El estilo indirecto (reported speech) aparece constantemente en la Part 4 (Key Word Transformation) del Use of English, y es uno de los puntos donde más se pierden puntos por no mover el tiempo verbal un paso hacia atrás ("backshift") o por no cambiar el orden de la pregunta.
La regla general: cuando la frase introductoria está en pasado ("He said...", "She told me..."), el verbo de la frase citada retrocede un tiempo.
Backshift: cómo retroceden los tiempos
| Estilo directo | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| Present simple | Past simple |
| Present continuous | Past continuous |
| Past simple | Past perfect |
| Present perfect | Past perfect |
| will | would |
| can | could |
| must | had to |
"I live in Madrid" → She said (that) she lived in Madrid. · "I've finished the report" → He said he had finished the report.
Preguntas indirectas
El orden cambia a afirmativo (sujeto + verbo) y desaparecen los auxiliares "do/does/did".
"Where do you live?" → He asked me where I lived. (no "where did I live")
Si la pregunta no tiene palabra interrogativa (sí/no), se usa if o whether:
"Are you coming?" → She asked if I was coming.
Órdenes y peticiones
Se usa tell/ask + objeto + to + infinitivo (afirmativo) o not to + infinitivo (negativo).
"Close the door" → He told me to close the door. · "Don't be late" → She told us not to be late.
Expresiones de tiempo y lugar que cambian
| Directo | Reported |
|---|---|
| now | then / at that moment |
| today | that day |
| tomorrow | the next/following day |
| yesterday | the day before |
| this | that |
| here | there |
| ago | before |
Say vs. tell: "say" nunca lleva objeto de persona directo ("he said to me" o "he said that..."), mientras que "tell" sí lo necesita ("he told me that..."). Es un error de Part 4 muy frecuente: "He said me" es incorrecto, debe ser "He told me" o "He said to me".
Ejercicio
Transforma al estilo indirecto
"I live in Valencia." → She said she ………… in Valencia.
lived. Present simple retrocede a past simple en estilo indirecto.
"I will call you tomorrow." → He said he ………… me the next day.
would call. "will" retrocede a "would" en reported speech.
"I have finished the project." → She said she ………… the project.
had finished. Present perfect retrocede a past perfect.
"Where do you live?" → He asked me ………….
where I lived. En preguntas indirectas el orden es afirmativo, sin "did", y con backshift.
"Are you coming to the party?" → She asked me ………… I was coming to the party.
if. Las preguntas de sí/no se reportan con "if" o "whether".
"Close the window, please." → He asked me ………… the window.
to close. Las órdenes/peticiones se reportan con "ask/tell + objeto + to + infinitivo".
"Don't be late!" → She told us ………… late.
not to be. La forma negativa es "not to + infinitivo", con "not" antes de "to".
He ………… me that he was moving to London.
told. "Tell" necesita un objeto de persona directo ("told me"); "say" no lo admite así ("said me" es incorrecto).
El reported speech es protagonista en la Key Word Transformation. Practícala con corrección al instante.
Ver los patrones de Key Word Transformation