Direct and Reported Speech (El estilo directo e 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.

Direct Speech (El estilo directo)

Cuando queremos informar exactamente lo que otra persona ha dicho, utilizamos el estilo directo. Con este estilo lo que la persona ha dicho se coloca entre comillas y deberá ser palabra por palabra.

 Ejemplos:

• I am going to London next week, she said.

  "I am going to London next week," she said.("Voy a Londres la semana que viene," ella dijo.)

• Do you have a pen I could borrow, he asked.

   "Do you have a pen I could borrow," he asked. ("Tienes un bolígrafo que puedas prestarme," él preguntó.)

• Alice said, I love to dance.

  Alice said, "I love to dance." (Alice dijo, "Me encanta bailar.")

• Chris asked, Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?

   Chris asked, "Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?" (Chris preguntó, "Te gustaría cenar conmigo mañana por la noche?")

Reported Speech (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 directo, el tiempo verbal cambia. A continuación tienes un 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".

Nota:Cuando hablamos de algo que no ha cambiado (todavía es verdad) o que es en el futuro, no tenemos que 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.

   

Modal Verbs (Los verbos modales)

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.

Say vs. Tell

En español podemos traducir "say"o "tell" como "decir", pero en inglés se usan estos verbos de maneras distintas. Hay unas reglas que indican el uso de uno sobre el otro en inglés, aunque en general usamos "say" para "decir algo" y "tell" para "decir algo a alguien."

Say

Se usa "say" en el estilo directo y el indirecto. Si queremos usar "say" con un objeto personal, necesitamos usar el preposicion "to".

• Ejemplos:

• Estilo directo

• "I'm hungry," he said. ("Tengo hambre," él dijo.)

• "I need your help," Glen said to Mike. ("Necesito tu ayuda," Glen dijo a Mike.)

• She said, "Do you like to dance?" (Ella dijo, "¿Te gusta bailar?")

• Estilo indirecto

• He said he was hungry. (Él dijo que tenía hambre.)

• Glen said to Mike that he needed his help. (Glen dijo a Mike que necesitaba su ayuda.)

• She asked me if I liked to dance. (Me preguntó si me gustaba bailar.)

   

Tell

También se puede usar "tell" con el estilo directo y el indirecto, aunque el uso con el estilo directo no es tan común. Cuando usamos "tell" necesitamos usar un objeto indirecto  que va detrás del verbo.

 Ejemplos:

• Estilo directo

• He told me, "I'm hungry." (Me dijo, "Tengo hambre.")

• Glen told Mike, "I need your help." (Glen dijo a Mike, "Necesito to ayuda.")

• Estilo indirecto

• He told me that he was hungry. (Me dijo que tuvo hambre.)

• Glen told Mike that he needed his help. (Glen dijo a Mike que necesitaba su ayuda.)

Otros usos de "tell":

1. Se usa "tell" con ordenes o instrucciones.

    Ejemplos:

   • I told him, "Stop complaining." (Le dije, "Deja de quejarte.")

   • She told us to hurry. (Nos dijo de darnos prisa.)

2. Usamos "tell" cuando damos o pedimos información.

    Ejemplos:

   • "Can you tell me your name please." ("Dime tu nombre, por favor.")

   • You told him the address of the office? (¿Le dijiste la dirección de la oficina?)

3. Se usa "tell" con cuentos o bromas. En esto caso, se puede traducir "tell" como "contar" en español.

    Ejemplos:

   • He told us a great story. (Nos contó un cuento maravilloso.)

   • "Tell me a joke," she said. ("Cuéntame un chiste," ella dijo.)

4. Con la verdad y las mentiras, se usa "tell."

    Ejemplos:

   • "Tell me the truth," she said. ("Dime la verdad," ella dijo.)

   • Keith never tells lies. (Keith nunca miente.)

5. Usamos "tell" con el tiempo o la fecha.

    Ejemplos:

   • "Could you tell me the time, please?" she asked. ("Podrías decirme la hora, por favor?" me preguntó.)

   • Bob told me the date. (Bob me dijo la fecha.)

Reported Statements

If the sentence starts in the past, there is often backshift of tenses in Reported speech. (see: Note)
Example: Susan: "I work in an office." Susan said that she worked in an office.

If the sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it as well.

Peter: "I worked in the garden yesterday."
Peter said that he had worked in the garden the day before.

Shifting of expressions of time

Reported commands

If you put a command into Reported speech there are some steps which are the same like in statements: (changing of the person, changing of expressions of time).

The form is mostly: form of to tell + to + infinitive.

Reported questions

If you put a question into Reported speech there are some steps which are the same like in statements: (changing of the person, backshift of tenses, changing of expressions of time).

In Reported speech there is no question anymore, the sentence becomes a statement.
That's why the word order is: subject - verb

Question without question words (yes/no questions):
Peter: "Do you play football?" - Peter asked me whether (if) I played football.

Question with question words:
Peter: "When do you play football?" - Peter asked me when I played football.

Requests for objects are reported using the pattern
ask + for + object: Examples:

a. "Can I have an apple?", she asked. She asked for an apple.
b. "Can I have the newspaper, please?" He asked for the newspaper.
c. "May I have a glass of water?" he said. He asked for a glass of water.
d. "Sugar, please." She asked for the sugar.
e. "Could I have three kilos of onions?" He asked for three kilos of onions.

Suggestions are usually reported with a that-clause. 'That' and 'should' are optional in these clauses:

She said: "Why don't you get a mechanic to look at the car?" She suggested that I should get a mechanic to look at the car. OR She suggested I get a mechanic to look at the car.

Other reporting verbs used in this way are: insist, recommend, demand, request, propose.

Examples:

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

b. The dentist said, "I think you should use a different toothbrush". The dentist recommended that I should use a different toothbrush.

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

d. "Why don't you sleep overnight at my house?" she said. She suggested that I sleep overnight at her house.

Notes:

Suggest can also be followed by a gerund. In this case, the person who suggests is also included in the suggestion:

"Let's go to the cinema", she said. She suggested going to the cinema (both she and I)