Reported Speech en Inglés: Cómo Reportar Diálogos
Aprende a usar el Reported Speech en inglés para comunicar lo que alguien dijo, con cambios de tiempo gramatical, pronombres y ejemplos bilingües para hispanohablantes.
Reported Speech / Cómo reportar o comunicar diálogos
En ocasiones necesitamos expresar lo que alguien más dijo. Existen 2 maneras de hacerlo:
Direct Speech es cuando expresamos exactamente lo que alguien más dijo utilizando comillas.
Reported Speech es cuando expresamos indirectamente lo que alguien más dijo con nuestras propias palabras.
Ejemplo:
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
| Mom said, "I will go to the movies". | Mom said (that) she would go to the movies. |
Los verbos utilizados para indicar lo que alguien más dijo son conocidos como reporting verbs. Los reporting verbs más utilizados son: say, state, ask, tell, reply, warn, recommend, promise, encourage, etc.
En Reported Speech generalmente utilizamos that como conjunción para unir dos oraciones, en los ejemplos that está entre paréntesis para indicar que es opcional.
Cuando el reporting verb está en Pasado es necesario un cambio de tiempo gramatical. El tiempo gramatical del Reported Speech debe ser un tiempo atrás del Direct Speech. Este cambio de tiempo hacia atrás se conoce como "backshift".
Ejemplos:
Si el Direct Speech está en Simple Present, el Reported Speech debe estar en Simple Past.
Si el Direct Speech está en Simple Past, el Reported Speech debe estar en Past Perfect.
Si el Direct Speech está en Past Perfect, el Reported Speech se mantiene en Past Perfect porque no existe un tiempo gramatical más atrás.
Si el Direct Speech está en Present Continuous, el Reported Speech debe estar en Past Continuous.
Si el Direct Speech está en Past Continuous, el Reported Speech debe estar en Past Perfect Continuous.
Si el Direct Speech está en Past Perfect Continuous, el Reported Speech se mantiene en Past Perfect Continuous porque no existe un tiempo gramatical más atrás.
Si el Direct Speech está en Present Perfect, el Reported Speech debe estar en Past Perfect.
Si el Direct Speech está en Past Perfect, el Reported Speech se mantiene en Past Perfect porque no existe un tiempo gramatical más atrás.
El pasado del verbo modal can es el verbo modal could.
El pasado del verbo modal could es el verbo modal could.
El pasado del verbo modal will es el verbo modal would.
El pasado del verbo modal shall es el verbo modal would.
El pasado del verbo modal would es el verbo modal would.
El pasado del verbo modal should es el verbo modal should.
El pasado del verbo modal must es el verbo modal must.
El pasado del verbo modal may es el verbo modal might.
El pasado del verbo modal might es el verbo modal might.
Si el Direct Speech está en Imperativo, el Reported Speech debe estar en Infinitivo.
Además del cambio de tiempo gramatical también puedes observar que en ocasiones los pronombres también cambian. Este cambio se debe al cambio de perspectiva.
El pronombre I generalmente se cambia por he o she.
El pronombre you generalmente se cambia por I.
El pronombre we generalmente se cambia por they.
El pronombre my generalmente se cambia por his o her.
El pronombre your generalmente se cambia por my.
El pronombre our generalmente se cambia por their.
A continuación un resumen del cambio de tiempo gramatical necesario en la siguiente tabla. Además de observar el cambio de tiempo gramatical también puedes observar que en ocasiones los pronombres también cambian.
Ejemplos:
| Original Change | Tense Change | Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperative | Infinitive | Dad asked me, "Clean your room". | Dad asked me to clean my room. |
| Imperative | Infinitive | The nurse told me, "Don't smoke". | The nurse told me not to smoke. |
| Simple Present | Simple Past | Mom said, "I always drink coffee for breakfast". | Mom said (that) she always drank coffee for breakfast. |
| Simple Past | Past Perfect | My brother said, "I bought a new smartphone". | My brother said (that) he had bought a new smartphone. |
| Past Perfect | Past Perfect | Pedro stated, "I had met Gabriela before the party". | Pedro stated (that) he had met Gabriela before the party. |
| Present Continuous | Past Continuous | My father said, "We are going to New York tomorrow". | My father said (that) we were going to New York the next day. |
| Past Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | Carlos said, "Pedro was driving at midnight". | Carlos said that Pedro had been driving at midnight. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | Roberto said, "My brother had been studying for hours". | Roberto said (that) his brother had been studying for hours. |
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect | Dad said, "I have been to Tokyo twice". | Dad said (that) he had been to Tokyo twice. |
| Past Perfect | Past Perfect | Pedro said, "Mom had established her company before 2000". | Pedro said (that) his mom had established her company before 2000. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | Mom said, "I had already been working for 3 hours". | Mom said (that) she had already been working for 3 hours. |
| Will | Would | The weatherman said, "It will rain". | The weatherman said (that) it would rain. |
| Shall | Would | My father said, "We shall eat out tonight". | My father said (that) we would eat out tonight. |
| Would | Would | My girlfriend said, "I would like a sandwich". | My girlfriend said (that) she would like a sandwich. |
| Can | Could | Carmen said, "I can help". | Carmen said (that) she could help. |
| Could | Could | Juan said, "I could dance before the accident". | Juan said (that) he could dance before the accident. |
| May | Might | Dad said, "Roberto may be busy tonight". | Dad said (that) Roberto might be busy tonight. |
| Might | Might | The weatherman said, "It might snow". | The weatherman said (that) it might snow. |
| Should | Should | The cop warned, "People should not drive and drink". | The cop warned (that) people should not drive and drink. |
| Must | Must | The teacher shouted, "Students must not run in the hall". | The teacher shouted (that) students must not run in the hall. |
Además del cambio de tiempo gramatical y del posible cambio de pronombres también cambian las palabras en la siguiente tabla.
Cambios de Direct Speech a Reported Speech
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
| now | then |
| here | there |
| this | that |
| these | those |
| ago | before |
| today | that day |
| tonight | that night |
| last night | the previous night |
| yesterday | the day before, the previous day |
| tomorrow | the next day, the following day |
| last week | the week before, the previous week |
| next week | the week after, the following week |
| last month | the month before, the previous month |
| next month | the month after, the following month |
Reported Questions / Cómo reportar o comunicar preguntas
En caso de reportar preguntas el cambio de tiempo gramatical es el mismo, la question word se mantiene y la oración cambia de interrogativa a afirmativa.
Obviamente el reporting verb más utilizado para reportar preguntas es: ask.
Ejemplo:
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
| Pedro asked me, "Where do you live?". | Pedro asked me where I lived. |
Si la pregunta NO contiene una question word (yes/no question), utilizamos la palabra if o la palabra whether.
Ejemplos:
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
| Pedro asked me, "Do you like ice cream?". | Pedro asked me if I liked ice cream. |
| Pedro asked me, "Do you speak English?". | Pedro asked me whether I spoke English. |
Más ejemplos:
| Original Change | Tense Change | Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | Simple Past | Mom asked me, "How are you?". | Mom asked me how I was. |
| Simple Past | Past Perfect | Juan asked me, "Did you go to work?". | Juan asked me if I had gone to work. |
| Past Perfect | Past Perfect | Roberto asked, "Had Isabel and Juan gotten engaged before 2015?". | Roberto asked whether Isabel and Juan had gotten engaged before 2015. |
| Present Continuous | Past Continuous | Dad asked me, "What are you doing?". | Dad asked me what I was doing. |
| Past Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | Mom asked me, "What were you doing at noon?". | Mom asked me what I had been doing at noon. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | Mom asked me, "How long had you been waiting to get on the bus?". | Mom asked me how long I had been waiting to get on the bus. |
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect | My friend asked me, "Have you seen 'The Matrix'?". | My friend asked me whether I had seen 'The Matrix'. |
| Past Perfect | Past Perfect | Juan asked me, "Had you met Carmen before 2010?". | Juan asked me whether I had met Carmen before 2010. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | Pedro asked me, "Had you been practicing piano for two years or more in 2018?". | Pedro asked me whether I had been practicing piano for two years or more in 2018. |
| Will | Would | Carmen asked me, "Will you make dinner?". | Carmen asked me whether I would make dinner. |
| Shall | Would | My partner asked me, "Shall we accept the offer?". | My partner asked me whether we would accept the offer. |
| Would | Would | My neighbor asked me, "Would you help?". | My neighbor asked me if I would help. |
| Can | Could | My son asked me, "How can I help you?". | My son asked me how he could help me. |
| Could | Could | The teacher asked me, "Could you close the window?". | The teacher asked me whether I could close the window. |
| May | Might | My boyfriend asked me, "May I sit on the couch?". | My boyfriend asked me whether he might sit on the couch. |
| Might | Might | Roberto asked, "Might I borrow the car?". | Roberto asked if he might borrow the car. |
| Should | Should | Isabel asked me, "What should I wear?". | Isabel asked me what she should wear. |
| Must | Must | Employees asked, "Must we wear the uniform?". | Employees asked if they must wear the uniform. |
Signos de puntuación en Reported Speech
En Direct Speech y Reported Speech tenemos 2 cláusulas:
- reporting clause, es la cláusula que indica quien dijo y contiene el reporting verb.
- reported clause, es la cláusula que indica que dijo.
El orden de las cláusulas puede cambiar sin afectar el significado.
| reporting clause | reported clause |
|---|---|
| Mom said, | "I will go to the movies". |
Direct Speech
En Direct Speech siempre debemos utilizar una coma.
Ejemplos:
Mom said, "I will go to the movies". (reporting clause primero y luego la reported clause)
"I will go to the movies," said mom. (sí la reported clause es primero, la coma debe estar antes de la última comilla)
"Will you come with me?" asked mom. (sí la reported clause termina en question mark o exclamation mark, la coma no es necesaria)
Reported Speech
En Reported Speech solamente debemos utilizar una coma cuando la reported clause (lo que se dijo) se encuentra al comienzo.
Ejemplos:
Mom said she will go to the movies. (sí reporting clause primero, la coma no es necesaria)
She will go to the movies, mom said. (sí la reported clause es primero, la coma debe separar ambas cláusulas)
Reporting verbs: Say vs Tell
Say
Say no requiere un objeto (quien recibe la acción), si queremos indicar un objeto debemos utilizar la palabra to.
Ejemplos:
Mom said, "I will go to the movies". (Oración correcta porque el verbo say no requiere indicar quien recibió la acción)
Mom said to me, "I will go to the movies". (Oración correcta porque el verbo say requiere la palabra to para indicar quien recibió la acción)
Mom said me, "I will go to the movies". (Oración incorrecta porque
el verbo say requiere la palabra to para indicar quien recibió la
acción)
Tell
Tell siempre requiere un objeto (quien recibe la acción), no debemos utilizar la palabra to para indicar el objeto.
Ejemplos:
Mom told me, "I will go to the movies". (Oración correcta porque el verbo tell requiere indicar quien recibió la acción)
Mom told, "I will go to the movies". (Oración incorrecta porque el
verbo tell requiere indicar quien recibió la acción)
Mom told to me, "I will go to the movies". (Oración incorrecta
porque el verbo tell no requiere la palabra to para indicar quien
recibió la acción)
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