Reported Speech

Si al contar algo usamos las mismas palabras dichas por el interesado, estamos usando
el estilo directo:
He said: youre very intelligent l dijo: eres inteligente.
Pero si en vez de esto lo contamos con nuestras palabras, entonces estamos empleando
el estilo indirecto:
He said that she was very pretty l me dijo ella era muy guapa.

Lo primero que debemos hacer a la hora de pasar una oracin de estilo directo a
indirecto es fijarnos en el cambio de tiempo de la oracin que nosotros pasaremos a
nuestras palabras, que es en lo que realmente consiste el estilo indirecto.

Tiempos Verbales
Estilo Directo Estilo Indirecto Estilo Estilo
Directo Indirecto
Presente simple pasado simple must had to
Presente progresivo pasado progresivo may might
pasado simple */
Pasado simple will would
pasado perfecto
presente perfecto pasado perfecto can could
futurol condiciona shall should

*A veces no puede cambiarse el tiempo, porque puede cambiar el sentido de la oracin.

ED He said: I didnt buy the house because it was on the road
l dijo yo no compr la casa porque estaba en la carretera.

EI He said that he hadnt bought the house because it had been on the road.
Yo no haba comprado la casa porque haba estado en la carretera.

El cambio de pasado a pasado perfecto del segundo verbo cambia el sentido de la

oracin completamente. Por tanto cuando en estilo directo la oracin est en pasado el
sentido comn de cada uno es el que decide, el contexto.

Despus de estos cambios de tiempo tenemos que tener en cuenta otros como:

Estilo Directo Estilo Indirecto Estilo Directo Estilo Indirecto

I he/she yesterday the previous day/the day before
Me him/her tomorrow the next day / the following day
My his/her here there
Mine his/hers now then
We they tonight that night
Us them this/these that/those
Ours theirs ago Before
our their today that day

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NOTAS:

1) Para realizar los cambios de persona debemos tener en cuenta quien es el que
est diciendo la frase y a quien va dirigida. Por ejemplo.

ED He said to me : I dont like your hair

EI He said to me that he didnt like my hair.

I dont like tea I said

I said that I didnt like tea.

2) Los verbos bring (traer, coger, llevar) y come se transforman en estilo

indirecto en take y go respectivamente.

Tras estos cambios tambin debemos tener en cuenta el tipo de oraciones que vamos a
transformar. Si son:

a) Aseveraciones/ oraciones enunciativvas

En este caso la oracin la frase en estilo indirecto se unir con that y este that puede
ser omitido. Es opcional. El primer verbo que nos encontraremos en estas oraciones
suele ser tell o say.

John said: I dont like meat John dijo no me gusta la carne.

John said that he didnt like meat John dijo que no le gustaba la carne.

b) Preguntas
En este caso el estilo indirecto lo haremos dependiendo del tipo de pregunta que
tengamos.

a) Si tenemos una pregunta en estilo directo que pide una respuesta Si o

no entonces en estilo indirecto van encabezadas por if o whether. El
primer verbo que nos solemos encontrar es ask

He asked: Have they arrived pregunt: han llegado?

He asked if they had arrived pregunt si haban llegado.

Whether se usar en preguntas correlativas con or:

He asked: Will they come or not? pregunt: vendrn o no?
He asked whether they would come or not l pregunt si vendran o no.

b)Si es una pregunta con partcula interrogativa (why, when, where...)

entonces pasa a estilo indirecto con esa partcula interrogativa y algo muy
importante, el orden que seguir la oracin es el mismo que el de una oracin
enunciativa (SVO).

He asked: What are you doing?

He asked what they were doing.

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 c) rdenes

Las ordenes en estilo indirecto se forman con un infinitivo con to y normalmente

las introduce el verbo tell en lugar the say.
He told me: wait for me here El me dij: esprame aqu
He told me to wait for him there El me dijo que lo esperara ah.

Cuando nos encontramos con el imperativo en negativo pondremos not delante del
to.
He told me: dont wait for me here El me dijo no me esperes aqu
He told me not to wait for him there El me dijo que no lo esperara ah.

Adems de los verbos tell, say, ask y exclaim existen otros verbos que pueden
introducir estilo indirecto. Estos son los ms comunes.
accuse acusar complain quejarse orderordenar
admit admitir deny negar point outremarcar
advise advertir explain explicar promiseprometer
agree estar de acuerdo greet saludar remindrecordar
answer responder insist insistir refuserehusar
apologise disculparse invite invitar replyreplicar
beg rogar offer ofrecer thankagradecer
want to know (if) querer saber si
warn advertir
wonder imaginar

Por ltimo hay una serie de expresiones que ya tienen directamente su traduccin en
estilo indirecto: Estas son.

Hello! he greeted him and....

Help He yelled for help
Gosh! He was astonished at
Damn! He uttered a curse when... (valido para cualquier swear word=taco).

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 PUT ALL THESE SENTENCES INTO REPORTED SPEECH
1. "She Doesnt speak until she is spoken to," he told her.
2. "Did you see Tom yesterday?" she asked him.
3. "They didn't arrive because they forgot the address," I said.
4. "You have to go to the dentist's," he told her.
5. "I don't know what Fred is doing," Charlie said.
6. "Ill tell Jim I saw you, She said to me.
7. "You can come and stay with me if you are in London," she said.
8. How long have you lived in Liverpool?" he asked us.
9. Will you like to have lunch with me?" she asked me.
10. "They c lean my shoes" I told her.
11. "I'm going away for a few days. I'll phone you when I get back," he told me.
12. "I was watching TV when you came in," he told her.
13. I've never been to a funeral," she said.
14. Can you speak Chinese?" I asked him.
15. "You don't lean your bikes against my windows," he told the boys.
16. "If you do that again, I'll hit you," he said.
17. When will my car be repaired?, he asked the mechanic.
18. What are you reading?, he asked her.
19. He told me, they wont forget to come on Tuesday
20. You will not touch the wire, his father told him.
21. Do you like English cheese?, he asked us.
22. Her mother told her: you have to hurry.
23. The doctor told her: you have to take some exercise if you cannot sleep well.
24. He asked me: Do you speak Portuguese?
25. She told her husband: I will buy a dress tomorrow
26. His mother told the teacher: they dont bring the homework today
27. " I broke that window" She told him
28. " I am too busy at this moment" I told them
29. "She doesn't you want to go to the pool with me?" He told me
30. "I can help you with that math problem if you want" He said
31. "I want to see the manager of this company inmediately!" He told me
32. Hey Bill. You dont forget to mail this letter today!" I said to me
33. "They are drinking too much this morning" He said
34. "I have been here many times" She said
35. "I will be flying to Chicago" I said to her
36. "You need to eat more fruit and vegetables," the doctor said.
37. "Where are your parents The police told him
38. "Can you speak more slowly? ," he said to me.
39. "She wont come before 6:00," I said to her
40. I really liked that concert two days ago I told them
41. You are going to pass this exam The teacher told the students
42. Have they brought all the money they asked.
43. Michelle has gone out. Mary told me...
44. What's your name? The woman asked me...
45. I don't like classical music very much. John told me
46. Are you doing anything at the weekend? She asked me
47. "Have you fed the cat yet, Philip?" asked Letizia.

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