Tense shifts in Spanish reported speech
A past reporting verb can shift present, future and perfect forms as a speaker retells someone’s words from an earlier viewpoint.
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Spanish grammar
Explore essential Spanish grammar through clear explanations, contrasting examples and practical exercises.
Adventure journal
Spanish grammar
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Reporting questions indirectly
A reported question can preserve a question word or introduce a yes-or-no question with si, while its tense follows the context.
Read and practiseReporting commands and requests
A past request or instruction can be reported with a subordinate clause; practise choosing the appropriate subjunctive form.
Read and practiseA menos que and the subjunctive
Plans often have an exception: express what could prevent an action with a Spanish conjunction and the subjunctive.
Read and practiseConditions with con tal de que
Set a condition for an outcome in Spanish and choose the subjunctive when that condition has yet to be fulfilled.
Read and practiseConditions with siempre que
A permission, plan or agreement can depend on a proviso; compare that meaning with a repeated habit in Spanish.
Read and practiseEn caso de que and the subjunctive
A contingency may never happen, but Spanish can describe the precautions taken for it with a subjunctive clause.
Read and practisePurpose in the past with para que
A past action can have a purpose expressed with para que and the imperfect subjunctive; explore both verb endings in context.
Read and practiseUnreal comparisons with como si
A person may act as if something were true or had already happened: express that comparison with past subjunctive forms.
Read and practiseResult and purpose with de modo que
An actual consequence or an intended outcome changes the mood after this Spanish connector.
Read and practiseDrawing a consequence in Spanish
A prior fact leads to a consequence expressed with a distinctive Spanish connector and the subjunctive.
Read and practiseRejecting one reason for another
A contrast between a rejected explanation and the actual cause makes your reason precise in Spanish.
Read and practiseWhoever the person may be
An unrestricted reference to a person takes a Spanish relative expression followed by the subjunctive.
Read and practiseHypothetical si clauses: imperfect subjunctive and conditional
Express hypothetical present or future situations with si plus imperfect subjunctive and a conditional result.
Read and practiseUnrestricted choice with the Spanish concessive relative
Whatever the option, a concessive relative and the subjunctive let you express an unrestricted choice.
Read and practiseSpanish future perfect: an action completed before a future point
Form the future perfect with future haber and a participle to describe completion before a specified future time or event.
Read and practiseGuessing what has already happened
A closed shop or an unanswered message can invite a tentative explanation about an event that has already happened.
Read and practiseSpanish unreal past conditions with si hubiera and habría
Build a hypothetical past condition with si plus the past perfect subjunctive and an imagined result with the conditional perfect.
Read and practiseGuessing what had happened
A missing coat or a wet street can invite a Spanish guess about what had happened before a moment in the past.
Read and practiseAunque with indicative and subjunctive
Compare a stated fact after aunque with a hypothetical concession expressed by the subjunctive.
Read and practiseReject an explanation with no es que
When an assumed reason misses the point, Spanish can reject it with the subjunctive and offer a different explanation.
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