REPORTED SPEECH

CONSIDERACIONES GENERALES:

1. En el estilo indirecto no hay comillas.

2. Las palabras que indican lugar o tiempo, los pronombres personales y posesivos, los
demostrativos, etc., cambian lógicamente:

ESTILO DIRECTO ESTILO INDIRECTO

This That
Here There
Today That day
now Then
Yesterday The day before/the previous day
Tomorrow The following day/the next day
Tonight That night
Tomorrow morning The following morning
Yesterday afternoon The previous afternoon
Next week/month/year The following week/month/year
Last week/month/year The previous week/month/year
A week/month/year ago A week/month/year before
I/my/me/we/our/us He-she/his-her/him-her/they/their/them
You (“You look busy, Jim” he said). I/we*(he told Jim that he looked busy)

3. Las preguntas dejan de serlo.

REPORTING STATEMEMENTS

- La frase se suele introducir con los verbos: say, tell, accept, advise, agree, announce,
apologise, ask, beg, claim, complain, declare, explain, insist, invite, offer, point out, protest,
remind, remark, state, think, etc., que llamamos reporting verbs.

Nota: después de los verbos say, tell, think y suggest podemos omitir that, pero nunca lo
podemos omitir con el resto de los verbos.

- El tiempo de la narración da una especie de “salto atrás”” si el verbo que lo introduce va en

pasado. Para recordar cómo cambian los tiempos verbales de estilo directo a estilo indirecto,
consulta alguna tabla del libro del año pasado o míralo en internet.

“I have read the note”, she said: She said she had read the note.

“He is working in the office now”, they told me: They told me he was working then.

- Si el verbo está compuesto de más de un auxiliar, sólo cambia el primero.

“My house is being redecorated”, she said. She said her house was being redecorated.
- Estos cambios no ocurren cuando el verbo que introduce la cita está en presente o en futuro:
“I love soup”, says Mary. Mary says she loves soup., ni cuando se narra una verdad objetiva o
permanente:” London is the capital city of Great Britain”, she pointed out. She pointed out
that London is the capital city of Great Britain.

- Condicionales en estilo indirecto: el primer condicional, al pasarlo a estilo indirecto, tiene los
mismos tiempos que si se tratase del segundo condicional, es decir, el presente pasa a pasado
y el futuro a condicional. El segundo y el tercer condicional no cambian en estilo indirecto.

“If you phone after 7:00, we won’t be at home”, we told him. We told him that if he phoned
after seven, we wouldn’t be at home.

“If I were you, I’d tell her the whole story” Tom said. Tom said that if he were me, he’d tell
her the whole story.

“If I had been more careful, I wouldn’t have had the accident.” Sally said to her boyfriend.

Sally told her boyfriend that if she had been more careful, she wouldn’t have had the accident.

REPORTING COMMANDS

Las órdenes se suelen expresar en “imperative” pero al ponerlas en estilo indirecto:

El imperativo pasa a infinitivo manteniendo la forma afirmativa o negativa. La estructura es la

siguiente: Sujeto + verbo introductor (tell, ask, advise, warn, order, instruct, invite, beg)
+objeto indirecto +(not) + to + infinitivo. Nunca se usa el verbo say.

He said: ”Stay here” He told us to stay here.

He shouted:” Don’t move!” He ordered us not to move.

Nota: Al traducir las órdenes en estilo indirecto usamos el subjuntivo en español.

He told me to be quiet (me dijo que me callara)

REPORTED QUESTIONS

La pregunta ha dejado de serlo, por tanto ya no hay inversión sujeto – verbo, ni auxiliares
propios de las preguntas, ni signo de interrogación al final de la oración. Se ha convertido en
una oración declarativa (ya no formulamos una pregunta; narramos que formulamos una
pregunta en un momento pasado. No esperamos respuesta).

Los cambios en los tiempos verbales, formas personales y complementos de lugar y tiempo
son los mismos que los que suceden en las oraciones declarativas.

Las oraciones interrogativas indirectas pueden ir introducidas por los verbos: ask, know, want
to know, wonder, not know, inquire.

1. Yes /no questions: van introducidas por las conjunciones IF o WHETHER.

“Do you speak English?” he asked John. She asked John whether he spoke English.
“Did you have an exam yesterday?” mum asked. Mum wanted to know if I had had an exam
the previous day.

2. Wh- questions: la oración es introducida por la particular interrogativa en lugar de if o

whether. El resto de los cambios son los mismos que en las oraciones interrogativas indirectas.

“How many people work here?” as asked. He asked how many people worked there.

“Where do you live?” the policeman asked. The policeman wanted to know where I lived.

REPORTED SUGGESTIONS

Usamos el verbo SUGGEST seguido del verbo de la oración subordinada terminado en –ING (si
el hablante está incluido en la sugerencia) o seguida de una oración introducida por THAT +
sujeto + (should )+ verbo en su forma base (si el hablante no está incluido en la sugerencia).
Esta segunda forma no es muy habitual.

“Let’s try the new restaurant,” Beth said: Beth suggested trying the new restaurant.

“Try the new restaurant,” Beth said. Beth suggested that I (should) try the new restaurant.
(Beth me sugirió que probara el nuevo restaurante.) Nota: Es importante reconocer cómo se
formula una sugerencia en estilo directo para no confundirla con otro tipo de estructura en
estilo indirecto. Aquí se expresan algunas de las fórmulas más utilizadas:

1. Let’s go to the theatre” she said. She suggested going to the theatre.

2. “Why don’t we go to the theatre?” she said. She suggested going to the theatre.

3.”Shall we go to the theatre?” she said. She suggested going to the theatre.

4. “Why not go to the theatre?” she said. She suggested going to the theatre.

5. “What about going to the theatre?” she said. She suggested going to the theatre.

6. “Do you feel like going to the theatre?” she said. She suggested going to the theatre.

OTRAS CONSIDERACIONES:

Hay ciertos verbos que pueden indicar la intención del hablante: una disculpa, un
ofrecimiento, una promesa, un rechazo, un reconocimiento, etc. A continuación se detallan los
más comunes y su estructura sintáctica:

- Oraciones introducidas por THAT (es decir, en modo enunciativo): explain, replay, agree,
insist claim, promise, complain, remind.

She promised that she would come back in two weeks.

De los verbos anteriores, promise y agree pueden ir seguidos de to + infinitivo.

She promised to come back in two weeks.

- Verbos acabados en –ING: admit, insist on, accuse someone of recommend, apologise for.
 They accused me of cheating in the exam. (Me acusaron de copiar en el examen)

He admitted being late for work. (Admitió haber llegado tarde al trabajo)

PRACTISE ABOUT THE REPORTED SPEECH

STATEMENTS:

1. He said, “I am quite a good cook and I do all my own washing and mending, too”

2. “I’m going fishing with my mother this afternoon,” said the small boy, “and we are going
into the garden now to dig for worms”

3. “My new house is supposed to be haunted, but so far I haven’t seen any ghosts,” he said.

4. “If I press my ear against the wall, I can hear what the people in the next flat are saying,” he
said.

5. “If it rains tomorrow, it will be too wet to play the match,” the captain said.

6.”I found an old Roman coin in the garden yesterday,” he said “and I’m going to take it to the
museum this afternoon”.

7. “I don’t know what your father will say when he sees your puppies have made of this five-
pound note,” said my mother.

QUESTIONS:

1. “Which team has won?” asked Ann.

2. “Who wants a lift home?” said Ann.

3. “What platform does the train leave from?” asked Bill.

4. “When are you coming back?” I asked them.

5. “Are there smoking departments?” said the man with the pipe.

6. “Can you get coffee on the train?” asked my aunt.

7. “Did you play for your school team?” said Bill.

8. “Would you like to join our Drama Group?” she said.

COMMANDS, REQUESTS, ADVICE:

1. “Do whatever you like” she said to us.

2. “Don’t put your hands near the bars” the zoo keeper warned us.

3. “Come to the cinema with me” I asked her.

4. “Don’t lend her anything” he advised us.

5. The notice said, “Leave this space clear”.

6. “Think well before your answer” the detective warned her.

7. “Cross the line by the footbridge” said the porter.

8. “Don’t make mountains out of molehills” he said.

9. “Please be so kind as to turn the music down, rioting neighbours!” our polite neighbour
asked us.

10. “Come to our party tomorrow,” invited Jane.

11. “Don’t listen to gossip,” advised Mrs. Patton.

12. “Why don’t you shut up?” Paul asked Bill.

13. “Please, please, please let me go out with my friends,” Sandra begged her mother.

14. "Never eat unidentified mushrooms," said our science teacher.

15. "Pull out the weeds, not the roses, you nitwit!" shouted the gardener to his assistant.

SUGGESTIONS:

1. She said, "Why don't you get a mechanic to look at the car?"

2. "Why don't you go to the doctor?" he said.

3. "It would be a good idea to see the dentist", said my mother.

4. The dentist said, "I think you should use a different toothbrush".

5. My manager said, "I think we should examine the budget carefully at this meeting."

6. "Why don't you sleep overnight at my house?" she said.

7. “Let’s go to the cinema,” suggested Lisa.

8. “Invite Alice,” suggested Mary.

9. “How about hiring mariachis for the party?” suggested Adelita.

10. “Let’s have a BLT sandwich for dinner,” suggested Kyle.

11. “Why don’t we paint the house green?” suggested Violet.

12. “Why don't you go fly a kite?” suggested Tom.

13. “I suggest you take the next flight to Bombay,” said Krishna.

14. “You could organize a book sale for that NGO,” suggested Frank.

15. “If I were you, I would invest that money,” recommended Lou.
16. "I think we should bottle this wine," suggested Peter.

17. "Alfred should see my doctor," recommended Tom.