9.11 Reported (indirect) speech

When we report what someone said, we often need to make changes in order to maintain the meaning of the message. Most of the changes in English correspond to changes in Spanish, e.g.:

Silvia said, "I saw you yesterday".
(Silvia dijo: "Te vi ayer".)

Some weeks later I might report this as:

Silvia told me that she had seen me the day before.
(Silvia me dijo que me había visto el día anterior.)

A different person might report the same thing as:

Silvia told him that she had seen him the day before.
(Silvia le dijo que le había visto el día anterior.)

As we can see, changes in the pronouns (you → me, him) are paralleled in Spanish (te, me, le) and so is the change in the verb (saw → had seen, vi, había visto).

Notice the following typical correspondences between direct and reported expressions of place and time:

Direct speech		Reported speech
English	*Spanish*	English	*Spanish*
here	aquí	there	allí
today	hoy	that day	aquel día
this morning/ afternoon/evening	este ...	that morning/ afternoon/evening	aquel ...
this week/month	este ...	that week/month	aquel ...
yesterday	ayer	the day before, the previous day	el día antes
two years ago	hace ...	two years before	hacía ...
tomorrow	mañana	the day after, the following day	al día siguiente
in two hours, etc.	de aquí a dos horas, etc.	two hours later	dos horas más tarde

Notice also these typical correspondences for modal verbs:

Direct speech		Reported speech
can		could
will		would
must		must/had to
may		might
shall		should

However, there are two changes in reported speech in English that do not correspond to Spanish.

First, reported questions in English do not have the word order of direct questions. Compare, e.g.:

Direct question		Reported question
English	*Spanish*	English	*Spanish*
Are you English?	¿Eres inglesa?	I asked her if she was English.	Le pregunté si era inglesa.
Where do you live?	¿Dónde vives?	I asked her where she lived.	Le pregunté dónde vivía.
Can you swim?	¿Sabes nadar?	I asked her if she could swim.	Le pregunté si sabía nadar.
What time did you arrive?	¿A qué hora llegaste?	I asked her what time she had arrived.	Le pregunté a qué hora había llegado.

The structure of the reported question is also used in noun clauses.

Second, reported requests and orders have a different sentence structure from Spanish. Compare, e.g.:

Direct request/order		Reported request/order
English	*Spanish*	English	*Spanish*
Eat slowly.	Come despacio.	My mother always tells me to eat slowly.	Mi madre siempre me dice que coma despacio.
John, stand up!	John, ¡levántate!	I told John to stand up.	Le dije a John que se levantase.
Please pass the salt.	Pásame la sal, por favor.	Peter asked me to pass the salt.	Peter me pidió que le pasara la sal.
Everyone must be back by 9.	Todo el mundo debe regresar a las 9.	The officer ordered everyone to come back by 9.	El oficial ordenó que todo el mundo regresase a las 9.

Notice the use of the object pronoun in this structure, e.g.:

Peter asked me to pass him the salt.
(Peter me pidió que le pasase la sal.)

The official told her / him to wait.
(El oficial le dijo que le esperase.)

The official told them to wait.
(El oficial les dijo que esperasen.)

Notice also that in English the reported request is always infinitive and so it does not change for past, present or future time. Also, since it is infinitive, it is negated with not, not don't. The structure is:

	Subject	Verb	Indirect object	(Not)	Infinitive
Past	The policeman	told	us		to wait	outside.
Past	The policeman	told	us	not	to wait	outside.
Present	The policeman	is telling	them		to wait	outside.
	The policeman	is telling	them	not	to wait	outside.
Future	The policeman	will tell	her		to wait	outside.
Future	The policeman	will tell	her	not	to wait	outside.

Here are examples of common reporting verbs and other verbs that have this structure:

	Verb	Object	(Not)	To + infinitive
We	advise	you	not	to be	late.
They	allowed	her		to stay.
My mother	asked	Peter		to help	us.
I	begged	them		to give	me more time.
They	compelled	the prisoners		to stand.
I	dared	him		to repeat	it.
The teacher	encourages	us		to read	novels.
I	expect	you		to be	here on time.
They	forbade	me		to sing.
The officer	forced	us		to undress.
I'll	get	them		to come	back later.
We	helped	my cousins		to pack.
They	instructed	us	not	to delay	our departure.
I'll	invite	Mary		to stay	with us.
We	left	them		to finish	the job.
I'd	like	you		to bring	your friend.
They	obliged	the students		to leave.
The police	ordered	everybody		to move	away.
I'll	persuade	your brother	not	to accept	the offer.
We'd	prefer	them		to pay	in cash.
They	recommend	passengers		to reserve	seats.
I'll	remind	him		to go	to the bank.
We	requested	the children		to return	the ball.
The rules	require	members		to pay	in advance.
Who	taught	you		to drive?
I'll	tell	Peter	not	to come	tomorrow.
I'm	trusting	her		to look	after them.
Mrs Brown	urged	everybody		to have	patience.
I	want	you all		to be	quiet.
They	warned	us	not	to touch	the wires.

Notice that we can use make, let and have in a similar structure but without to, e.g.:

My father made me clean all the shoes.
(Mi padre me obligó a limpiar todos los zapatos.)

We let the children go to bed late on Saturdays.
(Dejamos que los niños se vayan tarde a la cama el sábado.)

I'll have John buy some more paper.
(Haré que John compre más papel.)

Say, tell and ask are often misused. Here are the main uses. Of the three, only say can be used with direct speech, e.g.:

Brian said, "I'm hot".

Brian said, "Stand up!"

Brian said, "Are you hungry?"

As for reports, both say and tell can report statements, say without an indirect object, tell with an indirect object, e.g.:

Brian said that he was hot.

Brian told me that he was hot.

(Not: Brian ~~said me~~ that he was hot.)
(Not: Brian ~~told that~~ he was hot.)

Only tell can report commands, and always with an indirect object, e.g.:

Brian told me to stand up.

(Not: Brian ~~said~~ me to stand up.)

Only ask can report questions, with or without an indirect object, e.g.:

Brian asked (me) if I was hungry.

(Not: Brian ~~said/told~~ (me) if I was hungry.)