REPORTED SPEECH (ESTILO INDIRECTO)

USO Y FORMA DEL ESTILO INDIRECTO

- Existen dos formas de contar lo que se ha dicho:

o Citando las palabras exactas, poniéndolo entre comillas, es decir, usando el
estilo directo.
o Expresando el sentido de lo que se dijo son emplear las palabras exactas, es
decir, usando el estilo indirecto.

- En estilo indirecto:
o No ponemos comillas.
ED: ‘I like playing the guitar’, Mary said.
EI: Mary said that she liked playing the guitar.
o El verbo que lo introduce (say, tell, ask…) suele empezar la frase.
ED: ‘Anna speaks English very fluently’, the teacher said.
EI: The teacher said that Anna spoke English very fluently.
o El tiempo del verbo retrocede en el tiempo cuando el verbo introductorio está
en pasado, es decir, cuando narramos cosas que se dijeron en el pasado.
ED: ‘I am tired’, Peter told us. (presente)
EI: Peter told us that he was tired. (pasado)
ED: ‘I was in England’, Mary told me. (pasado)
EI: Mary told me that she had been in England. (pasado perfecto)
o Las expresiones de tiempo y los pronombres deben cambiar lógicamente, de la
misma manera que ocurre en español.
ED: ‘I went to bed early last night’, Tom said.
EI: Tom said that he had gone to bed early the night before.
o La palabra that se puede usar para introducir la oración subordinada en la que
referimos la información. También se puede omitir.

Nota: el verbo da un salto atrás en el tiempo. Lo mismo ocurre su se trata de verbos

auxiliares o modales. Si hay más de un verbo auxiliar, sólo cambia el primer auxiliar.

CAMBIOS DE TIEMPO

ESTILO DIRECTO ESTILO INDIRECTO

Presente simple Pasado simple
Presente continuo Pasado continuo
Pasado simple Pasado perfecto simple
Pasado continuo Pasado perfecto continuo
Presente perfecto Pasado perfecto simple
Presente perfecto continuo Pasado perfecto continuo
Pasado perfecto No cambia
Pasado perfecto continuo No cambia
Futuro Condicional
Be going to Was/were going to
CAMBIOS EN VERBOS MODALES

ESTILO DIRECTO ESTILO INDIRECTO

Will Would
Can Could
May Might
Must / have to Had to
Shall Should

OTROS CAMBIOS

ESTILO DIRECTO ESTILO INDIRECTO

This That
These Those
Here There
Now Then
Today That day
Yesterday The day before / the previous day
Tomorrow The following day / the day after / the next
day
Next week The following week
Last night The previous night / the night before
two days ago, a week before… Two weeks before / the week before…

CASOS ESPECIALES

- PREGUNTAS
o YES / NO QUESTIONS.

Se forman de la siguiente manera:

Frase introductoria + IF + Sujeto + Verbo cambiado + resto de la oración

Ej: “Is Mary going to town tomorrow?”, he asked → he asked if Mary was going to town the
next day.

o WH- QUESTIONS.

Se forman de la siguiente manera:

Frase introductoria + WH- + Sujeto + verbo cambiado + resto de la oración.

Ej: “When is Mary going to town?”, he asked → he asked when Mary was going to town.
 - ORDENES / PETICIONES.

Se forman de la siguiente manera:

Frase introductoria + (Sujeto, si lo hay – es el CI de la oración) + TO VERBO + resto de la oración

Ej: “Laura, close the window, please”, she said. → She order/asked Laura to close the window.

“Don’t smoke here”, Peter said → Peter ordered not to smoke there.

- SUGERENCIAS. Se forman de la siguiente manera:

Frase introductoria + VERBO EN –ING + resto de la oración.

Siempre aparecen con las siguientes expresiones:

- Let’s…
- Why don’t we…?

Ej: “Let’s make a pizza!”, she said → she suggested making a pizza

“Why don’t we make a party?” , he said → he suggested making a party.

“My cousins have often visited France”, Mary said

“I had a bad cold last week”, the worker said

“I want you to take the car to the garage next Friday”, he told his wife.

“My husband will leave at six o’clock”, she told me.

“Don’t smoke in my office, please”, the boss said.

“Take the children home”, she said to the driver.

“Will it rain tomorrow?”, she asked.

“When will my car be ready?”, he wanted to know.

“Did anyone try to save her life?”, the police asked.

“Let’s make a party!”, he said.

“Why don’t we watch TV?”, Mary said.

“Don’t make a noise”, the librarian said to the readers.

“The minister is preparing his speech”, the journalist said.

“Have you ever visited the Tate Gallery in London?”, she wanted to know.