Reported Speech

Si al contar algo usamos las mismas palabras dichas por el interesado, estamos usando
el estilo directo:
He said: “you’re very intelligent” → él 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 → él me dijo ella era muy guapa.

Lo primero que debemos hacer a la hora de pasar una oración de estilo directo a
indirecto es fijarnos en el cambio de tiempo de la oración 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
futuro→l condiciona shall should

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

ED → He said: I didn’t buy the house because it was on the road
Él dijo “yo no compré la casa porque estaba en la carretera”.

EI → He said that he hadn’t bought the house because it had been on the road.
“Yo no había comprado la casa porque había estado en la carretera”.

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

oración completamente. Por tanto cuando en estilo directo la oración esté en pasado el
sentido común de cada uno es el que decide, el contexto.

Después 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

ADP 2012 1
NOTAS:

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

ED He said to me : “ I don’t like your hair”

EI He said to me that he didn’t like my hair.

“I don’t like tea” I said

I said that I didn’t like tea.

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

indirecto en “take” y “go” respectivamente.

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

a) Aseveraciones/ oraciones enunciativvas

En este caso la oración la frase en estilo indirecto se unirá 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 don’t like meat”→ John dijo “ no me gusta la carne”.

John said that he didn’t 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→ preguntó: ¿han llegado?

He asked if they had arrived→ preguntó si habían llegado.

Whether se usará en preguntas correlativas con or:

He asked: Will they come or not?→ preguntó: ¿vendrán o no?
He asked whether they would come or not→ él preguntó si vendrían o no.

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

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

He asked: What are you doing?

He asked what they were doing.

ADP 2012 2
 c) Órdenes

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 dijó: espérame aquí
He told me to wait for him there→ El me dijo que lo esperara ahí.

Cuando nos encontramos con el imperativo en negativo pondremos not delante del
to.
He told me: “don’t wait for me here”→ El me dijo no me esperes aquí
He told me not to wait for him there→ El me dijo que no lo esperara ahí.

Además de los verbos tell, say, ask y exclaim existen otros verbos que pueden
introducir estilo indirecto. Estos son los más comunes.
accuse→ acusar complain→ quejarse order→ordenar
admit→ admitir deny→ negar point out→remarcar
advise→ advertir explain→ explicar promise→prometer
agree → estar de acuerdo greet→ saludar remind→recordar
answer → responder insist → insistir refuse→rehusar
apologise → disculparse invite → invitar reply→replicar
beg→ rogar offer → ofrecer thank→agradecer
want to know (if)→ querer saber si
warn→ advertir
wonder→ imaginar

Por último hay una serie de expresiones que ya tienen directamente su traducción 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).

ADP 2012 3
 PUT ALL THESE SENTENCES INTO REPORTED SPEECH
1. "She Doesn’t 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. "I’ll 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 won’t 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 don’t 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 don’t 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 won’t 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.

ADP 2012 4