Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
indirecto)
Cuando queremos comunicar o informar de lo que otra persona ha dicho, hay dos maneras de hacerlo:
utilizando el estilo directo o el estilo indirecto.
Ejemplos:
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"I am going to London next week," she said. ("Voy a Londres la semana que viene," ella dijo.)
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"Do you have a pen I could borrow," he asked. ("Tienes un bolgrafo que puedas prestarme?," l pregunt.)
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Alice said, "I love to dance." (Alice dijo, "Me encanta bailar.")
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Chris asked, "Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?" (Chris pregunt, "Te gustara cenar
conmigo maana por la noche?")
Reported Speech
Present Simple
Past Simple
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"He's American," she said.
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She said he was American.
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"I'm happy to see you," Mary said.
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Mary said that she was happy to see me.
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He asked, "Are you busy tonight?"
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He asked me if I was busy that night.
Present Continuous
Past Continuous
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Dan is living in San Francisco," she said.
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She said Dan was living in San Francisco.
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He said, "I'm making dinner."
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He told me that he was making dinner.
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"Why are you working so hard?" they asked.
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They asked me why I was working so hard.
Past Simple
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"We went to the movies last night," he said.
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He told me they had gone to the movies the
night before.
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"Greg said, "I didn't go to work yesterday."
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Greg said that he hadn't gone to work the day
before.
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"Did you buy a new car?" she asked.
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She asked me if I had bought a new car.
Past Continuous
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"I was working late last night," Vicki said.
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Vicki told me she'd been working late the night
before.
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They said, "we weren't waiting long."
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They said that they hadn't been waitinglong.
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" He asked, "were you sleeping when I called?"
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He asked if I'd been sleeping when he called.
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"Heather said, "I've already eaten."
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Heather told me that she'd already eaten.
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"We haven't been to China," they said.
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They said they hadn't been to China.
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"Have you worked here before?" I asked.
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I asked her whether she'd worked therebefore.
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"I've been studying English for two years,"he
said.
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He said he'd been studying English for two
years.
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" Steve said, "we've been dating for over a year Steve told me that they'd been dating for over a
now."
year.
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"Have you been waiting long?" they asked.
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They asked whether I'd been waiting long.
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"I'd been to Chicago before for work," he said.
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He said that he'd been to Chicago before for
work.
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She said, "I'd been dancing for years before the
accident."
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She said she'd been dancing for years before the
accident.
Nota: Cuando hablamos de algo que no ha cambiado (que sigue siendo cierto) o de algo en el futuro,
no es necesario cambiar el tiempo verbal.
Ejemplos:
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"I'm 30 years old," she said. She said she is 30 years old.
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Dave said, "Kelly is sick." Dave said Kelly is sick.
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"We are going to Tokyo next week," they said. They said they are going to Tokyo next week.
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"I'll cut my hair tomorrow," Nina said. Nina said she is cutting her hair tomorrow.
Modal Verbs (Los verbos modales)
El tiempo verbal cambia en el estilo indirecto tambin con algunos de los verbos modales.
Nota: Con "would", "could", "should", "might" y "ought to", el tiempo no cambia.
Direct Speech
Indirect Speech
Will
Would
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"I'll go to the movies tomorrow," John
said.
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John said he would go to the moviesthe next day.
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"Will you help me move?" she asked.
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She asked me if I would help her move.
Can
Could
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Debra said, "Allen can work tomorrow." Debra said Allen could work the next day.
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"Can you open the window, please?", he
He asked me if I could open the window.
asked.
Must
Had to
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"You must wear your seatbelt," mom
said.
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My mom said I had to wear my seatbelt.
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She said, "You must work tomorrow."
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She said I had to work the next day.
Shall
Should
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"Shall we go to the beach today?" Tom
asked.
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Tom asked if we should go to the beachthat day.
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"What shall we do tonight?" she asked.
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She asked me what we should do that night.
May
Might/Could
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Jane said, "I may not be in class
tomorrow."
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Jane said she might not be in class the next day.
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the boy asked. "May I use the
bathroom, please?"the boy asked.
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The boy asked if he could use the bathroom.
Nota: A continuacin tienes una tabla donde puedes observar los cambios que sufren las expresiones
de tiempo cuando usamos el estilo indirecto.
Direct Speech
Indirect Speech
today
that day
tonight
that night
this week/month/year
that week/month/year
tomorrow
next week/month/year
yesterday
last week/month/year
now
Otros cambios
here
there
We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I'
to 'she', for example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'.
But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the
reported speech:
Tense
Direct Speech
Reported Speech
present
simple
present
continuous
I am living in
London
past simple
I bought a car
past
continuous
I was walking
along the street
present
perfect
I haven't seen
Julie
past perfect*
will
would*
can
could*
shall
should*
I should call my
mother
might*
must
* doesn't change.
Occasionally, we don't need to change the present tense into the past if the information in
direct speech is still true (but this is only for things which are general facts, and even then
usually we like to change the tense):
Click here for a mixed tense exercise about practise reported statements.
Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.
Reported Questions
So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and negative
sentences. But how about questions?
Do you see how I made it? The direct question is in the present simple tense. We make a
present simple question with 'do' or 'does' so I need to take that away. Then I need to change
the verb to the past simple.
Another example:
The direct question is the present simple of 'be'. We make the question form of the present
simple of be by inverting (changing the position of)the subject and verb. So, we need to
change them back before putting the verb into the past simple.
Here are some more examples:
Direct Question
Reported Question
So much for 'wh' questions. But, what if you need to report a 'yes / no' question? We don't
have any question words to help us. Instead, we use 'if':
Direct Question
Reported Question
All of these requests mean the same thing, so we don't need to report every word when we tell
another person about it. We simply use 'ask me + to + infinitive':
Direct Request
Reported Request
night.
Reported Orders
And finally, how about if someone doesn't ask so politely? We can call this an 'order' in
English, when someone tells you very directly to do something. For example:
In fact, we make this into reported speech in the same way as a request. We just use 'tell'
instead of 'ask':
Direct Order
Reported Order
Go to bed!
Don't worry!
Be on time!
He told me to be on time.
Don't smoke!
now
today
yesterda
y
the day before yesterday / the day before / Wednesday / the 5th of
December
last night
last week
tomorro
w