El estilo indirecto

Introducción

Se usa el estilo indirecto para informar sobre lo que alguien dijo:

Clara: "I’m tired." (estilo directo)
Sonia: Clara said that she was tired. (estilo indirecto)

Cuando se quiere decir a alguien lo que otra persona ha dicho se puede repetir sus palabras literalmente (estilo directo):

Peter: She said "I’m hungry".

(Se usan comillas al poner por escrito el estilo directo)

o se puede usar el estilo indirecto:

Peter: She said that she was hungry.

Form

Cuando se usa el estilo indirecto, el verbo principal de la frase o "reporting verb" se usa por lo general en el pasado:

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

El presente en el estilo directo se cambia por lo general al pasado cuando se usa el estilo indirecto:

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.

El pasado simple en estilo directo puede dejarse igual como pasado simple cuando se usa el estilo indirecto o se puede cambiar al pasado perfecto:

estilo directo		estilo indirecto
"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.

Cuando se usa el estilo indirecto se puede omitir la palabra "that":

I said that she should have seen a doctor.
I said she should have seen a doctor.

Práctica 1

Complete el estilo indirecto cambiando el tiempo verbal del verbo del estilo directo:

.

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.

Cuando se usa el estilo indirecto, se debe recordar cambiar los pronombres del sujeto y objeto:

estilo directo		estilo indirecto
"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.

También hay que cambiar los adverbios y locuciones adverbiales de tiempo y lugar:

estilo directo		estilo indirecto
"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.

Práctica 2

Complete el estilo indirecto con los pronombres correctos:

.

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.

Si la situación de la que se está informando sigue siendo cierta en el momento de hablar, entonces no es necesario cambiar el tiempo verbal en el estilo indirecto:

estilo directo		estilo indirecto
"I love my new house!"	➞	Mary said that she loves her new house. (Eso sigue siendo cierto puesto que a ella aún le gusta mucho su casa.)

Pero también es correcto cambiar el tiempo verbal:

estilo directo		estilo indirecto
"I love my new house!"	➞	Mary said that she loved her new house.

Debe cambiar el tiempo verbal en las siguientes situaciones:

La situación de la que se informa ha cambiado o ha terminado;
Rose said that she was going to New York.
(No "is going" porque ella está allí ahora mismo.)
Lo que se dijo y lo que es verdad son diferentes;
She told me she would tell him.
(No se usa "will tell", porque o ella no se lo dijo o no sabemos si ella se lo dijo.)

Cuando se habla sobre pedidos, órdenes o peticiones se usa"tell" o "ask" y el infinitivo con "to":