By now you have the grammar of a confident speaker; what remains is the polish — passing along what other people said, choosing the right level of formality, and sprinkling in the idioms and fillers that make speech sound natural rather than translated. This is where your Spanish stops being correct and starts being alive.
Direct speech quotes words exactly: "Estoy cansado," dijo Ana. Reported (indirect) speech relays them: Ana said that she was tired. In Spanish you introduce it with que and — if the reporting verb is in the past — you shift the tense back, just as English does.
| Original tense | Shifts to | Example |
|---|---|---|
| present | imperfect | "Trabajo" → Dijo que trabajaba. |
| preterite / present perfect | pluperfect | "Llegué" → Dijo que había llegado. |
| future | conditional | "Iré" → Dijo que iría. |
| present subj. / command | imperfect subjunctive | "Ven" → Me dijo que viniera. |
Ana dijo que estaba cansada. — Ana said (that) she was tired.
Nos prometió que vendría a la fiesta. — He promised us he would come to the party.
Yes/no questions become reported with si ("whether"); question-word questions keep the accented question word: Me preguntó si tenía hambre. — She asked if I was hungry. / Me preguntó dónde vivía. — He asked where I lived. Note the accent stays on dónde even inside the statement.
Register is the social dial you turn between casual and formal. Beyond tú vs. usted, whole phrases move up or down the scale. Saying the "wrong" one isn't a grammar error — it's a social one, so it's worth feeling the difference.
| Function | Formal | Informal |
|---|---|---|
| Requesting | ¿Podría ayudarme? | ¿Me echas una mano? |
| Greeting | Buenos días, ¿cómo está? | ¿Qué tal? |
| Thanking | Le agradezco mucho. | ¡Mil gracias! |
| Disagreeing | No estoy del todo de acuerdo. | Qué va, para nada. |
Softeners raise politeness in any register: the conditional (querría, podría), the phrase ¿Le importaría…? (Would you mind…?), and simply adding por favor and disculpe.
Idioms won't translate word for word — that's exactly why they mark a fluent speaker. Learn them as whole units.
Tengo ganas de ver el mar. — I feel like seeing the sea.
Perdón, metí la pata en la reunión. — Sorry, I put my foot in it at the meeting.
Te echo de menos. — I miss you.
Native speech is stitched together with little words that buy thinking time and signal your attitude. Drop these in and you'll instantly sound less like a textbook.
Bueno, la verdad es que no lo sé. — Well, honestly I don't know.
No puedo ir, es que tengo mucho trabajo. — I can't go — it's just that I have a lot of work.
Bring it all together.
Model answers: Luis dijo que iba al médico al día siguiente. / Me preguntó dónde estaba la estación. / ¿Podría pasarme la sal, por favor? / Bueno… la verdad es que echo mucho de menos a mi amiga.
Modismos and fillers travel less than grammar does. Vale is quintessentially Spanish; a Mexican might say órale or sale, an Argentine dale. The safe move abroad is to listen first, adopt the local flavour, and keep the neutral options (bueno, o sea, la verdad) that everyone understands. You're almost there — ¡Enhorabuena! Keep listening, keep speaking, and let these small words become your own.
Report the words, shifting the tense back.
Report the question or command.