Nota: Podéis ver la introducción del reported speech aquí.
En este artículo veremos con mayor detalle el Reported Speech:
A menudo utilizamos los verbos “say” y “tell” para informar de lo que dice la gente:
Usamos “tell” si mencionamos a quién estamos hablando:
Ejemplo:
He told me he was from Casablanca. (Nota: no se puede decir “he told he was from Casablanca” / Me dijo que era de Casablanca.
Si no, usamos el verbo “say”:
Ejemplo:
She said she would help me (Nota: no se puede decir “She said me she would help me”) / Ella dijo que me ayudaría
Recuerda: puedes omitirlo:
Ejemplos:
‘He said that he was tired’ y ‘He said he was tired’ tienen el mismo significado.
Cambios de forma
|
What people say |
Reporting what people said |
|
Presente simple ‘I live in Berlin.’ |
Pasado simple She said she lived in Berlin |
|
Presente continuo ‘I’m watching TV.’ |
Pasado continuo He said he was watching TV. |
|
Presente perfecto ‘I’ve seen the film already.’ |
Pasado perfecto She said she had seen the film already. |
|
Pasado simple ‘I missed the concert.’ |
Pasado perfecto* He told me he had missed the concert. |
*También podemos utilizar el pasado simple: He told me he missed the concert
|
Will ‘I’ll phone you soon.’ |
Would She said she would phone me soon. |
|
Am/are/is going to ‘I’m going to play tennis.’ |
Was/were going to She said she was going to play tennis |
|
Can ‘I can run but I can’t run fast.’ |
Could He said he could run but he couldn’t run fast. |
Otros cambios
Por lo general, realizamos los siguientes cambios:
|
Lo que dice la gente |
Informar de lo que dice la gente |
|
I/you ‘I spoke to you earlier |
He/she/they He said he had spoken to her earlier. |
|
We ‘We’ve finished!’ |
They They said they had finished. |
|
My ‘I can’t find my keys.’ |
His/her She said she couldn’t find her keys. |
|
Your ‘I´ll come to your house later.’ |
My/his/her/their He said that he would come to her house later. |
|
Our ‘We’ve tidied our bedroom.’ |
Their They said they had tidied their bedroom |
|
Today/this week/month/year |
That day /week/month/year |
Comandos reportados
|
Lo que dice la gente |
Informar de lo que dice la gente |
|
‘Stand up!’ |
The teacher told them to stand up. |
|
‘Be quiet!’ |
He told the child to be quiet. |
|
‘Don’t touch anything.’ |
The mother told her son not to touch anything |
|
‘Don’t worry.’ |
Her friend told her not to worry. |
Por lo general, utilizamos el verbo “to ask” y no “to tell” para informar de las solicitudes más amables:
|
‘Open the windows’ |
He told her to open the window. |
|
‘Can you open the window?’ |
He asked her to open the window. |
Preguntas con respuesta
Podemos utilizar ask, wonder, want to know, etc… para introducir las preguntas reportadas:
|
Lo que dice la gente |
Informar de lo que dice la gente |
|
‘Where do you live?’ |
He asked me where I lived. |
|
‘What are you doing after class?’ |
She wondererd what he was doing after class. |
|
‘Have you finished your homework?’ |
He wanted to know if she had finished her homework. |
Para informar de una pregunta, hacemos los siguientes cambios:
– Cambiar el orden de las palabras en la pregunta para que sea el mismo que el de una frase normal:
|
Pregunta directa |
Pregunta reportada |
|
‘Where can I buy a dictionary?’ |
He asked me where I could buy a ditionary. (not where could I buy…) |
– Realizar los mismos cambios de tiempo que para el discurso reportado:
|
Pregunta directa |
Pregunta reportada |
|
‘Where have you been?’ |
She asked me where I had been |
– No utilices do, does o did como verbo auxiliar:
|
Pregunta directa |
Pregunta reportada |
|
‘Do you like strawberries?’ |
He asked me if I liked strawberries (not if If I did like strawberries) |
– Utilice un punto, no un signo de interrogación al final de la frase:
|
Pregunta directa |
Pregunta reportada |
|
‘What time do you start school’? |
They asked us what time we started school |
En las preguntas reportadas, utilizamos las mismas palabras interrogativas (qué, cuándo, dónde, etc.) pero si no hay ninguna palabra interrogativa, utilizamos if o whether.
|
Pregunta directa |
Pregunta reportada |
|
‘Why are you lauhing?’ |
The teacher asked us why we were laughing. |
|
‘Are you going on holiday?’ |
He asked me if I was going on holiday. |
Preguntas indirectas
Cuando pedimos información, a veces utilizamos preguntas indirectas para parecer más educados. Las expresiones utilizadas para introducir preguntas indirectas incluyen: I was wondering…, I’d like to know…, I can’t remember…, Could you tell me…, etc. / Me preguntaba…, Me gustaría saber…, No recuerdo…, Podría decirme…, etc…
|
Pregunta directa |
Pregunta reportada |
|
‘Where do you live?’ |
I was wondering where you lived. |
|
‘What are you doing later?’ |
Could you tell me what you are doing later? |
|
‘Have you finished your homework?’ |
I’d like to know if you have finished your homework. |
Como en el caso de las preguntas reportadas (véase más arriba), cuando una pregunta directa pasa a formar parte de una pregunta indirecta más larga, hacemos los siguientes cambios:
– Cambiar el orden de las palabras en la pregunta indirecta para que sea el mismo que el de una frase normal:
|
Pregunta directa |
Pregunta indirecta |
|
‘How long have you lived here? |
I’d like to know you long you’ve lived here. (not … how long have you lived here.) |
– No utilices do, does o did como verbo auxiliar:
|
Pregunta directa |
Pregunta indirecta |
|
‘Do you play tennis every day? |
Could you tell me if you play tennis every day? (not… if you do play tennis…) |
Además, en cuanto al discurso informado, utilizamos las mismas palabras interrogativas (what, when, where, etc…) pero si no hay ninguna palabra interrogativa, utilizamos “if” o “whether”:
|
Pregunta directa |
Pregunta indirecta |
|
‘Where did you go?’ |
I can’t remember where you went. |
|
‘Did you stay in a hotel?’ |
I’d like to know if you stayed in a hotel |
Sin embargo, a diferencia de lo que ocurre en las preguntas reportadas, en las preguntas indirectas:
– El tiempo verbal no varía:
|
Pregunta directa |
Pregunta indirecta |
|
‘Will he leave soon?’ |
I was wondering if he’ll leave soon. (not … if he would leave…) |
– Utilizamos un signo de interrogación cuando la expresión introductoria es una pregunta:
Ejemplo:
Could you tell me where the bank is?
Se utiliza un punto cuando la expresión introductoria no es una pregunta: I’d like to know where the bank is.