Reported speech: what people said · Qué dijo cada quien

1. Arranque: tres cambios simultáneos

Ana said: "I am in the lab now." Two minutes later you tell Luis: reported speech moves somebody else’s words into your sentence, and the verb steps one tense back. The interview notes of the lab case record four testimonies given on 25 September about events on 22 September. Your sentence has to change three things at once: the verb, the pronoun and the time word. En español hacemos algo parecido pero sin mover el tiempo verbal: "Ana dijo que está en el laboratorio". El inglés sí lo mueve, y por eso este tema se cae en el examen: no es una palabra nueva, es una operación de tres ejes. Check a report with three shifts at once: tense, pronoun and time word.

Las dos filas que no se mueven son las que más confunden y las que menos errores dan: present becomes past, past becomes past perfect, and will becomes would when the report is in the past. Y reported past perfect uses the same irregular participles again: had been, had gone, had written. Nota además la cuarta fila: un pasado simple en boca de alguien se convierte en past perfect, no se queda quieto.

Los pronombres hacen lo mismo que los marcadores: se mueven al punto de vista de quien reporta. Pronouns and possessives change to match who is talking, and that shift is not optional. "My brother saw me" dicho por Ana y reportado por ti se vuelve "her brother had seen her". Si el pronombre no cambia, la frase atribuye la acción a la persona equivocada.

4. Say contra tell: una diferencia de estructura

No es un sinónimo perfecto: say takes no personal object and tell always does, so she said to me is wrong and she told me is right. Dicho de otro modo, tell necesita una persona después y say no admite una persona sin la preposición a un objeto directo de frase.

Hay un segundo detalle que se olvida: cuando la persona va antes, el that es opcional; cuando va después de say to, el that suele necesitarse. A good report gives the testimony, the verb of reporting and the time shift, and never mixes two versions. Y en la práctica periodística, in real news texts about half of the reported clauses use say or tell and the rest use specific verbs.

5. Preguntas reportadas: sin signo y sin do

Una pregunta reportada deja de ser pregunta en su forma. A reported question loses the question mark and keeps statement word order, with no do or did. Compara: "Where were you at 6:40?" becomes "The teacher asked Luis where he had been at 6:40." Note que el verbo va después del sujeto y que no hay did.

Una trampa de orden: yes and no questions are reported with if or whether, and wh questions keep their question word. Por eso "she asked where was I" es incorrecto aunque la pregunta original lo fuera: en el reporte la oración se afirma, no se pregunta.

6. Órdenes, consejos y promesas

Las órdenes no usan that: usan un infinitivo. Commands are reported with told somebody to or asked somebody not to, never with that clauses. Y el negativo pone not antes del to, no después.

El verbo suggest trae la caída más frecuente: reporting verbs carry attitude: admitted, denied, promised, warned, suggested, and each has its own pattern. No digas "she suggested me to go", di "she suggested going" o "she suggested that I go".

7. Cuándo no se retrocede: el hecho todavía verdadero

La regla del retroceso tiene una excepción legítima y útil. When the reported fact is still true now, English allows the tense to stay where it is. Si hoy sigue siendo cierto, puedes dejar el presente, y en noticias es habitual porque el dato sigue vivo.

Pero ojo con el cuarto renglón: when the reported fact is still true now, English allows the tense to stay where it is no autoriza a dejar el verbo en presente cuando la situación ya cambió. Si Luis ya devolvió la llave, "he said he has two keys" traiciona el dato, y en un reporte eso vale cero. Check a report with three shifts at once: tense, pronoun and time word.

8. Simulación: conversor de directo a indirecto

Simulación con los cuatro testimonios del caso. The interview notes of the lab case record four testimonies given on 25 September about events on 22 September. Cada renglón muestra el dicho original, el reporte completo y las tres operaciones aplicadas.

Cada renglón tiene tres o cuatro movimientos y todos son obligatorios en el mismo renglón. Check a report with three shifts at once: tense, pronoun and time word. Si un reporte conserva tomorrow dentro de un past tense, el lector calcula mal la coartada.

Fíjate en el renglón sexto: had had. A good report gives the testimony, the verb of reporting and the time shift, and never mixes two versions. No es un error de dedo: es el retroceso correcto de "I had a key", porque un past simple de posesión se convierte en past perfect, y el auxiliar coincide con el verbo. Reported past perfect uses the same irregular participles again: had been, had gone, had written.

El tercero de la lista es el que delata la traducción directa del español, porque en español "dijo que está aquí hoy" suena perfecto. The typical error is to keep the original time word, so she said that she is here today stays broken. Corrige con la regla de los tres ejes: verbo, pronombre y marcador.

11. Práctica guiada: el reporte resuelto

Se escribe un reporte de entrevista de noventa a ciento veinte palabras, con la plantilla de cinco golpes. A report paragraph needs two say clauses, one tell clause, one question and one order. Paso 1, pregunta reportada: "Rocío asked Ana where she had been on the evening of 22 September." Paso 2, respuesta con dos retrocesos: "Ana answered that she had been at the shop with her uncle and that she had returned the key in 2023." Paso 3, orden o consejo con verbo específico: "The technician told us not to open the window." Paso 4, una negación: "Luis denied being near the lab at 6:40." Paso 5, cierre pasivo: "No conclusion was drawn until the other testimonies had been taken."

12. Actividad interactiva: relevo de testimonios

Actividad hablada en cadena, con cinco personas y sin libreta. La primera dice una frase en directo sobre un hecho real de la escuela. Cada siguiente reporta la anterior y añade un dato. El último reporta toda la cadena. In conversation you report with two moves: the claim and your own doubt about it.

15. Práctica independiente

Entrega un reporte escrito de una entrevista real y su versión oral. The classroom goal is to report a classmate accurately without inventing or softening what they said.

16. Resumen del objeto

reported speech moves somebody else’s words into your sentence, and the verb steps one tense back. Present becomes past, past becomes past perfect, and will becomes would when the report is in the past. Reported past perfect uses the same irregular participles again: had been, had gone, had written. Pronouns and possessives change to match who is talking, and that shift is not optional. Time and place words travel with the tense: today becomes that day, here becomes there, this becomes that. say takes no personal object and tell always does, so she said to me is wrong and she told me is right. A reported question loses the question mark and keeps statement word order, with no do or did. Yes and no questions are reported with if or whether, and wh questions keep their question word. Commands are reported with told somebody to or asked somebody not to, never with that clauses. Reporting verbs carry attitude: admitted, denied, promised, warned, suggested, and each has its own pattern. When the reported fact is still true now, English allows the tense to stay where it is. the interview notes of the lab case record four testimonies given on 25 September about events on 22 September. A good report gives the testimony, the verb of reporting and the time shift, and never mixes two versions. The typical error is to keep the original time word, so she said that she is here today stays broken. In conversation you report with two moves: the claim and your own doubt about it. A report paragraph needs two say clauses, one tell clause, one question and one order. Check a report with three shifts at once: tense, pronoun and time word.

19. Fuentes y continuidad

Objeto construido sobre el programa analítico de Lengua Adicional. Inglés III (SEP/DGB, semestre 3) con referencia al MCCEMS y al nivel A2+ a B1 del Marco Común Europeo. La transcripción, los testimonios del caso y las oraciones de ejemplo fueron escritos para este objeto y no provienen de materiales con derechos de autor; el conteo de verbos de reporte es una convención didáctica medida sobre los textos de este objeto. El programa de semestre 3 pide transmitir información de terceros con_shift de tiempos y verbos de reporte.