In Italian, there are two main ways to communicate what someone says. Direct speech, called discorso diretto, repeats the person's exact words, while reported speech, called discorso indiretto, communicates the same message without quoting the original words. Both forms are common in everyday conversations and written Italian. Direct speech is useful when we want to show exactly what a person says, while reported speech allows us to include that information naturally in our own sentence. At the A1 level, the most important goal is to understand the difference between these two forms and learn how to report simple statements and questions using familiar verbs.
Direct Speech: Repeating Someone's Words
Direct speech presents a person's words exactly as they are spoken. In writing, these words are usually placed inside quotation marks, often introduced by a colon. For example, Marco dice: «Sono stanco» means Marco says, “I'm tired.” The verb dice (says) introduces the speaker's words, while sono stanco (I'm tired) is the exact statement. Italian commonly uses angle quotation marks (« »), although other quotation marks are also possible. In everyday language, the verbs dire (to say) and chiedere (to ask) are particularly useful for introducing direct speech. When someone asks a question, the question mark remains inside the quotation marks because it belongs to the original words. Direct speech therefore preserves both the original wording and the form of the sentence, whether it is a statement or a question.
Marco dice: «Sono stanco». — Marco says, “I'm tired.”
Anna chiede: «Dove sei?» — Anna asks, “Where are you?”
Reported Speech: Communicating the Same Message
Reported speech communicates what someone says without repeating the exact words. In simple statements, Italian commonly uses dire + che (to say + that). The word che connects the verb dire to the information being reported. For example, Marco dice che è stanco means Marco says that he is tired. The original words sono stanco become è stanco because the speaker is now talking about Marco rather than speaking as Marco. This change is important: in direct speech, the pronoun and verb forms reflect the original speaker, while in reported speech they must reflect the person being described. Italian often omits subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear, so the change from sono to è is enough in this example. When we report a present-tense statement using dice, the present indicative normally stays the same, although the verb may change its form to match the person being described.
Marco dice: «Sono stanco». → Marco dice che è stanco. — Marco says, “I'm tired.” → Marco says that he is tired.
Reported questions follow a slightly different pattern. Instead of using che, Italian can keep the original question word, such as dove (where), quando (when), or perché (why). For example, Anna chiede: «Dove sei?» can become Anna chiede dove sono (Anna asks where I am), when Anna is speaking directly to the person who later reports the question. In this transformation, sei (you are) becomes sono (I am) because the point of view changes. A statement containing a reported question normally ends with a period rather than a question mark, since the complete sentence is not itself a direct question. For A1 learners, recognizing this simple pattern is enough to understand how common questions can be reported.
Anna chiede: «Dove sei?» → Anna chiede dove sono. — Anna asks, “Where are you?” → Anna asks where I am.
Summary of Direct and Reported Speech
| Type | Main rule | Italian pattern | Example |
| Direct statement | Repeat the exact words using quotation marks | dire + «…» | Luca dice: «Ho fame». — Luca says, “I'm hungry.” |
| Reported statement | Use che to introduce the reported information | dire + che + statement | Luca dice che ha fame. — Luca says that he is hungry. |
| Direct question | Keep the original question inside quotation marks | chiedere + «…?» | Luca chiede: «Dove sei?» — Luca asks, “Where are you?” |
| Reported question | Keep the question word in a statement reporting the question | chiedere + question word | Luca chiede dove sono. — Luca asks where I am. |