REPORTED SPEECH

En estilo directo, reproducimos literalmente las misma palabras que otra persona ha dicho:

He said: "I'm hungry".

En estilo indirecto, cambiamos algunas de las palabras que la otra persona dijo:

Annie said: "I'm hungry".

Annie said she was hungry.

Cuando el verbo introductor (Reporting verb) está en presente, no hay cambio en el tiempo
verbal de la oración en estilo indirecto:

He says: "I'm hungry".

He says that he is hungry.

Los cambios se producen cuando el REPORTING VERB está en PAST SIMPLE:

He said: "I'm hungry".

He said he was hungry.

El reported speech normalmente tiene como verbos introductores “say” y “tell”.

TELL siempre va seguido por un nombre o un pronombre objeto. Ex:

I told Sarah I was a lawyer.

I told her I was a lawyer.

SAY va seguido de TO y a continuación sólo puede ir un pronombre:

I said to her I was a lawyer.

El THAT es opcional:

I said to her (that) I was a lawyer.

Distinguimos cuatro grandes grupos de oraciones:

- Reported statements - Reported commands

- Reported questions - Reported suggestions

1) REPORTED STATEMENTS

Cambios de tiempos verbales

Present Simple……………………………………………..Past Simple

He said: “They work in London.”

He said that they worked in London.

Present Continuous…………………………………………Past Continuous

I said: She's studying Maths in her room.

I said that she was studying Maths in her room.

Present Perfect…………………………………………………..Past Perfect

He said: I have gone to the disco this afternoon.

He said that he had gone to the disco that afternoon.

Present Perfect Continuous…………………………Past Perfect continuous

He said: "I have been reading a letter this afternoon".

He said that he had been reading a letter that afternoon.

Past Simple………………………………………………………. Past Perfect

She said: I went to London in 1978.

She said that she had gone to London in 1978.

Past Continuous…………………………………….Past Perfect Continuous

He said, "I was reading a novel all Sunday morning".

He said that he had been reading a novel all Sunday morning.

Past Perfect………………………………………………………Past Perfect

He said: I had done the shopping before 4 o'clock.

He said that he had done the shopping before 4 o'clock.

Future Simple…………………………………………..…...Conditional

We said: We'll go to the cinema on Sunday.

We said that we would go to the cinema next Sunday.

Am/Is/Are going to………………...…………………… Was/Were going to

I said: I'm going to have a bath.

I said that I was going to have a bath.

MODAL VERBS

CAN…………………………………………...………………………COULD

She said: I can type your letters".

She said she could type my letters.

MUST………………………………………………………………HAD TO

I said: "This machine must be cleaned".

I said that machine had to be cleaned.

NEED……..…………………………………………………………NEEDED

I said: "I need a car".

I said that I needed a car.

MAY…………………………………………………………………MIGHT

I said: "I may drive your car".

I said that I might drive your car.

OTROS CAMBIOS

TIME EXPRESSIONS

Now…………………….Then

Today…………………...That day

Yesterday……………….The day before, the previous day

Tomorrow………………The next/ following day, the day after

Next week/month……….The next/following week/month

Last week/month………..The previous week/month, the week/month before

A week ago……………..The week before

DEMONSTRATIVES

This..................................That

These................................Those

Here..................................There

PRONOUNS

"I gave you my notebook", Sally said to Peter.

Sally told Peter that she had given him her notebook.

2) REPORTED QUESTIONS

- Los cambios vistos anteriormente funcionan de igual modo.

- El orden de la frase no sigue el esquema habitual de una oración interrogativa, y funciona

como el de una oración afirmativa.

"What's your name?" - she asked.

She asked what my name was.

- El verbo introductor normalmente es “ask”, el cual va usualmente seguido por un nombre
o un pronombre objeto.

I asked ken what his name was.

I asked him what his name was.

- En reported questions, no usamos el verbo auxiliar (do, does o did).

“What do you want?,” he asked me.

He asked me what I wanted.

Los anteriores ejemplos serían casos de WH-QUESTIONS, es decir, oraciones introducidas

por una partícula interrogativa (WHAT, HOW, WHEN, etc...).

Pero, ¿qué ocurre cuando no hay partícula interrogativa? Tenemos las NON WH-
QUESTIONS. Usamos IF o WHETHER para introducir una reported question.

- "Are you cold?” I asked him.

I asked him if he was cold.

-"Do you want a drink?" She asked me.

She asked me if I wanted a drink.

-"Can you speak German?" They wanted to know.

They wanted to know whether I could speak German.

3) REPORTED COMMANDS

Usan un objeto directo personal y el infinitivo con "to".

STOP! - The policeman told the boys.

1. He told the boys to stop.

2. He told them to stop.

El verbo introductor puede ser TELL u ORDER.

Las negativas usan NOT delante del infinitivo con "to".

"Don't stop!" - He told/ordered the children.

He told the children not to stop.
Otros verbos que admiten esta construcción son: advise, encourage, invite, persuade,
remind, warn…
4) REPORTED SUGGESTIONS

Usamos el verbo introductor SUGGEST en este tipo de oraciones, seguido de:

- una oración en PAST SIMPLE.

- una oración en PRESENT SIMPLE.
- o un verbo en gerundio (-ING form).

Examples:

E.D. "Shall we go for a walk?/"Let's go for a walk"

E. I. He suggested that they went for a walk.

He suggested that they go for a walk.

He suggested going for a walk.

E.D. "Why don't we go out tonight?/"What about going out tonight?"

E. I. She suggested that they went out that night.

She suggested that they go out that night.

She suggested going out that night.