Álvaro preguntó si mamá/su madre recibió/había recibido su carta.
Álvaro asked if mother/his mother received/had received his letter.
¿Qué has hecho con el dinero que te di?
What did you do with the money I gave you?
Mi padre me ha preguntado qué he hecho con el dinero que me dio.
My father has asked me what I have done with the money he gave me.
¿Cómo lo pasasteis?
Did you have a good time?
Nos preguntó cómo lo pasamos/habíamos pasado.
He/she asked us if we’d had a good time.
¿Cuándo volverás?
When will you come back?
Marta me preguntó cuándo volvería.
Marta asked me when I would come back.33.4.1 Reporting verbs for interrogative sentences
Next to preguntar, the most common verb used when reporting questions is querer
saber (e.g. quiere saber, ‘he/she wants to know’), which is used normally in the present
or the imperfect. In more formal contexts, you may hear desear saber (e.g. desea saber,
‘he/she wishes to know’).
¿Vendrá Hugo a la fiesta?
Will Hugo come to the party?
Adela quiere saber si Hugo vendrá a la fiesta.
Adela wants to know if Hugo will come to the party.
¿Qué pasó?
What happened?
Él quería saber qué pasó.
He wanted to know what happened.19.1 (p. 93)
33.5 Reporting yes and no answers
To report a yes or no answer simply use the word que, ‘that’, between the reporting verb
and the word sí or no.
Él dijo que sí. He said yes.
Dijeron que no. They said no.33.6 Reporting commands and requests
33.6.1 Reporting verb +que+ subjunctive
A reporting verb – usually decir, ‘to say’, ‘to tell’, pedir, ‘to ask’, or querer, ‘to want’ –
in the present or the perfect requires the use of a present subjunctive in the subordinate
clause.Reporting commands and requests 33.6