This page is designed to support our article on reported speech in Brazilian Portuguese. If you want to learn all about direct and indirect speech, we recommend checking out that post first. But if you’re looking for a helpful summary and some examples, read on!
Study Resource: Direct vs. Indirect Speech in Brazilian Portuguese
By: Fabiana Dametto Oliveira
In Brazilian Portuguese, it is possible to report what someone said using a direct quote (called “direct speech”) or by incorporating the message into your sentence (called “indirect speech”). For example:
- Direct Speech:
Ela disse: “Eu estou em casa.”
She said, “I’m at home.”
- Indirect Speech:
Ela disse que estava em casa.
She said she was at home.
Notice that there are some differences between the direct quote and how that message is reported indirect speech. Below, you will find a summary of some of those differences.
Important
Direct speech vs. indirect speech: Tense
Direct speech | Indirect speech |
|---|---|
Simple Present: Ela disse: “Eu estou em casa.” She said, “I’m at home.” | Imperfect: Ela disse que estava em casa. She said she was at home. |
Simple Future: Ela disse que estará em casa. She said she will be at home. | |
Present Continuous: Ela disse: “Estou lendo um livro.” She said, “I’m reading a book.” | Imperfect Continuous: Ela disse que estava lendo um livro. She said that she was reading a book. |
Preterite: Ela disse: Eu nunca experimentei comida brasileira. She said, “I have never tried Brazilian food.” | Past Perfect (Pluperfect): Ela disse que nunca tinha experimentado comida brasileira. She said that she had never tried Brazilian food. |
Future: Ela disse: “Viajarei amanhã.” She said, “I’ll travel tomorrow.” | Present Conditional: Ela disse que viajaria amanhã. She said that she would be hungry. |
Imperative: Ela disse: “Faça silêncio.” She said, “Be quiet.” | Personal Infinitive: Ela pediu para eu fazer silêncio. She asked me to be quiet. |
Imperfect Subjunctive: Ela pediu que eu fizesse silêncio. She asked me to be quiet. | |
Present Subjunctive: Ela disse: “Talvez eu almoce mais tarde.” She said, “Maybe I'll have lunch later.” | Imperfect Subjunctive: Ela disse que talvez almoçasse mais tarde. She said maybe she would have lunch later. |
Conditional Simple: Ela disse que talvez almoçaria mais tarde She said maybe she would have lunch later. | |
Present Perfect Subjunctive: Ela disse: “Espero que você tenha descansado.” She said, “I hope you got some rest.” | Past Perfect Subjunctive: Ela disse que esperava que eu tivesse descansado. She said she hoped I had rested. |
Future Subjunctive + Simple Present: Ela disse: “Quando eu chegar em casa, te ligo.” She said, “When I get home, I’ll call you.” | Imperfect Subjunctive + Conditional Simple: Ela disse que quando chegasse em casa, me ligaria. She said when she got home she would call me. |
Direct speech vs. indirect speech: Pronouns
Pronoun Type | Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|---|
Demonstratives | este, esse(this) | aquele(that) |
esta, essa(this) | aquela(that) | |
isto(this) | aquilo(that) | |
Personal Pronouns | eu(I) | ele, ela(he, she) |
você(you, sing.) | ||
nós(we) | no dia anterior(last day) | |
Possessives | meu, minha, meus, minhas(my, mine) | seu, sua, seus, suas(his, her) dele, dela(his, her) |
nosso, nossa, nossos, nossas(our) | aqui, cá(here) |
Direct speech vs. indirect speech: Adverbs
Adverb Type | Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|---|
Adverbs of time | agora(now) | então(then) |
já(already) | naquele momento(that moment) | |
imediatamente(immediately) | logo(soon) | |
hoje(today) | naquele dia(that day) | |
ontem(yesterday) | no dia anterior(last day) | |
amanhã(tomorrow) | no dia seguinte(next day) | |
Adverbs of place | aqui, cá(here) | lá, ali(there) |
aí(there) | aqui, cá(here) |
