Reported speach

Reported speach

Cuando se usa el estilo indirecto, el tiempo verbal cambia.

En ocasiones se usa “that” en las frases afirmativas y negativas para introducir lo que ha dicho la otra persona. Por otro lado, en las frases interrogativas se puede usar “if” o “whether”.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Present Simple	Past Simple
“He is American,” she said.	She said he was American.
“I am happy to see you,” Mary said.	Mary said that she was happy to see me.
He asked, “Are you busy tonight?”	He asked me if I was busy that night.
Present Continuous	Past Continuous
“Dan is living in San Francisco,” she said.	She said Dan was living in San Francisco.
He said, “I’m making dinner.”	He told me that he was making dinner.
“Why are you working so hard?” they asked.	They asked me why I was working so hard.
Past Simple	Past Perfect Simple
“We went to the movies last night,” he said.	He told me they had gone to the movies the night before.
Greg said, “I didn’t go to work yesterday.”	Greg said that he hadn’t gone to work the day before.
“Did you buy a new car?” she asked.	She asked me if I had bought a new car.
Past Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous
“I was working late last night,” Vicki said.	Vicki told me she’d been working late the night before.
They said, “we weren’t waiting long.”	They said that they hadn’t been waiting long.
He asked, “were you sleeping when I called?	He asked if I’d been sleeping when he called.
Present Perfect Simple	Past Perfect Simple
Heather said, “I’ve already eaten.”	Heather told me that she’d already eaten.
“We haven’t been to China,” they said.	They said they hadn’t been to China.
Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous
“I’ve been studying English for two years,” he said.	He said he’d been studying English for two years.
Steve said, “we’ve been dating for over a year now.”	Steve told me that they’d been dating for over a year.
“Have you been waiting long?” they asked.	They asked whether I’d been waiting long.
Past Perfect Simple	Past Perfect Simple (NO CHANGE)
“I’d been to Chicago before for work,” he said.	He said that he’d been to Chicago before for work.
Past Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous (NO CHANGE)
She said, “I’d been dancing for years before the accident.”	She said she’d been dancing for years before the accident.

Modal Verb

El tiempo verbal cambia en el estilo indirecto también 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
“I’ll go to the movies tomorrow,” John said.	John said he would go to the movies the next day.
“Will you help me move?” she asked.	She asked me if I would help her move.
Can	Could
Debra said, “Allen can work tomorrow.”	Debra said Allen could work the next day.
“Can you open the window, please?”, he asked.	He asked me if I could open the window.
Must	Had to
“You must wear your seat belt,” mom said.	My mom said I had to wear my seat belt.
She said, “You must work tomorrow.”	She said I had to work the next day.
May	Might/Could
Jane said, “I may not be in class tomorrow.”	Jane said she might not be in class the next day.
“May I use the bathroom, please?”, the boy asked.	The boy asked if he could use the bathroom.

Nota: A continuación tienes una tabla dónde 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	the next day
next week/month/year	the following week/month/year
yesterday	the day before or the previous day
last week/month/year	the week/month year before or the previous week/month/year
now	then/at that moment
Otros cambios
here	there