Explanation of reported speech for Spanish students

1. ESTILO INDIRECTO

2. There are two ways to report what someone says
or thinks.
1.Direct speech shows a person’s exact words.
Quotation marks (“. . .”) are a sign that the words
are the same words that a person used. For
example:
Jane asked, “Where are you going?”
2.Reported speech puts the speaker’s words or
ideas into a sentence without quotation marks.
Noun clauses are usually used. For example:
Jane asked Charlie where he was going.

3. If we report what another person has said, we
usually do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct
speech), but reported (indirect) speech. Therefore,
you need to learn how to transform direct speech into
reported speech. The structure is a little different
depending on whether you want to transform a
statement, question or request. Charlie said that he
was going home.
Cuando ponemos una frase en estilo indirecto,
necesitamos un verbo introductorio en la oración
principal, un nexo para introducir la oración
subordinada, que ha cambiado con respecto a la
original, sobre todo en el tiempo verbal, los
pronombres y posesivos y las palabras deícticas.

4. DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH
TYPE OF DISCOURSE INTRODUCTORY VERB LINK WORD
SUBORDINATE
CLAUSE
statement
to add / to admit / to announce / to declare / to deny /
to explain / to insist / to mention / to promise / to
propose / to remind / to say / to suggest / to tell
someone......
That / O
same word-order as direct
speech
yes/no question:
question starting with an
auxiliary
to ask someone / oneself / to doubt / to wonder.. If S + (Aux.) + Vb.
WH-question:
question starting with
WH-
to ask / to inquire / to wonder.. WH- S + (Aux.) + Vb.
Commands/requests:
orders, advices,
to advise /to tell / to
forbid / to order/ to ask
someone
someone (not)To + Vb

5. Cuando ponemos en estilo indirecto
las frases enunciativas, podemos usar
SAY o TELL, como verbos introductorios.
TELL siempre lleva el objeto indirecto
detrás.
SAY puede mencionar o no al
interlocutor. Si lo menciona, llevará la
preposición TO.
La palabra introductoria es THAT,
aunque podemos omitirla si queremos.

6. 1. “I lived in Madrid for ten years”, Anne
said.
2. “You have read my message”, She
told me.
3. “She never laughs at my jokes”, Peter
complained.
4. “Everest is the highest mountain in
the world”, My teacher said.
5. “I will tell you the truth as soon as
possible”, he promised.

7. 1.“I lived in Madrid for ten years”, Anne said.
Anne said that she had lived in Madrid for ten
years.
2.“You have read my message”, She told me.
She told me that I had read her message.
3.“She never laughs at my jokes”, Peter
complained.
Peter said that she never laughed at his jokes.
4.“Everest is the highest mountain in the world”,
My teacher said.
My teacher said that Everest is the highest
mountain in the world.
5.“I will tell you the truth tomorrow”, he promised.
He said that he would tell me the truth the next
day.

8. When you report what someone said in
the past, you usually shift back a verb tense
from the tense the speaker used.
If the reporting verb is in the present
tense, there is no change in the reported
sentence. Also, a sentence in direct speech
in a present or future tense can remain the
same if what is said is still true or relevant.
Como puedes ver en los ejemplos
anteriores, el tiempo verbal retrocede hacia
el pasado. Si miras en los libros de texto
verás un listado con las correspondencia
entre los tiempos.

9. VERB BACKSHIFT
Simple present
"I always drink coffee", she said
Simple past
She said that she always drank coffee.
Present continuous
"I am reading a book", he explained.
Past continuous
He explained that he was reading a book
Simple past
"Bill arrived on Saturday", he said.
Past perfect
He said that Bill had arrived on Saturday
Present perfect
"I have been to Spain", he told me.
Past perfect
He told me that he had been to Spain
Past perfect
"I had just turned out the light," he explained.
Past perfect
He explained that he had just turned out the light.
Present perfect continuous
They complained, "We have been waiting for hours".
Past perfect continuous
They complained that they had been waiting for hours.
Past continuous
"We were living in Paris", they told me.
Past perfect continuous
They told me that they had been living in Paris.
Future
"I will be in Geneva on Monday", he said
Present conditional
He said that he would be in Geneva on Monday.
Future continuous
She said, "I'll be using the car next Friday".
Conditional continuous
She said that she would be using the car next Friday.

10. Una forma más simple es fijarte en el primer
verbo o auxiliar, que es el que lleva la marca de
tiempo en inglés. Este verbo cambiaría de la
siguiente forma:
Presente…………………………………………….pasado.
Pasado simple……….……….………..pasado perfecto.
Futuro (will)………………..………condicional (would).
Y de las misma forma, los modales que tengan
un equivalente en pasado también cambian:
Can………………………………..…………………..could
Must………………………………………………….had to
May……………………………..……………………..might
There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.

11. Estas palabras varían de significado en función del contexto espacial o
temporal en que se encuentran por lo que tenemos que cambiarlas a menos
que algo en la frase nos indique que la referencia es la misma.
COMMON CHANGES
This…………………………………………..……..……….that
These……………………………….……………………..those
Here………………………..…………..……….…………there
Tomorrow…………...the following day or the next day
next month…..the following month or the next month
today…………………………………………..………that day
tonight……………………………….……………..that night
yesterday………..…..the day before or the previous
day
last year……………the year before or the previous year
last night…….…the night before or the previous night

12. You also need to be careful with personal
pronouns and possessives. They need to be
changed according to the situation.
En general, los pronombres personales o
los posesivos que hagan referencia a la
primera o segunda persona, suelen cambiar
hacia la tercera, siempre en función del
contexto y los referentes.
Conviene repasar los cuatro grupos de
palabras:

13. PRONOUNS POSSESSIVE
SUBJECT OBJECT ADJECTIVES PRONOUNS
I me my mine
you you your yours
he him his his
she her her hers
it it its its
we us our ours
You You Your Yours
They them their theirs

14. Para las preguntas en estilo indirecto,
aplicamos todos los cambios anteriores;
pero debemos recordar que,
estructuralmente, la oración ha dejado de
ser pregunta por lo que el sujeto recupera
su posición delante del verbo y auxiliares
interrogativos como do, does o did,
sencillamente desaparecen.
The word order in a reported question is
the same as in a statement. The subject
comes before the verb.
“Are you in love with me?”
Mary asked him if he was in love with her.

15. To change a yes/no question to a noun
clause in reported speech, introduce the
noun clause with if or whether. Whether or
not may also be used.
En este tipo de preguntas, el verbo
introductorio puede ser ASK, WONDER or
WANTED TO KNOW, entre otros. Preferimos
ASK si mencionamos el interlocutor.
El nexo más frecuente es IF, e
inmediatamente detrás de él va el sujeto de
la oración subordinada.

16. 1. “Did you turn off the coffee
pot?”
2. “Is supper ready?”
3. “Will you be at the party?”
4. “Have you seen my new film?”
5. “Do you smoke?

17.  “Did you turn off the coffee pot?”
I asked Amy if she had turned off the coffee pot.
 “Is supper ready?”
Eli wanted to know whether supper was ready
 “Will you be at the party?”
Paul asked me whether or not I would be at the
party.
 “Have you seen my new film?”
Mary asked John if he had seen her new film.
 “Do you smoke?
My boss wanted to know if I smoked.

18. To change an information question to a
noun clause in reported speech, begin the
noun clause with the question word, and
remember to place the subject before the
verb.
Para estas preguntas usamos los mismos
verbos introductorios pero el nexo ahora no
es IF, sino el PRONOMBRE INTERROGATIVO
correspondiente seguido del sujeto de la
oración subordinada.

19. 1. “Where do they live?”
2. “When did you call?”
3. “What time is it?”
4. “Why did you say that?”
5. “How often will you visit
me next year?”

20.  “Where do they live?”
Abdul wanted to know where they lived.
 “When did you call?”
Sharon asked me when I had called.
 “What time is it?”
Do you know what time it is?
 “Why did you say that?”
Pedro asked me why I had said that.
 “How often will you visit me next year?”
Mary asked him how often he would visit her the
following year.

21. For commands in reported speech use introductory verbs
like 'tell' or 'advise' + infinitive with 'to'. To express negative
commands use 'tell' or 'advise' + not + infinitive with 'to'.
Hay una gran variedad de verbos introductorios en
función de si se trata de una orden (TOLD, ORDERED,…) o
una petición (BEGGED, ASKED,….)
Para poner en estilo indirecto una orden o una petición
utilizamos una estructura de acusativo según este esquema:
Sujeto
principal
(Someone)
Verbo
introductorio
Object
(someone
else)
(not) to

22. 1. “Will you help me with the
homework?”
2. “Don’t tell her my secret”
3. “Could you open the window?
4. “ Sit down and be quiet”
5. “Kiss me again, please.”

23.  “Will you help me with the homework?”
Mary asked her brother to help her with the homework.
 “Don’t tell her my secret”
I told you not to tell my secret.
 “Could you open the window?
John asked Mary to open the window.
 “ Sit down and be quiet”
The teacher ordered us to sit down and be quiet.
 “Kiss me again, please.”
The actor asked the the actress to kiss him again.

24. The subjunctive, or base, form of the verb
(no tense, without to) is used in reported
speech when the main verb is recommend or
suggest. We can also use the subjunctive with
should (which is rather formal)
Para poner en estilo indirecto una
sugerencia, podemos usar el subjuntivo como
hemos dicho antes, pero es más fácil y
frecuente usar un gerundio como verbo
subordinado.

25. 1. “How about buying a tie for
Daddy’s birthday?”
2. “You should arrive early.”
3. “Don’t wait to apply.”
4. “Why don’t we visit the
museum?”
5. “Let’s study hard this term”

26.  “How about buying a tie for Daddy’s birthday?”
Mum suggested buying a tie for Daddy’s birthday.
Mum suggested that we buy a tie for Daddy’s birthday.
 “You should arrive early.”
John recommended arriving early.
John recommended that we arrive early.
 “Don’t wait to apply.”
Anna recommended not waiting to apply.
Anna recommended that I not wait to apply.
 “Why don’t we visit the museum?”
The guide suggested visiting the museum
The guide suggested that we should visit the museum.
 “Let’s study hard this term”
I suggest studying hard this term

27. En cuanto a los verbos introductorios, hay
una gran cantidad dependiendo del matiz
comunicativo y debemos tener en cuenta
cuáles van seguidos de objeto indirecto o no.
The following verbs must be used with an
indirect object without to:
told He told me that he was hungry.
informed We informed her that the store was closed.
reminded He reminded the staff that the meeting was at 8 PM.

28. The following verbs may be used with an
indirect object, but the indirect object is
optional .
(There is no to before these indirect objects!)
He asked his wife why she was so angry.
OR He asked why she was so angry
asked We asked [her] where her husband was.
answered He answered [me] that he couldn't help.
promised She promised [him] that she would stay.

29. The following verbs need to before the
indirect object. For any verb that needs to
before the indirect object, the indirect
object is optional:
He said to me that he was the chief of police.OR
He said that he was the chief of police.
said He said [to his wife] that he was hungry.
explained We explained [to her] why we had been late.
exclaimed She exclaimed [to the boy] that she was furious.
complained They complained [to us] that the room was too cold.

30.  Ask (Pedir o preguntar) to get information or to make a request
(He asked her...)
 beg (suplicar) to ask emotionally for someone to do
something (She begged him...)
 answer (contestar) to respond (We answered [him]...)
 respond (responder) to answer (He responded [to her]...)
 remind (recordar) to tell somebody something that he or
she might have forgotten (He reminded me...)
 exclaim (exclamar) to state information with great emotion
(not used for giving commands) (He exclaimed [to her]...)
 explain (explicar) to state information that will help
somebody understand something (She explained [to him]...)
 thank (agradecer) He thanked her. (He said thank you to
her.)
 greet (saludar) She greeted him. (She said hello to him.)
 agree (estar de acuerdo) He agreed. (He said that somebody was
right or that he would do what somebody wanted.)
 refuse (negarse a o rechazar) She refused. (She said that she
wouldn't obey somebody or that she wouldn't do somebody a favor.)