Reported speech
/
Indirect speech
Direct speech
Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
sin hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
Indirect speech
Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
pero no
repetimos
exactamente sus
palabras.
Las comillas
desaparecen.
Direct speech


El reporting verb
está en
presente.
El reporting verb
está en pasado.
Indirect speech


El tiempo verbal
no cambia.
El tiempo verbal
da un salto al
pasado.
Direct speech
George says: “I
want to eat.”
Indirect speech
George says that
he wants to eat.
Direct speech
“I hate horor
films.” says
Sergio.
Indirect speech
Sergio says that
he hates horror
films.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Statements
Subject + reporting verb + (that)
+ subject + verb…
Direct speech
Indirect speech

Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
sin hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.

Detrás del
“sujeto + said”
ponemos la
conjunción that.
El verbo da un
salto atrás hacia
el pasado.
Direct speech
Indirect speech

Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
sin hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.

Detrás del
“sujeto + tell +
C. directo”
ponemos la
conjunción that.
El verbo da un
salto atrás hacia
el pasado.
Direct speech
Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
sin hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
Indirect speech



Los pronombres
personales cambian.
Los adjetivos
posesivos cambian.
Los pronombres
posesivos cambian.
Direct speech
Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
sin hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
Indirect speech



Los demostrativos
cambian.
Las expresiones de
tiempo cambian.
Las expresiones de
lugar cambian.
Direct speech







Indirect speech
Present simple.

Present continuous.
Have.
Will.
Can.
Must.
May.






Past simple.
Past continuous.
Had.
Would.
Could.
Had to.
Might.
Direct speech




Indirect speech

Past perfect simple.

Past perfect simple.
Past perfect simple.

Past perfect simple.
Past perfect
continuous.

Past simple.
Present perfect
simple.
Past perfect
continuous.
Direct speech








Now.
Today.
Tomorrow.
This.
These.
Here.
I.
My.
Indirect speech








Then.
That day.
The next / following day.
That.
Those.
There.
He / She.
His / Her.
Direct speech
Indirect speech

Yesterday.

The day before.

The day before yesterday.

Two days before.

The day after tomorrow.

Two days later.

Next week.

The following week / the week
after.

Last month.

The previous month / the month
before.

Ten years ago.

Ten years before.
Direct speech
George said: “I
want to eat.”
Indirect speech
George said that
he wanted to
eat.
Direct speech
“I want to be
famous,” said
Alex to her
friends.
Indirect speech
Alex said that
she wanted to
be famous.
Direct speech
“I want to be
famous,” said
Alex to her
friends.
Indirect speech
Alex told her
friends that she
wanted to be
famous.
Direct speech
“I enjoy the
beach,” Jenny
said.
Indirect speech
Jenny said that
she enjoyed the
beach.
Direct speech
“Brad is
studying,”his
mum said.
Indirect speech
Brad’s mum said
that he was
studying.
Direct speech
“You can see Big
Ben if you go to
London,” the
tour guide said.
Indirect speech
The tour guide
said that I
could see Big
Ben if I went to
London.
Direct speech
“You must be 18
to drive,” the
police said.
Indirect speech
The police said
that I had to
be 18 to drive.
Direct speech
“I will bring you
my CD
tomorrow,” Jane
said.
Indirect speech
Jane said that
she would bring
me her CD the
next day.
Direct speech
“We have been
here before,”
he said.
Indirect speech
He said that
they had been
there before.
Direct speech
“There was an
earthquake last
night,” the
reporter said.
Indirect speech
The reporter
said that there
had been an
earthquake the
night before.
Direct speech
“I hate reality
TV,” said
Jenny.
Indirect speech
Jenny said that
she hated
reality TV.
Direct speech
“I was really
proud of my
brother when he
won a quiz
show,” said
Clare.
Indirect speech
Clare said that
she had been
really proud of
her brother
when he had
won a quiz show.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
“These people
deserve better,”
stated the MP.
The MP stated
that those
people deserved
better.
Direct speech
“This café is
awful;” we can’t
eat here!” said
Paul.
Indirect speech
Paul said that
that café was
awful and they
couldn’t eat
there.
Direct speech
“I moved to
Oxford six
months ago, “
said Scarlett.
Indirect speech
Scarlett said
that she had
moved to
Oxford six
months before.
Direct speech
“I buy the paper
every day,” said
Jamie.
Indirect speech
Jamie said that
he bought the
paper every
day.
Direct speech
“They are
studying,” Kate
told me.
Indirect speech
Kate told me
that they were
studying.
Direct speech
“Daniel called me
on Saturday,”
said Mary.
Indirect speech
Mary said that
Daniel had
called her on
Saturday.
Direct speech
“I’ve seen all
Almodóvar’s
films,”
announced
Helen.
Indirect speech
Helen announced
that she had
seen all
Almodóvar’s
films.
Direct speech
“I’ll help you
with your
homework,” said
Ana.
Indirect speech
Ana said that
she would help
me with my
homework.
Direct speech
“I can speak
Portuguese,”
declared
Richard.
Indirect speech
Richard
declared that
he could speak
Portuguese.
Direct speech
“It may snow
today,” warned
the
weatherman.
Indirect speech
The weatherman
warned that it
might snow that
day.
Direct speech
“I must go,” said
Betty.
Indirect speech
Betty said that
she had to go.
Questions in reported
speech
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions

Wh-questions.

Yes / No questions.


Subject + reporting
verb + wh-word +
subject + verb…
Subject + reporting
verb + whether / if
+ subject + verb…
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
Contamos lo que
alguien ha
preguntado sin
hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
La interrogativa
deja de serlo y
se convierte en
una oración
enunciativa (sin
inversión sujeto
verbo, sin auxiliar,
sin signo de
interrogación).
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
Contamos lo que
alguien ha
preguntado sin
hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
El resto de
cambios que
vimos al
principio se
mantienen (verbos,
pronombres, adjetivos,
expresiones de tiempo,
expresiones de lugar).
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
Las Yes / No
questions son las
que se contestan
con un sí o un
no.

Al pasarlas a
estilo indirecto
empleamos el
verbo ask + if…
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
Las Wh-questions
no se pueden
contestar con un sí
o un no porque
empiezan con una
partícula
interrogativa (What,
who, where, when,
why,how,…).

Al pasarlas a
estilo indirecto
empleamos el
verbo ask +
Wh-word…
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
“Are they eating
now?” I asked.
I asked if they
were eating
then.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
“Is this our new
car?” asked
Rachel.
Rachel asked if
that was their
new car.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
“What is the
name of the new
film?” she
asked.
She asked what
the name of the
new film was.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
“Where does
Ryan live?”
Carol asked.
Carol asked
where Ryan
lived.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
“Can we meet
now?” Don
asked.
Don asked if we
could meet
then.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
“How often do
you listen to the
Spanish radio?”
Tim wanted to
know.
Tim wanted to
know how often
we listened to
the radio.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
“How is English
changing?” she
asked.
She asked how
English was
changing.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
“Why do girls
want to look like
size zero
models?” asked
the journalist.
The journalist
asked why girls
wanted to look
like size zero
models.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
“Have you seen
the news?”
asked Jude.
Jude asked me if
I had seen the
news.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
“How many
people will be
attending the
conference?”
asked the
organizers.
The organizers
asked how many
people would be
attending the
conference.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Questions
“Are we
obsessed with
celebrities?”
wondered the
magazine editor.
The magazine
editor wondered
whether we
were obsessed
with celebrities.
Orders, requests and
suggestions in
reported speech
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Affirmative orders and requests
Subject + reporting verb +
indirect object + to + infinitive…
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Affirmative orders and requests
“Can you buy
some chocolate
when you go to
the shop?”
asked Susan.
Susan asked me
to buy some
chocolate when
I went to the
shop.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Affirmative orders and requests
“Read the text,”
said the teacher
to the students.
The teacher told
the students to
read the text.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Negative orders and requests
Subject + reporting verb +
indirect object + not + to +
infinitive…
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Negative orders and requests
“Don’t move!” the
policeman
ordered the
criminal not to
move.
The policeman
ordered the
criminal not to
move.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Suggestions
•
Subject + suggest + (not) + verb +
-ing…
•
Subject + suggest + (that) + subject +
infinitive without to…
•
Subject + suggest + (that) + should +
infinitive without to…
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Suggestions
“Let’s not go to
France this
year,” suggested
Jack.
Jack suggested
not going to
France that
year.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Suggestions
“How about
having sushi
tonight?” said
Chloe.
Chloe suggested
that we have
sushi that night.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Suggestions
“Why don’t we
recycle more?”
said Liam.
Liam suggested
that we should
recycle more.
Reporting verbs and
structures
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + (not)
+ to + infinitive…
agree / offer / promise / refuse / threaten
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
He refused to leave the house.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb
+indirect object + (not) + to +
infinitive…
advise / ask / encourage / invite / order/
persuade / recommend / remind / tell / warn
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The weatherman warned us to
expect a storm that night.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + (not)
+ verb + -ing…
apologize for / deny / recommend / suggest
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The paparazzi apologized for
harassing the actress.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + (that)
+ subject + verb…
add / admit / agree / announce / claim /
complain / declare / deny / explain / insist /
mention / predict / promise / reply / reveal /
say / state / suggest
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The man admitted that he had
stolen the money.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb +
indirect object + (that) +
subject + verb…
persuade / remind / tell / warn
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Max reminded me that he was
going out that night.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + if /
whether / wh-word + subject +
verb…
ask / enquire / question / wonder / want to
know
Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The actor wondered whether he
would win a prize at the awards
ceremony that night.
Marga Renedo Gómez