El estilo indirecto (reported speech) sirve para contar lo que otra persona dijo sin citar sus palabras exactas. Si el verbo introductorio está en pasado (said, told, asked), los tiempos suelen retroceder un paso y cambian pronombres y expresiones de tiempo y lugar. En 1.º de Bachillerato damos un paso más: sustituir say y tell por reporting verbs más precisos (advise, warn, admit, suggest…), cada uno con su propia estructura.
Objetivos
- Aplicar el cambio de tiempos (backshift) y de referencias de tiempo y lugar
- Transformar preguntas (yes/no y wh-) con el orden de una afirmación
- Transformar órdenes y peticiones con tell / ask + to + infinitivo
- Usar reporting verbs con su patrón: + to-infinitive, + objeto + to, + -ing, + that
1. Afirmaciones: el cambio de tiempos
| Estilo directo | Estilo indirecto |
|---|---|
| present simple: «I live in Cádiz.» | past simple: She said she lived in Cádiz. |
| present continuous: «I’m working.» | past continuous: He said he was working. |
| past simple / present perfect: «I saw / have seen it.» | past perfect: She said she had seen it. |
| will: «I’ll call you.» | would: He said he would call me. |
| can / may: «I can help.» | could / might: She said she could help. |
| must: «I must go.» | had to (o must): He said he had to go. |
| Directo | Indirecto |
|---|---|
| today / tonight | that day / that night |
| tomorrow | the next day / the following day |
| yesterday | the day before / the previous day |
| next week | the following week |
| ago | before |
| here / this / now | there / that / then |
2. Preguntas, órdenes y peticiones
- Preguntas yes/no → if / whether + orden de afirmación: «Are you ready?» → He asked if I was ready.
- Preguntas wh- → partícula + orden de afirmación, sin do/did: «Where do you live?» → She asked me where I lived.
- Órdenes → tell + persona + (not) to + infinitivo: «Don’t touch it!» → He told me not to touch it.
- Peticiones → ask + persona + to + infinitivo: «Could you help me?» → She asked me to help her.
Paso a paso: «What did you buy yesterday?», Ana asked me.
- Pregunta wh- → Ana asked me what…
- Orden de afirmación y sin did: I + verbo.
- past simple → past perfect: had bought; yesterday → the day before.
Ana asked me what I had bought the day before.
3. Reporting verbs y sus patrones
| Patrón | Verbos | Ejemplo |
|---|---|---|
| + to + infinitivo | agree, refuse, offer, promise, threaten | He offered to carry my bag. |
| + persona + to + infinitivo | advise, warn, remind, encourage, persuade, order, invite | She advised me to rest. |
| + -ing | suggest, deny, admit, recommend | He denied stealing the money. |
| + preposición + -ing | apologise for, accuse sb of, insist on, blame sb for | She apologised for being late. |
| + that + oración | explain, complain, admit, suggest, insist | He explained that the train was late. |
Recuerda
- Con verbo introductorio en pasado, los tiempos retroceden un paso (present → past, past → past perfect, will → would).
- Cambian pronombres y referencias: tomorrow → the next day, here → there.
- Preguntas indirectas: if / whether o partícula wh- + orden de afirmación, sin do.
- Órdenes: tell sb (not) to do; peticiones: ask sb to do.
- Cada reporting verb tiene su patrón: offer to do, advise sb to do, deny doing, apologise for doing.
¡Ahora te toca a ti!
Comprueba que lo has entendido con los ejercicios y repasa con el resumen.