Reported Speech

¿Cuándo usamos Reported Speech?

Cuando queremos comunicar o informar de lo que otra persona ha dicho, hay dos maneras de hacerlo: utilizando el estilo directo o el estilo indirecto.

Direct Speech (El estilo directo)

Cuando queremos informar exactamente de lo que otra persona ha dicho, utilizamos el estilo directo. Con este estilo lo que la persona ha dicho se coloca entre comillas (“…”) y deberá ser palabra por palabra.

Ejemplos:

  “I am going to London next week,” she said. (“Voy a Londres la semana que viene,” ella dijo.)

  “Do you have a pen I could borrow,” he asked. (“¿Tienes un bolígrafo que puedas prestarme?,” él preguntó.)

  Alice said, “I love to dance.” (Alice dijo, “Me encanta bailar.”)

  Chris asked, “Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?” (Chris preguntó, “¿Te gustaría cenar conmigo mañana por la noche?”)

Reported Speech (El estilo indirecto)

El estilo indirecto, a diferencia del estilo directo, no utiliza las comillas y no necesita ser palabra por palabra. En general, cuando se usa el estilo indirecto, el tiempo verbal cambia. A continuación, tienes una explicación de los cambios que sufren los tiempos verbales.

A veces se usa “that” en las frases afirmativas y negativas para introducir lo que ha dicho la otra persona. Por otro lado, en las frases interrogativas se puede usar “if” o “whether”.

Nota: Ten en cuenta también que las expresiones de tiempo cambian en el estilo indirecto. Fíjate en los cambios de tiempo en los ejemplos más abajo y después, encontrarás una tabla con más explicaciones de los cambios de tiempo en el estilo indirecto.

 

Tense Changes: Cambios de Tiempos verbales

Verb to Be and Modals

Am/ Is/: Was (Past Simple)

Are: Were (Past Simple)

Was/ Were: Had been (Past Perfect)

Can: Could

Must: Must (no change) or had to

May: Might

Might: Might (no change)

Could: Could (no change) or had been able to

Shall: Should

Should: Should (no change)

Ought to: Ought to (no change)

Simple Tenses

Do/ Does: Did

Did: Had done

Will do: Would do

Perfect Tenses

Have/ Has done: Had done

Had done: Had done (no change)

Will have done: Would have done

Continuous Tenses

Am/ is/ are doing: Was/ were doing

Have/ has been doing: had been doing

Was/ were doing: had been doing

Had been doing: had been doing (no change)

Will be doing: would be doing

Will have been doing: would have been doing

Others

Used to: Used to (no change)

Am/ is/ are going to do: Was/ were going to do

 

Time markers: Marcadores de tiempo

Algunas veces necesitamos cambiarlos para mantener el mismo sentido de la oración.

Tomorrow: the next/ following day.: “I’ll call you tomorrow: She said she would call me the next day

Yesterday: the day before

I handed in the report yesterday. He said he had handed in the report the day before

Next week: The following week

We’re coming back next week. John said that they were coming back the following week.

Last year: the year before.

We didn’t visit Lisbon last year. She said that they hadn’t visited Lisbon the year before.

Now: then/ immediately

We must leave now. She said that they must leave then.

Other words that change.

This/ That: This is the last bus. She said that was the last bus

These: Those: We have chosen these books. She said that they had choses those books.

Here: There: We have been living here for twenty years. She said they had been living there for twenty years

Would like: Want: I would like to be a singer. He said that she wanted to be a singer

 

Recursos para practicar: