future (… mangerà → … he will eat) | Past
Conditional (… avrebbe mangiato → he would have eaten) |
| Futuro
anteriore («Avrò dormito» → I will have slept) | Futuro
anteriore (… avrà dormito → … he will have slept) | Past
Conditional (… avrebbe dormito → … he would have slept) |
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Join the LearnAmo AcademyPAY ATTENTION:
If the subject of the main clause is the same as the subordinate clause, it is more common the use of the implicit form DI + INFINITIVE
Example:
(Lei) Dice che (lei) ha fame → Dice di avere fame (She says she is hungry)
(Lei) Dice che è (lei) tornata → Dice di essere tornata (She says he is back)
(Lei) Dice che (loro) sono andati → Dice di essere andati (She says they are gone)
To report QUESTIONS:
| Chiede se…
(he asks if …) | Ha chiesto se…
(he asked if…) | |
| Present indicative
(«Parti?» → Are you leaving?) | Present indicative
(… parto → … I’m leaving) | Imperfect
subjunctive (… partissi → … I was leaving) |
| Imperfect indicative
(«Dormivi?» → were you sleeping?) | Imperfect indicative
(… dormivo → … I was sleeping) | Imperfect
subjunctive (… dormissi → … I was sleeping) |
| Passato prossimo indicative
(«Hai cenato?» → Have you had dinner?) | Passato prossimo indicative
(… ho cenato → … I’ve had dinner) | Trapassato
subjunctive (… avessi cenato → … I had had dinner) |
| Passato
remoto indicative («Tornasti?» → Did you come back?) | Passato remoto
indicative (… tornai → … I came back) | Trapassato
subjunctive (… fossi tornata → … I was back) |
| Trapassato
prossimo indicative («Avevi letto?» → Had you read?) | Trapassato prossimo indicative
(… avevo letto → … I had read) | Trapassato
subjunctive (… avessi letto → … I had read) |
| Simple future indicative
(«Mangerai?» → Will you eat?) | Simple future indicative
(… mangerò → … I will eat) | Conditional past
(… avrei mangiato → I would eat) |
| Futuro anteriore
(«Avrà sognato?» → Will he have dreamt?) | Futuro anteriore
(… avrà sognato → … He will have dreamt) | Conditional past
(… avrebbe sognato → … He would dream) |
BE CAREFUL!!!
If we report questions, we can’t use the implicit form (DI + INFINITIVE)!!!
To report ORDERS, COMMANDS:
| Ordina che …
(He orders that) | Ha ordinato che …
(He ordered that) | |
| Imperative
(«Prendi!» → Take!) | Present subjunctive
(… io prenda → … I take) | Imperfect
subjunctive (… io prendessi → … I took) |
| Imperative
(«Lasciate!» → Leave!) | Present subjunctive
(… noi lasciamo → … we leave) | Imperfect
subjunctive (… noi lasciassimo → … we left) |
The implicit form DI + INFINITO can be used in this case too (IMPORTANT: the concordance of the subject between the main clause and the subordinate is not necessary!)
Example:
Gli ordina che mangi → Gli ordina di mangiare (He orders him to eat)
Ordina che io vada all’ufficio → Mi ordina di andare all’ufficio (He orders me to go the office)
N.B.
The verb chiedere (to ask) can be also used to report orders:
Gli chiede che compri un gelato → Gli chiede di comprare un gelato (He asks him to buy an ice cream)
IF THE VERB OF THE INDIRECT DISCOURSE IS IN THE PAST, these changes must be done:
| Discorso diretto (Direct Discourse) | Discorso indiretto (Indirect Discourse) |
| Questo (This) («Voglio questo libro» → I want this book) | Quello (That) (Ha detto che voleva quel libro → He said he wanted that book) |
| Qui, qua (Here) («Torna qua!» → Come back here!) | Lì, là (There) (Gli ha ordinato di tornare là → He ordered him to come back there) |
| Quassù, quaggiù (Up / Down here)(«Vedete quaggiù!» → See down here!) | Lassù, laggiù (Up / Down there) (Ha ordinato che vedessimo laggiù → He ordered we saw down there) |
| Adesso, ora (Now) («Siamo tornati adesso» → We are back now) | In quel momento, allora (In That moment, then) (Ha detto che erano tornati in quel momento → He said they were back in that moment) |
| Ieri (Yesterday) («Ieri ho cominciato la dieta» → Yesterday I started the diet) | Il giorno prima / Il giorno precedente (The day before) (Disse che il giorno precedente aveva cominciato la dieta → He said he had started the diet the previous day) |
| Oggi (Today) («Oggi ho cucinato la pasta» → Today I’ve cooked the pasta) | Quel giorno (That day) (Disse che quel giorno aveva cucinato la pasta → He said he had cooked the pasta that day) |
| Domani (Tomorrow) («Domani andrò al mare» → Tomorrow I will go to the sea) | L’indomani / Il giorno seguente / Il g. successivo / Il g. dopo (The following day)(Disse che il giorno dopo sarebbe andata al mare → She said that the following day she would go to the sea) |
| Mesi / settimane / giorni fa (Months /weeks/ days ago) («L’ho comprato tre mesi fa» → I bought it three month ago) | Mesi / settimane / giorni prima (Months / Weeks / days ago) (Ha detto di averlo comprato tre mesi prima → He said he bought it three months before) |
| Tra poco, poco fa (Shortly, a while ago)(«Ricomincerò tra poco» → I’ll go back shortly) | Dopo poco, poco prima (Shortly after / before) (Disse che avrebbe ricominciato dopo poco → He said he would go back shortly after) |
Now that you’ve learned the indirect speech, don’t miss the lesson about PASSIVE!
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