REPORTED SPEECH

REPORTED SPEECH

               

El Reported Speech (también conocido como “Indirect Speech”) se utiliza para expresar lo que alguien ha dicho sin utilizar sus mismas palabras. Lo opuesto a este tipo de frases sería el “Direct Speech”, en el que expresamos exactamente las palabras dichas por alguien y, por ello, lo entrecomillamos:

DIRECT SPEECH à She says: “Someone hates Mª Luz”.

REPORTED SPEECH à She says that someone hates Mª Luz .

Para transformar una frase del Direct Speech al Reported Speech hay que realizar una serie de cambios en la frase que afectan principalmente al verbo, a los pronombres y a las expresiones de tiempo y de lugar.

1.1. CAMBIOS VERBALES

Dentro de cada una de estas frases debemos distinguir dos tipos de verbos: el de la frase que la introduce (o reporting verb) y el de la frase dicha (o reported verb). Analicemos el ejemplo anterior:

She says (1): “Someone hates (2) Mª Luz”

               

She says (1) that someone hates (2) Mª Luz.

                                              

Como vemos, ambas opciones tienen un verbo que introduce la frase (1) y otro que pertenece a la frase original (2). Cuando el reporting verb (1) está en presente, en presente perfecto o en futuro, el reported verb (2) no sufre modificación alguna. Los cambios vienen cuando el reporting verb (1) está en pasado. 

She says: “Jaime was a bad boy”    à   She says that Jaime was a bad boy

She will say: “Jaime was a bad boy”    à    She will say that Jaime was a bad boy

She said: “Jaime was a bad boy    à     She said that Jaime had been a bad boy

Así pues, si vemos que el verbo que introduce la frase (reporting verb) está en pasado, tenemos que cambiar el verbo que ya estaba en la frase original (reported verb). O, dicho de otra manera, si la frase a la que nos referimos fue dicha en el pasado, hay que cambiar el verbo que incluya. Los cambios que se producen en el reported verb dependen del tiempo verbal en el que se encuentre: 

reported verb
DIRECT SPEECH	reportED SPEECH
Present Simple	Past Simple
Kevin said: “She loves Jacobo”     à    Kevin said that she loved Jacobo
Present Continuous	Past Continuous
Marina said: “Irene is having fun”     à    Marina said that Irene was having fun
Present Perfect	Past Perfect
Jose said: “Julio has passed the exam”     à    Jose said that Julio had passed the exam
Past Simple	Past Perfect
Álvaro said: “Joaquín lost his keys”     à    Álvaro said that Joaquín had lost his keys
Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous
Alba said: “Elena has been swimming”     à    Alba said that Elena had been swimming
Future Simple	Conditional Simple
Marisol said: “He will pay for the dinner”  à Marisol said that he would pay for the dinner
Can	Could
Juan Francisco said: Carlos can drive      à     Juan Francisco said that Carlos could drive
Must	Had to
Alfonso said: “Gemma must stop drinking”     à  Alfonso said that Gemma had to stop drinking
Have to	Had to
Rafael said: “She has to call the Police”      à     Rafael said that she had to call the Police
May	Might
Juan Antonio said: “Raúl may be good”     à    “Juan Antonio said that Raúl might be good

1.2. CAMBIOS EN LOS PRONOMBRES

Como ya pasa en cualquier otro tiempo verbal, tenemos que tener en cuenta el cambio en la persona de referencia cuando pasamos de un tipo a otro de frases. Así pues, dentro de la frase original, lo más normal es que las primeras personas pasan a ser terceras, mientras que las segundas pasan a ser primeras, aunque siempre pueden haber excepciones a la regla. Recuerda que esto no solo ocurre con los pronombres personales, sino también con los posesivos e incluso con los reflexivos. Quizá en un cuadro quede más claro: 

Pronouns (1st à 3rd)
DIRECT SPEECH	reportED SPEECH
I / We	He-She / They
Isabel said: “I love English”     à    Isabel said that she loved English My students said: “We love the teacher”     à     My students said that they loved the teacher
Me / Us	Him-Her / Them
Jose Pablo said: “She kissed me”     à    Jose Pablo said that she had kissed him Mónica said: “They told us a joke”      à     Mónica said that they had told them a joke
My / Our	His-Her / Their
Ana said: “My friends are great”     à    Ana said that her friends were great Inma said: “Our classmates are handsome”  àInma said that their classmates were handsome
Mine / Ours	His-Hers / Theirs
Lorena said: “The exam is mine”     à    Lorena said that the exam was hers Celia said: “The victory is ours”     à    Celia said that the victory was theirs
Myself / Ourselves	Himself-Herself / Themselves
J. Joaquín said: “I will do it myself”     à    J. Joaquín said that he would do it himself Juan José said: “We cook ourselves”      à    Juan José said that they cooked themselves
Pronouns (2nd à 1st)
DIRECT SPEECH	reportED SPEECH
You	I / We
Marina said: “You love Maths”     à    Marina said that I / we loved Maths
You	Me / Us
Francisco José said: “They hate you”     à    Francisco José said that they hated me / us
Your	My / Our
J. Alberto said: “Your friends are funny”     à    J. Alberto said that my / our friends are funny
Yours	Mine / Ours
Elena said: “The problem is yours”     à    Elena said that the problem was mine / ours
Yourself / Yourselves	Myself / Ourselves
Pedro said: “You have to do it yourself”     à    Pedro said that I had to do it myself Juan Antonio said: “You know yourselves”      à    Juan Antonio said that we knew ourselves

1.3. CAMBIOS TEMPORALES Y ESPACIALES

Este mismo cambio de referencia que afecta a las personas también afecta a espacio y tiempo. Así, por ejemplo, donde en el Direct Speech diríamos “éste”, en el Reported Speech diríamos “aquel”; donde en el Direct Speech diríamos “ayer”, en el Reported Speech diríamos “el día anterior”. A continuación tienes una lista de cambios que afectan a las expresiones de tiempo y lugar.

expressions of time and place
DIRECT SPEECH	reportED SPEECH
Today	That day
Manu said: “I am sleeping today”     à    Manu said that he was sleeping that day
Tonight	That night
Manu said: “I am sleeping tonight”     à    Manu said that he was sleeping that night
Yesterday	The day before / the previous day
Manu said: “I slept yesterday”     à    Manu said that he had slept the previous day
Tomorrow	The next day / the following day
Manu said: “I will sleep tomorrow”     à    Manu said that he would sleep the next day
Tomorrow morning	The next morning / the following morning
Manu said: “I’ll sleep tomorrow morning”  àManu said that he would sleep the next morning
Yesterday afternoon	The previous afternoon
Manu said: “I slept yesterday afternoon”  à Manu said that he had slept the previous afternoon
Next week / month / year	The following week / month / year
Manu said: “I will sleep next week”     à    Manu said that he would sleep the following week
Last week / month / year	The previous week / month / year
Manu said: “I slept last month”     à    Manu said that he had slept the previous month
A week / month / year ago	A week / month / year before
Manu said: “I slept a year ago”     à    Manu said that he had slept a year before
Now	In that moment / Then
Esperanza said: “I want it now”     à    Esperanza said that she wanted it in that moment /then
This	That
Manu said: “I am eating this hamburger”     à    Manu said that he was eating that hamburger
These	Those
Manu said: “I love these students”     à    Manu said that he loved those students
Here	There
Manu said: “I will stay here”     à    Manu said that he would stay there

1.4. OTROS CAMBIOS

Hasta ahora hemos estudiado los cambios que afectan a frases afirmativas y negativas, pero hay otros tipos de frases que también pueden decirse con el Reported Speech. Dado que no son tan frecuentes como las anteriores, tampoco les prestaremos la misma atención, pero es necesario que las conozcas.

1.4.1. Órdenes y peticiones. Para decirlas de manera indirecta se utilizan las siguientes estructuras:

·         Affirmative:    S + reporting verb + O + to infinitive

Julio asked Ana to tell a joke

·         Negative:    S + reporting verb + O + not + to infinitive

Julio asked Ana not to sing in front of the class

1.4.2. Questions. Para decirlas de manera indirecta se utilizan los reporting verbs “ask” o “want to know” dentro de las siguientes estructuras:

·         Wh- Questions:    S + reporting verb + Wh- + S + V (+ others)

José Pablo asked when the game began

·         Yes/No Questions:    S + reporting verb + whether/if + S + V (+ others)

José Pablo asked if the game had begun

1.4.3. Reporting verbs. Aunque la mayoría de las veces utilizamos los verbos “say” o “tell”, hay muchos más verbos que se pueden utilizar como reporting verbs y que añaden matices al significado de estos. Por ejemplo, si en lugar de decir “Manu dijo…”, utilizo “Manu sugirió…”, estoy implicando que aquello que dijo era una propuesta o sugerencia. Toca estudiarse una lista completa de esos verbos con sus particulares estructuras gramaticales, que puedes encontrar aquí.




Actividades

            Cambios verbales
Cambios en los pronombres
Cambios temporales
Órdenes y peticiones (afirmativa)
Órdenes y peticiones (afirmativa 2)
Órdenes y peticiones (negativa)
Órdenes y peticiones (negativa 2)
Órdenes y peticiones (mixta)
Preguntas
Más preguntas
Más preguntas (2)
Preguntas con expresiones temporales
Frases enteras
Frases enteras con expresiones temporales
Más frases enteras
Más frases enteras (2)
Más frases enteras (3)
Más frases enteras (4)
Frases enteras con cambios verbales
Frases enteras con todos los cambios