Indirect speech in French

How to turn direct speech Into indirect speech

When turning direct speech into indirect speech, we need to remember to change the following:

• the pronouns

Example:

Il a déclaré: « Je suis très enthousiaste à l’idée de travailler avec vous. » He said, “I’m very excited about the idea of working with you.

→ Il a déclaré qu’il était très enthousiaste à l’idée de travailler avec moi. He said that he was very excited about the idea of working with me.

vous (2nd person polite form) → moi (1st person singular)

• the conjugation of the main verb: use the 3rd person instead of the 1st person and change the tense (more on this below)

Example:

Il m’a dit: « J’apprécie cela. » He told me, “I appreciate that.”

→ Il m’a dit qu’il appréciait cela. He told me he appreciated that.

present tense → imperfect

• if necessary, the time and place markers

Example:

Je lui ai annoncé: « J’ai préparé une présentation visuelle du projet hier. » I told him, “I prepared a visual presentation of the project yesterday.”

→ Je lui ai annoncé que j’avais préparé une présentation visuelle du projet la vieille. I told him that I had prepared a visual presentation of the project the day before.

hier → la vieille

Changing the Tense

If the reporting verb is in the présent (e.g. il dit), the tense remains unchanged in the indirect speech.

Example:

Je lui dis : « Je suis ravie de vous rencontrer. » I tell him, “I’m delighted to meet you.”

→ Je lui dis que je suis ravie de le rencontrer. I tell him that I’m delighted to meet him.

In some cases, however, we still need to change the verb form (1st person singular → 3rd person singular).

Example:

Elle lui dit : « Je suis ravie de vous rencontrer. » She tells him, “I’m delighted to meet you.”

Elle lui dit qu’elle est ravie de le rencontrer. She tells him that she’s delighted to meet him.

1st person singular (je suis) → 3rd person singular (elle est)

If the reporting verb is in a past tense (e.g. il a dit), the tense of the indirect speech must be shifted back (see the table below).

Examples:

Je lui ai annoncé : « J’ai préparé une présentation visuelle du projet hier. » I told him, “I prepared a visual presentation of the project yesterday.”

→ Je lui ai annoncé que j’avais préparé une présentation visuelle du projet la vieille. I told him that I had prepared a visual presentation of the project the day before.

passé composé → plus-que-parfait

Elle a dit : « Notre collaboration sera fructeuse. » She said, “Our collaboration will be productive.”

→ Elle a dit que leur collaboration serait fructeuse. She said that their collaboration would be productive.

futur simple → conditionnel présent

Declarative Sentences

Declarative sentences in indirect speech are attached to the reporting verb with the word que (qu’ before a vowel).

Example:

Je lui ai dit : « Je suis ravie de vous rencontrer. » I told him, “I’m delighted to meet you.

→ Je lui ai dit que j’étais ravie de le rencontrer. I told him that I was delighted to meet him.

Questions

Open questions (questions with a question word) are introduced by the same question word in indirect speech.

Example:

Je lui ai demandé: « Comment allez-vous ? » I asked him, “How are you?”

→ Je lui ai demandé comment il allait. I asked him how he was.

For yes-no questions (questions without a question-word), the indirect speech begins with si, which corresponds to the English “if” or “whether”.

Example:

Je lui ai demandé : « Avez-vous des questions ? » I asked him, “Do you have any questions?”

→ Je lui ai demandé si il avait des questions. I asked him if he had any questions.

For more detail on this topic, check out our page on indirect questions in French grammar.

Demands/Requests

Demands and requests are expressed in indirect speech by using an infinitive clause. In order to make it clear that it’s a request, we often replace the word dire with demander.

Example:

Il m’a dit: « Appelez-moi quand les contrats seront prêts. » He told me, “Call me when the contracts are ready.”

→ Il m’a dit/demandé de l’appeler quand les contrats seront prêts. He told/asked me to call him when the contracts are ready.