B1 · Reported speech
Reported requests
« He told us to wait » leaves out who waits. Here the verb says it.
At a glance
- Remember
- para and the plain verb — and the plain verb may still count heads.
- Form
- «Espera!» → diz-me para esperardirect
- Signal words
- dizer para
- pedir para
- aconselhar a
- mandar
- proibir de
- sugerir que
- Trap
- Wrong:Disse para nós esperar à porta.Right:Disse para nós esperarmos à porta.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Portuguese. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) tense marker person ending negation
| direct | «Espera!» → diz-me para esperar |
| with the conjugated infinitive | «Esperem!» → diz-nos para esperarmos |
| negated | «Não esperes!» → diz-me para não esperar |
| with the subjunctive | diz-me que espere |
| with pedir | «Ajuda-me» → pede-me para o ajudar |
| for me to wait (conjugated infinitive) | para (eu) esperar |
| for you to wait | para (tu) esperares |
| for him / her to wait, for you to wait (você) | para (ele, ela, você) esperar |
| for us to wait | para (nós) esperarmos |
| for you to wait, plural (elevated) | para (vós) esperardes |
| for them to wait, for you to wait (vocês) | para (eles, elas, vocês) esperarem |
| that I wait (subjunctive) | que (eu) espere |
| that you wait | que (tu) esperes |
| that he / she wait, that you wait (você) | que (ele, ela, você) espere |
| that we wait | que (nós) esperemos |
| that you wait, plural (elevated) | que (vós) espereis |
| that they wait, that you wait (vocês) | que (eles, elas, vocês) esperem |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The order becomes para and the plain verb.
O médico diz-me para descansar.The doctor tells me to rest.
The infinitive takes an ending once the doer must be named.
Pede-nos para fecharmos a porta.She asks us to close the door.
não stands in front of the plain verb.
Diz-nos para não insistirmos.He tells us not to insist.
Similar, but each with its own preposition: pedir para, aconselhar a, proibir de.
Proibiram-no de fumar aqui.He has been forbidden to smoke here.
Example sentences
Diz-me para ligar amanhã de manhã.He tells me to call tomorrow morning.
Pede-nos para fecharmos a porta.She asks us to close the door.
O professor aconselha-os a relerem o texto.The teacher advises them to read the text again.
Pediram-lhe para não dizer nada.He was asked to say nothing.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
As soon as the doer is spelt out, the ending is no longer optional. Disse para nós esperar puts a subject and a subject-less verb in one sentence and reads as a slip; disse para nós esperarmos is the sentence. English gives no warning here, because « he said for us to wait » needs no such agreement.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
A reported order needs no que clause. In conversation it usually becomes para and the plain verb: Espera! becomes Diz-me para esperar. That is the shape of « he tells me to wait », joint and all, so half of this theme is already yours.
The other half English cannot copy. « He told us to wait » does not say who is to wait: the people spoken to, or those people together with him, or somebody else entirely. English settles it from the situation. Portuguese settles it in the ending: diz-nos para esperarmos — the -mos names the people who wait, and the sentence cannot be read any other way.
The endings are nothing, -es, nothing, -mos, -des, -em. In the first and third person singular the form looks like an ordinary infinitive, and is one — which is why it is easy to read past.
The negation goes in front of the verb: diz-me para não esperar. The second construction is que with the conjuntivo — diz-me que espere — just as correct and a little more formal.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: dizer · pedir · fechar · ligar · descansar