Reporting questions and commands

In Brazil's social landscape, knowing how to report what others said is pure social currency – from office gossip ("Ela perguntou se você já terminou o relatório") to family dynamics ("Minha mãe mandou você ligar pra ela"). You'll use this constantly in WhatsApp messages relaying conversations, at work reporting what the boss wants, or just sharing the latest neighborhood drama. Plus, choosing between "mandou" (bossy) versus "pediu" (polite) can make or break relationships – it's not just grammar, it's social navigation!

The Core Concept

Reported speech transforms someone's exact words into your narration. In Brazilian Portuguese, adjust pronouns, structure, and tenses to the reporting perspective; the original tense can remain when the temporal context permits it.

Reporting Yes/No Questions

Embed a yes/no question using "se" (if/whether):

Direct: "Você vai à festa?" (Are you going to the party?)
Reported: Ela perguntou se eu ia à festa. (She asked if I was going to the party.)

Notice:

• This reported statement has no question mark; a whole reporting sentence can still be a question

• Word order becomes statement-like

WhatsApp Conversations

• "Minha mãe perguntou se você vai almoçar lá domingo" (My mum asked whether you're having lunch there on Sunday)

• "O chefe quer saber quando você entrega o projeto" (The boss wants to know when you're delivering the project)

• "A Ana mandou te avisar que vai atrasar" (Ana asked me to tell you she'll be late)

• "João pediu para você ligar pra ele urgente" (João asked you to call him urgently)

• "A professora falou que não vai ter aula amanhã" (The teacher said there won't be a class tomorrow)

Office Situations

• "O cliente perguntou se podemos entregar até sexta" (The client asked whether we can deliver by Friday)

• "A diretora solicitou que todos participem da reunião" (The director has asked that everyone attend the meeting)

• "RH quer saber quando você tira férias" (HR wants to know when you're taking your holiday)

• "Meu supervisor recomendou que eu fizesse o curso" (My supervisor recommended that I take the course)

The Eternal Tense Confusion

Temporal context determines which tense conveys the intended meaning:

• Historical reporting: "Cabral disse que tinha descoberto o paraíso" (a past-before-past viewpoint; descobriu can fit a different temporal framing)

• Formal writing: Maintain a coherent temporal viewpoint; backshift is not an automatic requirement

• When ambiguity matters: "Ele disse que estava doente" (was sick then) vs. "está doente" (still sick)

Se vs. Que Mistakes

Common error: Using "que" instead of "se" for yes/no questions:

• ❌ "Ela perguntou que eu queria café"

• ✅ "Ela perguntou se eu queria café"

But remember: "que" is for statements, not yes/no questions: