REPORTED SPEECH

REPORTED SPEECH

Reportar lo que alguien dijo.

Direct speech is a quotation of someone’s exact words.

Example:  John said, “I promise I’ll be home on time.”

Discurso directo: es una cita de las palabras exactas de alguien.

Ejemplo: John dijo, “Prometo estar en casa a tiempo.”

Indirect speech: is used to report what someone said without using the person’s exact words.

Example: Liz said that John promised he would be home on time.

El discurso indirecto es usado para reportar lo que alguien dijo sin usar las palabras exactas de la persona.

Ejemplo: Liz dijo que John prometió que estaría a tiempo en casa.

Este discurso indirecto o report speech es ampliamente utilizado en nuestra comunicación diaria, debido a que suele presentarse en las diferentes situaciones de la vida cotidiana, tales como las instrucciones de los padres, maestros, tutores, mentores, médicos, jefes, entre muchos otros. Se basa en comunicar lo que alguien más nos dijo sin utilizar textualmente sus palabras.

Para reportar lo que otra persona dijo es importante realizar cambios lógicos a los pronombres, verbos, adverbios y adjetivos. También es necesario utilizar los verbos que reportan, los cuales son “say” y “tell”, en tiempo pasado (lógicamente pues es lo que alguien DIJO, tiempo pasado). Recordemos que cuando reportamos la palabra “that” es opcional.

Ejemplo 1:

Direct Speech

 

Jenny: “I am 16 years old”

Jenny: “Yo tengo 16 años de edad”

Indirect speech:

Jenny/She said (that) she was 16 years old.

Jenny/Ella dijo (que) ella tenía 16 años de edad.

Ejemplo 2:

CAMBIOS COMUNES CON RESPECTO A:

1.- TIEMPOS VERBALES

Direct Speech	→	Reported Speech
Present	→	Past
‘I work in Argentina’		He said that he worked in Argentina
‘I am doing my job’		He said that he was doing his job
Past	→	Past Perfect
‘We saw a good film on TV’		He said they had seen a good film on TV.
‘I was dancing with Mary’		He said he had been dancing with Mary
Present Perfect	→	Past Perfect
‘I have done this before’		She said that she had done that before
‘I have been doing this for two years’		He said that he had been doing that for two years
Future	→	Conditional
‘I will visit my mother’		He said that he would visit his mother
‘I will be flying to Spain’		He said that he would be flying to Spain
Future Perfect	→	Conditional Perfect
‘I will have arrived there by 5 pm’		He said he would have arrived here by 5 pm
‘I will have been selling books for two years’		He said that he would have been selling books for two years

2.- TIEMPO Y LUGAR

Direct Speech	→	Reported Speech
now	→	then, at that moment
today	→	that day
tonight	→	that night
last night	→	the previous night, the night before
tomorrow	→	the next day, the following day
yesterday	→	the previous day, the day before
this week	→	that week
next week	→	the following week, the week after
last year	→	the previous year, the year before
here	→	there

EJEMPLOS

• Hank: "I don't want to leave now"
  Hank: "No me quiero ir ahora"
• He said he didn't want to leave then
  Él dijo que no quería irse entonces
• Secretary: Mr. Phillips is leaving the office now"
  Secretaria: "El señor Phillips está saliendo de la oficina ahora"
• The secretary said Mr. Phillips was leaving the office at that moment
  La secretaria dijo que el señor Phillips estaba saliendo de la oficina en ese momento
• Carrie: "Sam is coming to visit us today"
  Carrie: "Sam viene hoy a visitarnos"
• She said that Sam was going to visit them that day
  Ella dijo que Sam iba a ir a visitarlos ese día

Present

→

Past

‘I work in Argentina’

 

He said that he worked in Argentina

‘I am doing my job’

 

He said that he was doing his job

Past

→

Past Perfect

‘We saw a good film on TV’

 

He said they had seen a good film on TV.

‘I was dancing with Mary’

 

He said he had been dancing with Mary

Present Perfect

→

Past Perfect

‘I have done this before’

 

She said that she had done that before

‘I have been doing this for two years’

 

He said that he had been doing that for two years

Future

→

Conditional

‘I will visit my mother’

 

He said that he would visit his mother

‘I will be flying to Spain’

 

He said that he would be flying to Spain

Future Perfect

→

Conditional Perfect

‘I will have arrived there by 5 pm’

 

He said he would have arrived here by 5 pm

‘I will have been selling books for two years’

 

He said that he would have been selling books for two years

now

→

then, at that moment

today

→

that day

tonight

→

that night

last night

→

the previous night, the night before

tomorrow

→

the next day, the following day

yesterday

→

the previous day, the day before

this week

→

that week

next week

→

the following week, the week after

last year

→

the previous year, the year before

here

→

there

• Alex: "Pat and Joe are coming to dinner tonight"
  Alex: Pat y Joe vienen esta noche a cenar"
• He said that Pat and Joe were going to dinner that night
  Él dijo que Pat y Joe venían esa noche a cenar
• Julia: "I won't be coming home tonight"
  Julia: "No vendré a casa esta noche"
• She said she wouldn't be coming home that night
  Ella dijo que no vendría a casa esa noche
• Sean: "I couldn't sleep last night"
  Sean: "Anoche no pude dormir"
• He said that he couldn't sleep the previous night
  Él dijo que no había podido dormir la noche anterior
• Jack: "I didn't go to the party last night"
  Jack: "No fui a la fiesta anoche"
• He said that he hadn't gone to the party the night before
  Él dijo que no había ido a la fiesta la noche anterior