Spanish Reported Questions and Commands: me preguntó si

Report a yes/no question with si, an open question with its question word, and a command with que plus the imperfect subjunctive:

• Me preguntó si tenía hambre. - He/She asked me if I was hungry.
• Me preguntó dónde vivía. - He/She asked me where I lived.
• Me dijo que viniera. - He/She told me to come.

Reported questions and commands on one screen

After a past reporting verb the tenses step back, as in reported speech: tienes becomes tenía, está becomes estaba. The question marks go, because the sentence now states what was asked.

Reported yes/no questions: si

A question you can answer with yes or no is reported with si:

The tense steps back only after a past reporting verb. After a present one, it stays:

• Me pregunta si quiero café. - He/She is asking me if I want coffee.

This si means whether

This si is not the si of if-sentences. It means whether, so it can take the future or the conditional, which the if-si does not take in standard Spanish:

• No sé si vendrá. - I don't know whether he/she will come.
• Si vienes, te ayudo. - If you come, I'll help you.

Reported open questions: keep the question word

An open question keeps its question word, and the word keeps its written accent:

1234

1. 1quién era
2. 2dónde estaba
3. 3cuándo empezaba
4. 4cuánto costaba

Me preguntó... - he/she asked me who he was, where it was, when it started, how much it cost.

The accent marks a question, with or without question marks. Where there is no question, there is no accent:

• Me preguntó dónde trabajaba. - He/She asked me where I worked.
• Vivo donde trabajo. - I live where I work.

In speech you will often hear que before the question word: Me preguntó que dónde estaba el tren. That is correct Spanish and commonest in speech; careful writing usually leaves the que out.

The verb comes straight after the question word

English moves the subject forward: "where the train was". Spanish normally keeps the order of the direct question, with the verb straight after the question word:

• Me preguntó dónde estaba el tren. - He/She asked me where the train was.
• Me preguntó cuándo empezaba la película. - He/She asked me when the film started.

Por qué is the loose one: the subject may come before the verb, as in Me preguntó por qué Ana no vino. (He/She asked me why Ana didn't come.)

Reported commands: que + imperfect subjunctive

A command cannot be reported in the imperative. Spanish turns it into que plus the imperfect subjunctive:

1234

1. 1que me sentara
2. 2que abriera el libro
3. 3que no corriera
4. 4que me callara

Me dijo... - he/she told me to sit down, to open the book, not to run, to be quiet.

The no stays, and the pronoun follows the person: siéntate (you) becomes me sentara when I report it about myself.

After a present reporting verb, the subjunctive stays present:

• Me dice que venga. - He/She tells me to come.
• Me dijo que viniera. - He/She told me to come.

Asked, told, ordered: the reporting verb

The reporting verb says how strongly it was put:

Preguntar only reports questions. A request is pedir, never preguntar.

Dijo que: said, or told to?

Decir reports statements and commands alike. The mood shows which:

• Me dijo que venía. - He/She said he/she was coming. (a statement: indicative)
• Me dijo que viniera. - He/She told me to come. (a command: subjunctive)

Mistakes English speakers make

The wrong column shows only the part that goes wrong:

After a past verb you will also hear Me dijo que venga. when the order still stands. Me dijo que viniera. is always right.

What to do next

1. Report three questions someone asked you today, one with si.
2. Do the sort and story drills below.
3. Then the passive with ser.