ESTILO INDIRECTO (REPORTED SPEECH)

1º What is it ? What is it used for ?

The reported speech or Indirect speech is a way of repeating

what another person has said.

You can repeat the exact words with inverted commas and with
the exact words with direct speech :

DIRECT SPEECH : Juan said : " I am very tired"

or you can use the Reported Speech . With it we don't repeat the
exact words and inverted commas are not necessary .

REPORTED SPEECH : Juan said that he was very tired.

In reported speech as you can see some changes take place if

the verb say is in the past : in the personal pronouns, possessive
and complement pronouns .

In the verbs that usually go "one step backwards" un paso hacia

atrás , that is they usually change into their correspondent past
tense : if the verb in direct speech was in the present in reported
speech changes to the simple past ; if it was in present
continuous in reported changes to past continuous and so on.
We will see this later in detail

In the time adverbs and demonstratives too : today, yesterday

etc. as you will see in the chart later .

For example : Julie said:" I 'm having a French lesson today"

Julie said she was having a French lesson that day.

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2º Introductory Verb : (verbo que introduce el estilo indirecto
en español "dijo" in English said or others

Indirect speech is usually introduced by the verb SAY , but it is

not the only one we can find . We can also use tell, comment,
emphasize, announced etc.

Be careful with this :

SAY is always followed by To + indirect object

He said to me that he was tired

TELL : doesn't need to before the indirect object :

He told me / but he said to me

In indirect speech as you can see THAT appears

He said THAT he was coming in the evening .

THAT however can be omitted if you want.

3º STATEMENTS ( ORACIONES AFIRMATIVAS Y NEGATIVAS)

As we explained before some changes take place to pass from

direct to indirect speech if the introductory verb is in the PAST:

1º PERSONAL PRONOUNS - POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES AND

PRONOUNS AND COMPLEMENT PRONOUNS .

- They change from the 1st person to 3rd person

- The second person (you-your) can change to 3rd person (he-

she-him-her) or to the 1st depending on the context.

For example : He said : " You are my sister's mate."

He said that he was his sister's mate or

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 He said (that) I was his sister's mate ( si la propia

persona repite lo que le han dicho y no una tercera)

e.g. Ann said :" My father lives in Manchester with my mom"

Ann said (that) her father lived in Manchester with her mom

2º VERB CHANGES : remember most of them change to their

correspondent past tense :

Direct speech Indirect Speech

Simple Present Simple past

Present continuous Past Continuous

Present Perfect past perfect

Simple Past Past perfect

Future Simple conditional

CAN COULD

MAY MIGHT

MUST HAD TO

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 E.g: John said : " My brother will arrive tomorrow"

John said his brother would arrive the next day

John said : " My brother has arrived a moment ago"

John said his brother had arrived a moment before.

John said : "he can do it"

John said he could do it .

John said : Marta must finish the project now .

John said Marta had to finish the project then / at that

moment

3º CHANGES IN TIME ADVERBS AND DEMONSTRATIVES

in direct speech Equivalent in reported speech

Today that day

"I saw him today", she said. She said that she had seen him that day.

Yesterday the day before

"I saw him yesterday", she said. She said that she had seen him the day before.

The day before yesterday two days before

"I met her the day before yesterday", he said. He said that he had met her two days before.

Tomorrow the next/following day

"I'll see you tomorrow", he said He said that he would see me the next day.

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in direct speech Equivalent in reported speech

The day after tomorrow in two days time/ two days later

"We'll come the day after tomorrow", they said. They said that they would come in two days time

Next week/month/year the following week/month/year

"I have an appointment next week", she said. She said that she had an appointment the followi

Last week/month/year the previous/week/month/year

"I was on holiday last week", he told us. He told us that he had been on holiday the previo

Ago before

"I saw her a week ago," he said. He said he had seen her a week before.

this (for time) that

"I'm getting a new car this week", she said. She said she was getting a new car that week.

These those

"Do you like these shirts ?" he asked He asked if I liked those shirts.

Here there

He said, "I live here". He told me he lived there.

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