Reported Speech

Reported Speech

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.

El estilo indirecto, a diferencia del estilo directo, no utiliza las comillas y no necesita ser palabra por palabra. 
En general, cuando se usa el estilo indirecto, el tiempo verbal cambia.

 A continuación tienes una explicación de los cambios que sufren los tiempos verbales.

• A veces 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”.

Ten en cuenta también que las expresiones de tiempo cambian en el estilo indirecto. Fíjate en los cambios de tiempo en los ejemplos más abajo y después, encontrarás una tabla con más explicaciones de los cambios de tiempo en el estilo indirecto.

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.
“Have you worked here before?” I asked.	I asked her whether she’d worked there before.
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.

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:

“I’m 30 years old,” she said. → She said she is 30 years old.

Dave said, “Kelly is sick.” → Dave said Kelly is sick.

“We are going to Tokyo next week,” they said. → They said they are going to Tokyo next week.

“I’ll cut my hair tomorrow,” Nina said. → Nina said she is cutting her hair tomorrow.

En conclusión podemos decir que el reported speech es repetir con nuestras palabras lo que la otra persona dijo utilizando el tiempo verbal que corresponda.