¡Welcome back! La parte más tricky del Indirect Speech es saber cuándo y cómo cambiar el tiempo verbal (conocido como Backshift) y los pronombres.
1. ⏪ Backshift (El Retroceso de Tense)
Si el Reporting Verb (ej: said) está en Pasado, el tiempo verbal del mensaje original retrocede un paso en el tiempo.
| Direct Speech (Original) | Indirect Speech (Reported) | Example Spanglish |
| Present Simple | Past Simple | Direct: She wears a coat. $\rightarrow$ Indirect: He said she wore a coat. |
| Present Continuous | Past Continuous | Direct: I ‘m looking for keys. $\rightarrow$ Indirect: She said she was looking for keys. |
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect | Direct: She has written letters. $\rightarrow$ Indirect: He said she had written letters. |
| Past Simple | Past Perfect | Direct: My friend gave me chocolate. $\rightarrow$ Indirect: He said his friend had given him chocolate. |
| Future (will) | Conditional (would) | Direct: I will finish my report. $\rightarrow$ Indirect: He said he would finish his report. |
| Can / May | Could / Might | Direct: I can speak English. $\rightarrow$ Indirect: She said she could speak English. |
| Must / Have to | Had to | Direct: I must go to the bank. $\rightarrow$ Indirect: She said she had to go to the bank. |
Ojo: El Past Perfect y los modales Could, Might, Should generalmente NO cambian.
Excepciones Importantes (¡No Hagas Backshift!):
- Verdades Universales/Hábitos: Si el mensaje es una verdad general o un hábito que sigue siendo cierto, no cambies el tense.
- Direct: He said, “I watch TV series every night.”
- Indirect: He said that he watches TV series every night.
- Mensajes que Siguen Siendo Futuros/Válidos:
- Direct: He said, “I will be watching a new TV series.”
- Indirect: He said that he will be watching a new TV series.
2. 🚻 Cambio de Pronouns (¡La Coherencia!)
Debes cambiar los pronombres para que el mensaje tenga sentido para el oyente.
- Direct: Wendy says, “Ron, you should take care of yourself.”
- Indirect: Wendy told Ron that he should take care of himself.
3. ❓ Reportando Preguntas
Las reglas cambian ligeramente:
| Tipo de Pregunta | Conector a Usar | Reordenamiento |
| Yes/No Questions | Usar IF (o whether) | La oración se vuelve afirmativa (subject + verb). |
| Wh- Questions (What, Where, Who…) | Usar la palabra WH- | La oración se vuelve afirmativa. |
- Example 1 (Yes/No):
- Direct: She asks, “Do you want to go?”
- Indirect: She asks me if I wanted to go.
- Example 2 (Wh-):
- Direct: I asked, “Ms. Thompson, where are you going?”
- Indirect: I asked Ms. Thompson where she was going. (¡No lleva signo de interrogación!)
¡Awesome! Con estas conversiones, puedes manejar casi cualquier diálogo reportado. En el final post, veremos las reglas para imperativos y un summary de los reporting verbs.