How do you form reported speech in French?

Introduce the report with que and adjust the pronouns. If the reporting verb is in the past, shift the tense back: the present becomes the imperfect, the passé composé becomes the plus-que-parfait, and the future becomes the conditional.

Can you leave out que in French?

No. Que is obligatory, and it has to be repeated before each clause you report: elle a dit qu'elle était fatiguée et qu'elle rentrait. English can drop that in the same position, which is why the omission feels natural and is still wrong.

How do you report a question in French?

For a yes-no question, use si and drop est-ce que and any inversion: il m'a demandé si je venais. For an open question, keep the question word but drop the inversion, and change qu'est-ce que to ce que: il m'a demandé ce que je voulais.

Why does the future become the conditional in reported speech?

Because the whole report has been pulled into the past. Je viendrai was future at the time it was said, so once you frame it with il a dit, it becomes a future seen from the past, which in French is the conditional: il a dit qu'il viendrait.

How do you report an imperative in French?

Use de plus an infinitive: « Ferme la porte » becomes il m'a dit de fermer la porte. For a negative order, ne pas stays in one block in front of the infinitive: il m'a dit de ne pas ouvrir la fenêtre.

French grammar · Intermediate

Reported Speech in French: Que, Tense Shifts, and Indirect Questions

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Reported speech, le discours indirect, is how you relay what someone said without quoting them. French links the report to the original with que, and when the reporting verb is in the past it shifts the tenses back: « Je viens » becomes il a dit qu'il venait.

Elle a dit qu'elle viendrait plus tard.

She said she would come later.

What it is

Direct speech quotes: elle a dit : « Je suis fatiguée ». Reported speech absorbs the words into your own sentence: elle a dit qu'elle était fatiguée. Absorbing them means adjusting everything that pointed outwards from the original speaker — the pronouns, the tenses, and the words for here and now.

« Je te téléphonerai demain » → Il a dit qu'il me téléphonerait le lendemain.

How to spot it

Look for a verb of speech followed by que, si, or a question word. If the reporting verb is in a past tense, expect the following verb to be one step further back than the original.

Il m'a dit qu'il ne pouvait pas venir. — He told me he couldn't come.
Elle m'a demandé si j'avais faim. — She asked me if I was hungry.
Je lui ai demandé ce qu'il voulait. — I asked him what he wanted.
Le médecin m'a dit de me reposer. — The doctor told me to rest.

Que cannot be left out in French. English drops that freely — he said he was tired — but il a dit il était fatigué is not a sentence.

Reported Speech Quick Reference

Tense shifts after a reporting verb in the past

Direct speech	Becomes	Example
Présent	Imparfait	« Je pars » → il a dit qu'il partait
Passé composé	Plus-que-parfait	« J'ai fini » → il a dit qu'il avait fini
Imparfait	Imparfait (no change)	« Je dormais » → il a dit qu'il dormait
Futur simple	Conditionnel présent	« Je viendrai » → il a dit qu'il viendrait
Futur antérieur	Conditionnel passé	« J'aurai fini » → il a dit qu'il aurait fini
Impératif	de + infinitive	« Attends ! » → il m'a dit d'attendre

Common Reported Speech Examples in French

Reported speech across the four things people say:

Reporting Statements

Il a annoncé qu'il changeait de travail.: He announced that he was changing jobs.
Elle a répondu qu'elle n'était pas d'accord.: She replied that she didn't agree.
Ils ont expliqué qu'ils avaient tout perdu.: They explained that they had lost everything.
On m'a assuré que ce serait prêt lundi.: I was assured it would be ready on Monday.

Dire, annoncer, répondre, expliquer, and affirmer all take que and behave identically.

Reporting Yes-No Questions

Il m'a demandé si j'étais libre.: He asked me if I was free.
Elle voulait savoir si nous venions.: She wanted to know whether we were coming.
Je me demande s'il a compris.: I wonder whether he understood.
On m'a demandé si j'avais déjà voté.: I was asked whether I had already voted.

Est-ce que disappears and si takes its place. Si elides to s' before il and ils only.

Reporting Open Questions

Il m'a demandé où j'habitais.: He asked me where I lived.
Elle a voulu savoir pourquoi j'étais parti.: She wanted to know why I had left.
Je lui ai demandé ce qu'elle faisait.: I asked her what she was doing.
Personne ne sait ce qui s'est passé.: Nobody knows what happened.

Qu'est-ce que becomes ce que, and qu'est-ce qui becomes ce qui. The other question words stay as they are.

Reporting Orders and Requests

Il m'a dit de faire attention.: He told me to be careful.
Elle nous a demandé de patienter.: She asked us to wait.
Le professeur leur a dit de ne pas parler.: The teacher told them not to talk.
On m'a conseillé de consulter un spécialiste.: I was advised to see a specialist.

An imperative becomes de plus an infinitive, and a negative imperative keeps ne pas together in front of it.

How Reported Speech Is Built

Five adjustments turn a quotation into a report, and they always apply in the same order.

Que Joins the Report to the Reporting Verb

Statements are introduced by que, which is obligatory and has to be repeated in front of each new clause: il a dit qu'il était fatigué et qu'il rentrait.

Elle a écrit qu'elle acceptait et qu'elle arriverait jeudi.

She wrote that she accepted and that she'd arrive on Thursday.

One que per clause, never optional.

The Tense Shifts Only If the Reporting Verb Is Past

Il dit qu'il vient keeps the present, because the reporting verb is present. Il a dit qu'il venait shifts it, because a past reporting verb pulls everything after it into the past. Nothing shifts twice.

Il dit qu'il part ; il a dit qu'il partait.

He says he's leaving; he said he was leaving.

Past reporting verb, shifted tense.

The Future Becomes the Conditional

This is the shift English performs when will becomes would. Il a dit qu'il viendrait does not mean he said he might come; it is simply the past-tense way of reporting je viendrai.

Ils ont promis qu'ils rembourseraient tout.

They promised they would refund everything.

viendrai → viendrait.

Pronouns and Possessives Point From the Reporter

Everything anchored to the original speaker has to be recalculated. « J'ai perdu mes clés » becomes il a dit qu'il avait perdu ses clés, because you are no longer the one speaking.

Elle a dit que son frère lui avait téléphoné.

She said her brother had called her.

Recalculate every je, tu, mon, and ton.

Time and Place Words Move Too

Hier becomes la veille, demain becomes le lendemain, aujourd'hui becomes ce jour-là, maintenant becomes alors, and ici becomes là. Without these adjustments the report keeps pointing at the moment of the original conversation.

Il a dit qu'il partirait le lendemain matin.

He said he'd leave the next morning.

demain → le lendemain.

Common Mistakes with Reported Speech

Incorrect: Il a dit il était malade. — He said he was ill.

Correct: Il a dit qu'il était malade. — He said he was ill.

English can omit that; French cannot omit que. Without it the two clauses have nothing joining them.

Incorrect: Elle a dit qu'elle viendra demain. — She said she would come the next day.

Correct: Elle a dit qu'elle viendrait le lendemain. — She said she would come the next day.

A past reporting verb shifts the future to the conditional and moves demain to le lendemain. Leaving both unshifted reads as a quotation with the guillemets missing.

Incorrect: Il m'a demandé est-ce que je venais. — He asked whether I was coming.

Correct: Il m'a demandé si je venais. — He asked whether I was coming.

Est-ce que belongs to direct questions only. In a reported yes-no question it is replaced by si, and the clause returns to ordinary subject-verb order.

Incorrect: Le médecin m'a dit que je me repose. — The doctor told me to rest.

Correct: Le médecin m'a dit de me reposer. — The doctor told me to rest.

Dire que reports a statement; dire de plus an infinitive reports an instruction. Using que here turns an order into a claim about what you are doing.

Questions and Commands in Reported Speech

Statements only need que. Questions and orders need structural changes as well, and these are where most errors happen.

Yes-no questions take si

Drop est-ce que, drop any inversion, and put si in front of a normal subject-verb clause. Si here means whether, and never introduces a conditional.

Il m'a demandé si je voulais du café.: He asked whether I wanted coffee.
Elle m'a demandé si j'avais vu le film.: She asked whether I'd seen the film.
Je ne sais pas s'ils viendront.: I don't know whether they'll come.

Note the word order: si je voulais, not si voulais-je. The inversion of the original question disappears.

Question words stay, but qu'est-ce que changes

Où, quand, comment, pourquoi, and combien carry over unchanged. Qu'est-ce que becomes ce que and qu'est-ce qui becomes ce qui, and inversion is dropped.

Il m'a demandé quand je rentrais.: He asked when I was coming back.
Elle m'a demandé comment ça s'était passé.: She asked how it had gone.
Je lui ai demandé ce qu'il en pensait.: I asked him what he thought of it.
Dis-moi ce qui te dérange.: Tell me what's bothering you.

Ce que is followed by a subject; ce qui is followed directly by a verb, because it is itself the subject.

Orders become de plus an infinitive

There is no way to keep an imperative inside a reported clause, so French converts it to an infinitive introduced by de. The person being ordered appears as an indirect object of the reporting verb.

Il m'a dit de me taire.: He told me to be quiet.
Elle leur a demandé de fermer la porte.: She asked them to close the door.
On nous a dit de ne pas bouger.: We were told not to move.

A reflexive infinitive keeps a pronoun matching the person ordered: il m'a dit de me taire, il lui a dit de se taire.

Reported Speech FAQs

How do you form reported speech in French?: Introduce the report with que and adjust the pronouns. If the reporting verb is in the past, shift the tense back: the present becomes the imperfect, the passé composé becomes the plus-que-parfait, and the future becomes the conditional.
Can you leave out que in French?: No. Que is obligatory, and it has to be repeated before each clause you report: elle a dit qu'elle était fatiguée et qu'elle rentrait. English can drop that in the same position, which is why the omission feels natural and is still wrong.
How do you report a question in French?: For a yes-no question, use si and drop est-ce que and any inversion: il m'a demandé si je venais. For an open question, keep the question word but drop the inversion, and change qu'est-ce que to ce que: il m'a demandé ce que je voulais.
Why does the future become the conditional in reported speech?: Because the whole report has been pulled into the past. Je viendrai was future at the time it was said, so once you frame it with il a dit, it becomes a future seen from the past, which in French is the conditional: il a dit qu'il viendrait.
How do you report an imperative in French?: Use de plus an infinitive: « Ferme la porte » becomes il m'a dit de fermer la porte. For a negative order, ne pas stays in one block in front of the infinitive: il m'a dit de ne pas ouvrir la fenêtre.