📖LearnModule 11 · Lesson 22 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, first halfUnit 5 · Relatar y conectar
Preguntas y órdenes en estilo indirecto
Module 11 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, first half), lesson 22 of 30: A reported yes/no question takes si: me preguntó si estaba libre. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
A reported yes/no question takes si: me preguntó si estaba libre. A reported what-question keeps its word, accent included: me preguntó qué hacía, dónde vivía.
Y también · And also
Orders and requests move into the subjunctive, stepped back: «espera» becomes me pidió que esperara; «vengan» becomes nos rogó que viniéramos. Que + imperfecto de subjuntivo is the reported command; the infinitive (me pidió esperar) is rarer and more formal.
Ojo · Watch out
A reported yes/no question takes si; a reported order takes que + imperfecto de subjuntivo: me pidió que esperara, never me pidió que esperé. And the question word keeps its accent in reported speech: me preguntó qué hacía.
rogar, pretérito — the table
yo rogué · tú rogaste · él/ella/usted rogó · nosotros rogamos · ustedes rogaron · ellos/ellas rogaron
esperar, imperfecto de subjuntivo — the table
yo esperara · tú esperaras · él/ella/usted esperara · nosotros esperáramos · ustedes esperaran · ellos/ellas esperaran
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with me preguntó si estaba libre.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out rogar, pretérito and esperar, imperfecto de subjuntivo in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.