REPORTED SPEECH

REPORTED SPEECH

 

 

TEORÍA:

 

El "estilo indirecto" o "reported speech" es una estructura que se emplea para comentar sobre lo que alguien ha previamente dicho. ej:

 

John: "My name's John" (direct speech)

He said (that*) his name was John (reported speech)

(Dijo que su nombre era John)

*se puede omitir el "that".

 

Se puede observar que después del verbo "said" en el pasado es muy natural seguir con el resto de la frase en el pasado: "...his name WAS John". Esto no significa que ahora John no se llama John, se dice así por razones de una concordancia de tiempos en la frase: "said" y "was". Claro está, si todavía John se llama John, NO podemos rechazar la frase:

 

He said that his name IS John

(Dijo que su nombre ES John)

 

También es correcto.

 

Consideremos la frase emitida hace una semana:

 

Mary: "I'm going to Madrid tomorrow"

 

Si una semana más tarde comentamos sobre lo que dijo Mary, ahora se debe utilizar el verbo en el pasado porque la acción ya no es presente:

 

Mary said that she WAS going to Madrid the following day (reported speech)

 

Observa que "I'm going" pasa a "I was going" en el estilo indirecto. Todos los tiempos pasan a "uno más atrás" en el pasado. En el ejemplo siguiente, apreciamos como Present Perfect pasa a Past Perfect.

 

Dave: I HAVE SEEN that film

Dave said that he HAD SEEN that film

 

En el caso de que no se puede ir "más atrás" en el pasado, se repite el mismo verbo:

 

Mike: I HAD BEEN there

He said that he HAD BEEN there

 

Jenny: I WAS WATCHING a film

Jenny said that she WAS WATCHING a film

o, Jenny said that she had been watching a film

 

 

Bien, ahora consideremos otras palabras que tienen que cambiar en el estilo indirecto si se refiere a acciones pasadas:

 

I'm going tomorrow

He said he was going the next day (o "the following day")

I'm playing football next week

He said he was playing football the following week

I went last week

He said he had gone the week before

 

 

Y si también nos hemos desplazado en el espacio, es decir, ya no estamos en el mismo sitio en el que se dijo la frase original:

 

I like it here

He said that he liked it there

 

Los verbos modales también tienen su forma pasada que se aplica cuando empleamos el estilo indirecto:

 

I can speak English

He said that he COULD speak English

I'll see you next week

She said that she WOULD see him the following week

 

 

Ahora consideremos esta pregunta:

 

Is your name John?

 

Una pregunta en el estilo indirecto que exige la respuesta "sí" o "no" debe llevar la palabra "IF" (si), es decir, queremos saber si la respuesta es "sí" o "no":

 

She asked him IF his name was John.

 

Preguntas abiertas que no piden un "sí" o "no", es decir, preguntas que llevan palabras como: what?, when?, why?, who?, which?, how?, whose?, where?, how much? , what time?, etc. se estructuran así:

 

What is your name?

She asked what his name was.

When did you see that film?

She asked when he saw that film.

How much are the potatoes?

They asked how much the potatoes were.

Where can we go?

He asked when they could go.

 

Hay que fijar en la forma afirmativa de las frases en el estilo indirecto. De ninguna manera pueden ser en la forma interrogativa; no cometas en error de invertir el sujeto con el auxiliar como si de una pregunta se tratara o de incluir los auxiliares interrogativos: do, does, did:

 

She asked what was his name (...what his name was.)

She asked when he did see the film (...when he saw the film.)

 

 

Por último, consideremos estas frases en el imperativo:

 

Go away! (Vaya usted)

She told him to go away (Le dijo que se fuese)

Sit down and be quiet!

She told the children to sit down and be quiet.

 

Es común el uso de "told" en estas frases y observamos que el verbo aparece en su forma infinitiva: "...to go away"; "to sit down and be quiet" 

 

 

 

 

 

EXERCISES

 

1. REPORT KATIE´S CONVERSATION WITH MARGUERITE. FILL IN THE GAPS.

Katie: ` I´ve started smoking and I like it. I´ve smoked since last October and I won´t stop`. Marguerite: `I can´t believe it ´.

 

Katie said that she .............................and that she............................... it.She added that she................................. since previous October.She said that she ..............................stop. Marguerite replied that she..............................believe it.

 

2. REPORTED SPEECH.Report what Julia said

 

JULIA: `My name´s Julia. I came to England in 1991 and I´ve been living in London for 8 years.I´m working for the BBC. I´ll go back to Spain very soon.´

 

She said that her name...............................Julia and she ................................to England in 1991. She explained that she..................................in London for 8 years. She  ............................................for the BBC. She added that she .....................................go back to  Spain very soon.

 

 

3. REPORTED SPEECH. Report what Adrian said

 

ADRIAN: ’My name´s Adrian.I went to Edimburgh on holiday and I decided to stay there for 1 year.Now I´ve been living in Scotland for 2 years and I think I will live here forever.´

 

He said that his name.............................Adrian. He explained that he .................................to Edimburgh on holiday and he.................................to stay there for 1 year.He added that  he.............................. he....................................there forever.

 

4. PUT THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES INTO REPORTED SPEECH.

 

  1.”I´ll come with you as soon as I´m ready” she said.

  2.”What do you think of the canteen coffee?”asked Peter.

  3.”Don´t wait till tomorrow” she said, “post the letter now”.

  4.”Did you play for your school team?” asked Ann.

  5.”I couldn´t get into the house because I had lost my key”he said.

  6.”Lend me your pen for a moment!” I said to Mary.

  7.”If the iron is too hot, you will burn your clothes” I told her.

  8.”Don´t touch that switch, John!” I said.

  9. “I´ve been in London for a month now” said Rupert.

10.”Are you going to live in this big house?” asked Bill.

 

 

 5. USE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING VERBS TO INTRODUCE THE SENTENCES WHEN PASSING INTO REPORTED SPEECH:

to threaten / to offer / to suggest / to complain / to advise/ to order / to regret / to deny /to accuse / to apologise .                                                                                                                                        

 

 1.”I´ll do the shopping for you”

2.”You´ve cheated in the exam”

3.”My back is always hurting”

4. “Shall we go to Paris?”

5.”If you tell my mother I´ll kill you!”

6.”You shouldn´t smoke so much”

7. “Stop making noises!”

8.” I´m sorry I´m late”

9.”I didn´t kill anyone”

10.”I wish I hadn´t come”

 

 

6. REPORTED SPEECH.

  a) Put these sentences into reported speech.

1. “I´ve left some books on your table, I think they can be useful”,said Peter.

 

2. “Are there any letters for me? asked Mary.

 

3. “Don´t lend Harry any money!” I said to Ann.

 

4. “Who did you give the money to?” said the man.

 

5. The mother said to her son, “Go and buy some potatoes!”

 

 

b) Use one of the following verbs to introduce the sentences when passing into reported speech:

       ADVISE       COMPLAIN   OFFER    DENY   APOLOGISE

1. “I´ll finish the exercises for you”

2. “You shouldn´t do so much sport!”

3. “We didn´t hit the little boy”

4. “We always have too much homework”

5. “I´m sorry I didn´t tell you before”

 

 

7. REPORTED SPEECH.

 

1. Peter said: “I´m studying hard for the exams”

2. Ann said: “You will forget me very soon”

3. James said: “My car broke down on my way here”

4. David said:” You shouldn´t smoke so much”

5.”I can see you tomorrow”, he said.

 

 

8. REPORTED SPEECH

1.    Peter said:“I´ve left some books on your table”.

2.    Mary asked: “Are there any letters for me today?”

3. I said to Ann: “Don´t lend Harry any money!”

 

4. The man said: “Who did you meet at the party yesterday?”

5. The mother said to her son:  “Go and buy some potatoes!”

 

9. PUT THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES INTO REPORTED SPEECH.

 

1-She said: “I´ll come with you next Tuesday”.

2-He said: “I´ve been in London for a month now”.

3-They said: “I´m going to the cinema tomorrow”

4-Dave said: “I spent all my money yesterday”.

5-Paula said: “I love playing tennis with you”.

 

 

11. CHANGE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES INTO REPORTED SPEECH

1. “I´m going out now, but I´ll be in by nine”, he said.

2. “Fasten your seat belts,we are going to take off”, said the air hostess.

3. “Have you been here for long?”, the other students asked him.

4. “Where can I park my caravan?”,she asked the policeman.

5. “I´m thinking of going alone”, she said.

6. “Lend Harry some money”, I said to Ann “he always pays his debts”.

7. “I have booked a room in the best hotel for tomorrow”, my friend said.

8. “You may leave your cycle in my garage if you like” he said “I´ll keep an eye on it while you are away”

9. “Who do you want to speak to ?” the telephonist said.

10. “Go to a dentist before your toothache gets any worse, Tom” I said.