Introduzione

Usiamo il discorso indiretto per riportare ciò che qualcun altro ha detto:

• Clara: "I’m tired." (discorso diretto)
• Sonia: Clara said that she was tired. (discorso indiretto)

Quando vuoi dire a qualcuno ciò che qualcun altro ha detto puoi semplicemente ripetere le sue parole (discorso diretto):

• Peter: She said "I’m hungry".

(usiamo le virgolette quando scriviamo il discorso diretto)

o puoi usare il discorso indiretto:

• Peter: She said that she was hungry.

Form

Quando si usa il discorso indiretto, il verbo introduttivo principale della frase di solito è al passato:

• He said ...
• She told me ...
• They asked ...

Il presente nel discorso diretto viene di solito trasformato al passato nel discorso indiretto:

direct speech		indirect speech
"I'm going to the park."	➞	She said that she was going to the park.
"You must report to the manager."	➞	He told me that I had to report to the manager.
"We will do it."	➞	They said that they would do it.
"Ana can swim very well."	➞	I said that Ana could swim very well.

Il past simple nel discorso diretto può rimanere past simple per il discorso indiretto o essere cambiato in past perfect:

discorso diretto		discorso indiretto
"I arrived late, so they sacked me."	➞	He said that he arrived late, so they sacked him. He said that he had arrived late, so they had sacked him.

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Esercizio 1

Completa il discorso indiretto cambiando il tempo del verbo del discorso diretto:

.

1)

"I don't like olives."
She said that she    olives.

 

2)

"I'll post the letter."
He said that he    the letter.

 

3)

"We're going to the theatre."
They said that they    to the theatre.

 

4)

"You can leave early."
She told me I    early.

 

Please submit the missing answers shown in red
 

Submit

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Quando usi il discorso indiretto, devi ricordarti di cambiare i pronomi soggetto in pronomi oggetto:

discorso diretto		discorso indiretto
"I'm late for work."	➞	April said that she was late for work.
"I will give you the box."	➞	Tom said that he would give me the box.

Dobbiamo cambiare anche gli avverbi e le locuzioni avverbiali di tempo e luogo:

discorso diretto		discorso indiretto
"We will arrive tomorrow."	➞	They said they would arrive the next day.
"The diary is here in my office."	➞	He told me that the diary was there in his office.

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Esercizio 2

Completa il discorso indiretto con i pronomi corretti:

.

1)

"We are visiting the museum tomorrow."
They said    were visiting the museum the next day.

 

2)

"I will see you later."
She said    would see    later.

 

3)

"We have left you our car."
They told me that    had left    their car.

 

4)

"I wasn't driving very fast when I crashed."
He said that    wasn't driving very fast when    crashed.

 

Please submit the missing answers shown in red
 

Submit

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Se la situazione riportata è ancora vera al momento della narrazione, non è necessario cambiare il tempo verbale per il discorso indiretto:

discorso diretto		discorso indiretto
"I love my new house!"	➞	Mary said that she loves her new house. (Questo è ancora vero. Ama ancora la sua casa.)

Ma è corretto anche cambiare il tempo verbale:

discorso diretto		discorso indiretto
"I love my new house!"	➞	Mary said that she loved her new house.

Nelle situazioni seguenti, devi cambiare il tempo verbale:

• La situazione riportata è cambiata o è finita;
  Rose said that she was going to New York.
  (Non "is going" perchè ora è lì.)
   
• Ciò che è stato detto e ciò che è vero sono diversi;
  She told me she would tell him.
  (Non "will tell" perchè o lei non gliel'ha detto o non sappiamo se lei gliel'ha detto.)
   

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Quando riportiamo ordini, comandi o richieste usiamo "tell" o "ask" e l'infinito con "to":

discorso diretto		discorso indiretto
"Close the door."	➞	She told me to close the door.
"Please, give me the key."	➞	He asked me to give him the key.

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Say or tell?

"Tell" ha bisogno di un oggetto:

• Paul told me he was retiring.
• I told him to be quiet.
• We told the teacher that he was wrong.

"Say" non ha bisogno di un oggetto:

• Mary said that she was leaving.
• I said she was very noisy.
• They said that the house was very old.

Ulteriore pratica

.

1)

Sara told ____ .
 

he she would marry him

she will marry him

Peter she sould marry him

she would marry him

 

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2)

My cousins told me ____ for the holidays.
 

are coming

were coming

they were coming

we is coming

 

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3)

The doctor said ____.
 

I will being alright

me I will be alright

I would be alright

me I would be alright

 

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4)

I told ____.
 

you to lock the door

you lock the door

you to locked the door

lock the door

 

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5)

Manuel said ____.
 

me he wanted to visit Mexico

wanted to visit Mexico

he want to visit Mexico

that he wanted to visit Mexico

 

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6)

I asked him ____ a chance.
 

gave me

giving me

to give me

give me

 

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Please submit the missing answers shown in red
 

Submit