B2 · Reported speech
The reporting verbs
« Say » and « tell » are one verb, and a pronoun carries the difference.
At a glance
- Remember
- Wanting, doubting and hoping pull the conjuntivo.
- Form
- diz que o comboio partiuneutral
- Signal words
- afirmar
- alegar
- admitir
- negar
- acrescentar
- reconhecer
- garantir
- prometer
- Trap
- Wrong:Exige que estás lá às oito.Right:Exige que estejas lá às oito.
Your turn
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The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Portuguese.
| neutral | diz que o comboio partiu |
| to claim | alega que o comboio partiu |
| to admit | admite ter-se enganado |
| to deny | nega ter visto alguma coisa |
| to demand (subjunctive) | exige que estejas lá |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
querer, exigir and duvidar take the conjuntivo.
Quer que saiamos agora.She wants us to leave now.
afirmar and reconhecer take the indicative.
Reconheceu que se tinha enganado.She acknowledged that she had been wrong.
negar and admitir mostly take a plain verb.
Nega ter visto alguma coisa.He denies having seen anything.
esperar que takes the conjuntivo.
Espero que ele venha.I hope he comes.
Example sentences
A testemunha afirma que não viu nada.The witness states that she saw nothing.
Admitiu ter trocado as datas.He admitted that he had mixed up the dates.
Promete voltar a ligar antes do meio-dia.He promises to call back before noon.
Duvido que cheguem a tempo.I doubt they will arrive in time.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English has all but lost its subjunctive, so the group of verbs that require one here has to be learnt as a list rather than felt. « He demands that you are there » and « he says that you are there » look alike from this side; exige que estejas lá and diz que estás lá do not, and the first with an indicative is simply wrong.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
English splits its plainest reporting verb in two, and the split runs along the listener: « he said that it was late », « he told me that it was late ». « Say » will not take a bare listener and « tell » will not go without one. Portuguese has one verb for both, dizer, and the split is gone.
What carries the difference instead is the pronoun. Diz que chega tarde is « he says he will be late »; diz-me que chega tarde is « he tells me he will be late ». Same verb, one syllable more, and no other choice to make.
Which puts the weight on the other verbs, because they are what is left to say how a thing was meant. Afirmar, acrescentar, reconhecer, garantir and admitir all take que and an indicative and each carries its own reading.
Three groups take something else. Querer, exigir, duvidar and esperar take que and the conjuntivo; negar most often takes a plain verb — nega ter visto alguma coisa —, and so does admitir when its subject stays the same, next to the que above: admite ter-se enganado; and prometer and recusar take one too.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: ter · chegar · vir · sair · ver · querer · esperar · voltar