1

EL ESTILO INDIRECTO.
THE INDIRECT/REPORTED SPEECH

INDEX PAGE
1. Estilo indirecto en oraciones enunciativas
A) Uso......2
B) Estructura2/3
1. Cambio en los tiempos verbales..3/4
2. Cambio en los demostrativos...4
3. Cambio en adverbios y expresiones de tiempo/lugar5
4. Cambio en los pronombres personales5/6

2. Oraciones imperativas (orders, commands).7
3. Oraciones interrogativas (questions)
1. Information/wh-questions8
2. Yes/no questions..8
4. Sugerencias (suggestions).9









2
1. Estilo indirecto en oraciones enunciativas.
A) Utilizacin:
Para reproducir lo que alguien ha dicho con anterioridad podemos utilizar dos mtodos:
- REPITIENDO LAS MISMAS PALABRAS QUE SE HAN USADO (=ESTILO DIRECTO)
Ejemplo: Mara dijo: "soy feliz". /// Mary told, Im happy
- MODIFICANDO LA FORMA DE LA CONVERSACIN MANTENIENDO EL CONTENIDO (= ESTILO
INDIRECTO)
Ejemplo: Mara dijo que estaba contenta. Mary told that she was happy
En los dos casos hemos conservado el mismo mensaje, pero en el primero hemos reproducido las
palabras textuales de Mara sin cambiar nada y en el segundo hemos expresado el mismo mensaje
que dijo Mara, pero cambiando su estructura (en este caso, hemos cambiado el tiempo verbal).

B) Estructura:
Al verbo principal se le llama reporting verb y al de la oracin subordinada (la que empieza
por that) reported verb.
ORACIONES ENUNCIATIVAS
La conjuncin that que sirve de enlace entre la reporting y la reported clause se puede
suprimir.

Ejemplo: He says (that) hes happy. Dice que es feliz

Los verbos que suelen introducir la oracin subordinada son: SAY (decir), TELL (contar),
(ver diferencias entre say y tell), WHISPER (susurrar), EXPLAIN (explicar), PROMISE
(prometer), DENY (negar), ADVISE (aconsejar), REMIND (recordar), WARN (advertir)
No todos los reporting verbs van seguidos de la misma forma; hay algunos en que
vara:

Verb + infinitive
agree, decide, offer, promise, refuse, threaten
They agreed to meet on Friday.
He refused to take his coat off.
Verb + object + infinitive
advise, encourage, invite, remind, warn
3
Tom advised me to go home early.
She reminded me to telephone my mother.
Verb + gerund
deny, recommend, suggest
They recommended taking the bus.
She suggested meeting a little earlier.
Verb + object + preposition (+ gerund)
Accuse, blame, congratulate
He accused me of taking the money.
They congratulated me on passing all my exams.
Verb + preposition + gerund
apologise, insist
They apologised for not coming.
He insisted on having dinner.
Verb + (that) + subject + verb
Admit, agree, decide, deny, explain, insist, promise, recommend, suggest
Sarah decided (that) the house needed cleaning.
They recommended (that) we take the bus.
1. CAMBIOS EN LOS TIEMPOS VERBALES

Present.........
Simple past.
Present perfect
Past perfect..
Shall .
Will.
Need
May
Must..
Can.

Simple past
Past perfect, simple past
Past perfect
Past perfect
Should
Would
Need (had to)
Might
Must, had to
could
4
*-should,would,might,
Could, ought, used to,
Dont change*

Las formas continuas (-ing) sufren cambios paralelos:
Ej: Im studying estoy estudiando --- He said that he was studying
Ejemplos:
He said, Im happyhe said that he was happy
I was happyhe said that he had been happy
They will go..he said (that) they would go
He may come...he said that he might come
I must go.he said that he had to go
You can playhe said that we could play

2. CAMBIOS EN LOS PRONOMBRES DEMOSTRATIVOS
THIS--------------------------------THAT
THESE------------------------------THOSE
THAT, THOSE, NO CAMBIAN

EJEMPLOS:
This is my house..he said that that was his house
These are the boxeshe said that those were the boxes
That is my horse he said that that was his horse

3. CAMBIOS EN LOS ADVERBIOS Y EXPRESIONES DE TIEMPO Y LUGAR



5

ESTILO DIRECTO

ESTILO INDIRECTO

HERE..
NOW
TODAY
TONIGHT..
YESTERDAY..
TOMORROW..
NEXT WEEK/YEAR/MONTH,ETC
LAST WEEK/YEAR/MONTH/ETC
AGO.

THERE
THEN
THAT DAY,YESTERDAY,
THAT NIGHT
THE DAY BEFORE
THE NEXT DAY,THE DAY AFTER
THE FOLLOWING WEEK/YEAR
THE PREVIOUS WEEK/YEAR
BEFORE,EARLIER,PREVIOUSLY

4. CAMBIOS EN LOS PRONOMBRES PERSONALES
stos varan segn las circunstancias y el contexto. Normalmente, cuando el sujeto de la
oracin principal y el sujeto de la oracin subordinada no coinciden, usamos un pronombre de
tercera persona (he, she, it,they) en la oracin subordinada.
Los PRONOMBRES PERSONALES DE PRIMERA PERSONA en la oracin subordinada (I,
we, me, us, mine o our ) cambian de acuerdo con el sujeto de la oracin principal (la corta) si el
pronombre de la subordinada es de 3 persona (he, she, it, they, him, his, her, them, their).
Direct: He said, I am busy.
Indirect: He said that he was busy.

Direct: She said, I am unwell.
Indirect: She said that she was unwell.

Direct: I said, I will be late.
Indirect: I said that I would be late.

Direct: They said, We will not permit this.
Indirect: They said that they would not
permit that.

Direct: We said, We need to buy some
clothes.
Indirect: We said that we needed to buy
some clothes.

Si el pronombre de la oracin principal y de la subordinada coinciden, no cambian.
Direct speech: I said, I write a letter
Indirect speech: I said that I wrote a letter.
Direct speech: We said, we completed our work
Indirect speech: We said that we completed our work
6

Los PRONOMBRES PERSONALES DE SEGUNDA PERSONA en el estilo directo cambian segn el
objeto del verbo de la oracin principal:
Direct: He said to me, You have to come with me.
Indirect: He told me that I had to go with him.

Direct: She said to me, You can go.
Indirect: She told me that I could go.
Direct: She said to him, You can go.
Indirect: She told him that he could go

Los PRONOMBRES PERSONALES DE TERCERA PERSONA no cambian.
Direct: He said, She is a good girl.
Indirect: He said that she was a good girl.

Direct: She said, They have invited us.
Indirect: She said that they had invited them.

Direct: They said, He does not have the necessary qualifications.
Indirect: They said that he did not have the necessary qualifications.
7
2. ORACIONES IMPERATIVAS (requests and commands)
En el estilo directo se utiliza el imperativo para dar rdenes y hacer peticiones. Al pasar
al estilo indirecto, se emplea la siguiente estructura:

SUJETO + VERBO + COMPLEMENTO DIRECTO + INFINITIVO (CON TO)


Ej: Stop being so ridiculous! -----He ordered them to stop being so ridiculous
Dejos de tonteras!-----les orden que se dejaran de tonteras

Para dar una orden negativa o hacer una peticin negativa en estilo indirecto, se coloca
not delante del infinitivo con to:


SUJETO + VERBO + COMPLEMENTO + NOT + INFINITIVO (CON TO)

Ej: Dont play any jokes on them! -----She told him not to play any jokes on them
No les gastes ninguna broma------Ella les dijo que no les gastara ninguna broma

Estos son algunos de los verbos que se utilizan para dar rdenes o hacer peticiones en estilo
indirecto: advise (aconsejar), ask (pedir), encourage (animar), invite (invitar), order (ordenar),
persuade (persuadir), remind (recordar), tell (decir), warn (avisar).

Ej: Be careful what you say! -----He warned me to be careful what I said
Ten cuidado con lo que dices!----Me advirti de que tuviera cuidado con lo que
deca

3. Estilo indirecto en oraciones interrogativas
1. Si el verbo de la oracin principal (reporting verb) es SAY, ste cambia a un verbo
que est relacionado con la pregunta. El ms frecuente es ASK (preguntar). Tambin se puede
emplear INQUIRE (preguntar), WANT TO KNOW (querer saber), WONDER (preguntarse)

8
2. El verbo de la oracin principal suele ir acompaado de un complemento indirecto
designando a la persona a la que se le hace la pregunta: He asked me

3. NO SE PUEDE USAR THAT!!!

4. Se siguen usando los mismos cambios en los tiempos verbales, adverbios de tiempo
,pronombres personales, demostrativos que en la forma afirmativa.
Para hacer el estilo indirecto en oraciones interrogativas tenemos que tener en cuenta la
estructura de la oracin interrogativa en cuestin y, segn como sea, haremos el estilo indirecto.
Pueden ser INFORMATION QUESTIONS o YES/NO QUESTIONS.
1. INFORMATION QUESTIONS
A este tipo de preguntas tambin se les llama wh-questions y se caracterizan porque
comienzan por un pronombre o adverbio interrogativo (WHO, WHICH, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN,
WHY, HOW) porque esperan como respuesta una informacin, no un s o un no como en las
yes/ no questions.
Where do you live?, he asked me ----he asked me where I lived
Dnde vives?, me pregunt.--- l me pregunt dnde viva
Who is your French teacher?, my mum wanted to know. --- my mum wanted to know who
my French teacher was
Quin es tu profesor de francs?, quera saber mi madre ---Mi madre quera saber
quin era mi profesor de francs.
CUIDADO!!La estructura de la oracin subordinada es enunciativa, es decir, ya no
tenemos que hacer la inversin de sujeto-verbo, ya que deja de ser una oracin interrogativa
directa para ser una interrogativa indirecta.
How old is your father?, he asked me --- he asked me how old my father was
NO: he asked me how old was my father
Cuntos aos tiene tu padre?, me pregunt l --- l me pregunt cuntos aos tena mi
padre.
2. YES/ NO QUESTIONS
Se caracterizan porque comienzan por un verbo auxiliar (BE, HAVE, DO, MODALES) porque
esperan como respuesta yes/no.
Con este tipo de interrogativas lo que va a unir la oracin principal y la subordinada es
IF o WHETHER (SI), en todo lo dems es como la information question.
Do you live in Olula?, he asked me --- he asked me IF/ WHETHER I lived in Olula
Vives en Olula?, me pregunt --- me pregunt si yo viva en Olula


9
4. Sugerencias en estilo indirecto (suggestions)
LETS O WHY DONT normalmente expresan una sugerencia en estilo directo.
As, el verbo que deberamos usar en la oracin principal sera SUGGEST o RECOMMEND
SEGUIDO DE UN VERBO EN ING.

Lets go to the pub!, he suggested --- he suggested going to the pub
Vayamos al pub!, sugiri. --- l sugiri que furamos al pub.
El uso de should para indicar sugerencias en el estilo indirecto es menos frecuente.

He suggested that we should go to the pub --- Sugiri que furamos al pub.