Día 267 · Estilo indirecto: repaso y backshift a fondo

⏱️ Duración total: ~3 h 15 min — Clase 60 min · Ejercicios 60 min · Reto 60 min · Quiz ~15 min. Puedes dividirlo en varias sesiones el mismo día.

🎯 Objetivo del día

Al terminar dominarás el backshift (retroceso de tiempos) del estilo indirecto en B2.
Sabrás cuándo el backshift es obligatorio, opcional y cuándo no se aplica.
Cambiarás correctamente pronombres, posesivos y referencias de lugar y tiempo.
Reportarás afirmaciones complejas con said / told / explained / admitted.
Evitarás los errores típicos del hispanohablante con say/tell y orden de palabras.

📖 Clase (60 min)

Introducción y contexto

Bienvenido a la Semana 39. En la Fase 3 viste una introducción al estilo indirecto (reported speech) con say y tell. Ahora, en pleno B2, vamos a consolidarlo y profundizarlo: esta semana cubrirás afirmaciones, preguntas reportadas, órdenes y peticiones reportadas, y verbos introductorios avanzados (reporting verbs). El estilo indirecto es una de las estructuras que más separa a un hablante intermedio de uno avanzado, porque aparece constantemente en periodismo, entrevistas, informes y conversación cuando contamos lo que alguien dijo.

El corazón técnico del estilo indirecto es el backshift: cuando el verbo introductorio está en pasado (she said, he told me), el verbo de lo reportado normalmente "retrocede" un tiempo hacia el pasado. Hoy nos concentramos en eso, con todos sus matices, porque si el backshift te falla, todo lo demás de la semana se tambalea. La buena noticia: el español hace algo parecido ("Dijo que venía" en lugar de "Dijo que viene"), así que la lógica te resultará familiar; lo que cambia son las formas concretas y algunas reglas de excepción.

Explicación detallada (regla por regla)

Regla 1 — La estructura básica. Estilo directo: She said, "I am tired." → Estilo indirecto: She said (that) she was tired. Quitamos las comillas, añadimos opcionalmente that, y aplicamos backshift al verbo.

Regla 2 — El backshift de tiempos verbales. Cuando el reporting verb está en pasado, cada tiempo retrocede uno:

Present simple → Past simple: "I work here." → He said he worked there.
Present continuous → Past continuous: "I'm working." → She said she was working.
Present perfect → Past perfect: "I have finished." → He said he had finished.
Past simple → Past perfect: "I saw it." → She said she had seen it.
will → would: "I will help." → He said he would help.
can → could: "I can swim." → She said she could swim.
must → had to: "I must go." → He said he had to go.
am/is/are going to → was/were going to: "I'm going to call." → She said she was going to call.

Regla 3 — Tiempos que NO retroceden. El past perfect y would/could/should/might ya están "atrás": no se mueven. "I had eaten." → He said he had eaten (igual).

Regla 4 — Backshift OPCIONAL: verdades generales y situaciones aún vigentes. Si lo que se dijo sigue siendo verdad, puedes mantener el presente: "The Earth is round." → She said the Earth is (o was) round. "I live in Madrid." (y aún vive ahí) → He said he lives / lived in Madrid. Ambas son correctas; mantener el presente enfatiza que sigue vigente.

Regla 5 — Cambios de pronombres y posesivos. Cambian según quién reporta a quién: "I love my job." → She said she loved her job.

Regla 6 — Cambios de referencias de tiempo y lugar:

now → then / at that time
today → that day
tomorrow → the next day / the following day
yesterday → the day before / the previous day
next week → the following week
last week → the week before
this → that; these → those
here → there; ago → before

Regla 7 — say vs. tell. tell SIEMPRE lleva un objeto de persona: tell me/him/us. say NO lo lleva (o lleva to): say (that)... / say to me...

✗ He said me that... → ✓ He told me that... / He said that...
✗ She told that she was busy. → ✓ She told me that she was busy.

Vocabulario clave

English	Pronunciación aprox.	Español
reported speech	ripórted spích	estilo indirecto
direct speech	dairéct spích	estilo directo
to report	tu ripórt	informar / reportar
to backshift	tu bákshift	retroceder el tiempo verbal
to claim	tu cléim	afirmar / sostener
to admit	tu admít	admitir
to explain	tu expléin	explicar
to mention	tu ménshon	mencionar
to add	tu ad	añadir
to point out	tu póint áut	señalar / hacer notar
to state	tu stéit	declarar / afirmar
to insist	tu insíst	insistir
to deny	tu denái	negar
statement	stéitment	declaración / afirmación
the following day	de fóloing déi	el día siguiente
the previous week	de príviəs uík	la semana anterior

Gramática a fondo

Estilo directo	Reporting verb	Estilo indirecto
"I am late."	He said	He said he was late.
"I work here."	She told me	She told me she worked there.
"I have seen it."	They said	They said they had seen it.
"I saw him."	He said	He said he had seen him.
"I will call."	She said	She said she would call.
"I can come."	He told us	He told us he could come.
"I must leave."	She said	She said she had to leave.
"Water boils at 100°."	He said	He said water boils/boiled at 100°.

Resumen práctico: reporting verb en presente (he says) → no hay backshift: He says he is tired. Reporting verb en pasado (he said) → backshift (salvo excepciones de las Reglas 3 y 4).

Pronunciación y notas de uso

said /sed/ — se pronuncia "sed", NO "séid".
told /toʊld/ — la o es diafónica /oʊ/.
admit /ədˈmɪt/ — acento en la segunda sílaba.
deny /dɪˈnaɪ/ — acento en la segunda sílaba, rima con "buy".
En conversación, that suele omitirse tras verbos comunes: He said (that) he was busy.

Errores comunes del hispanohablante

✗ He said me that he was tired. → ✓ He told me that he was tired. / He said that he was tired.
✗ She told that she would come. → ✓ She told me that she would come.
✗ He said that he is tired (cuando ya no aplica) → ✓ He said that he was tired.
✗ They said me they had finished. → ✓ They told me / They said they had finished.
✗ She said me yes. → ✓ She told me yes / She said yes.
✗ Olvidar cambiar tomorrow → ✓ the next day (en contexto pasado).

Mini-diálogo de ejemplo

A: What did Sara tell you on the phone? (¿Qué te dijo Sara por teléfono?) B: She said (that) she was exhausted and that she had had a terrible week. (Dijo que estaba agotada y que había tenido una semana terrible.) A: Did she mention the meeting? (¿Mencionó la reunión?) B: Yes, she told me she couldn't come and that she would call the next day. (Sí, me dijo que no podía venir y que llamaría al día siguiente.) A: She also admitted she had forgotten to send the report. (También admitió que había olvidado enviar el informe.) B: Typical. She always says she is too busy. (Típico. Siempre dice que está demasiado ocupada.)

✍️ Ejercicios (60 min)

Bloque 1 — Aplica el backshift (10 min)

Pon en estilo indirecto con He said...:

"I am happy."
"I work in a bank."
"I have lost my keys."
"I saw the film."
"I will travel to Rome."
"I can speak French."
"I must finish today."

Bloque 2 — say o tell (8 min)

Completa con la forma correcta:

She ___ me that she was tired.
He ___ that the shop was closed.
They ___ us a long story.
I ___ goodbye and left.
Please ___ me the truth.
He ___ that he would help.

Bloque 3 — Cambia las referencias de tiempo/lugar (8 min)

Reescribe en estilo indirecto (contexto: lo dijo last Monday):

"I will see you tomorrow."
"I bought this yesterday."
"I'm leaving now."
"I'll come here next week."

Bloque 4 — Corrige los errores (10 min)

He said me that he was busy.
She told that she had finished.
They said us they would call.
He said that he is tired (it's no longer true).
She told to me a secret.

Bloque 5 — Traducción Español → Inglés (12 min)

Dijo (él) que estaba cansado.
Me dijo que llamaría al día siguiente.
Admitió que había olvidado el informe.
Dijeron que no podían venir.
Ella explicó que vivía en Londres.
Mencionó que había visto la película.

Bloque 6 — Traducción Inglés → Español (6 min)

He said he had had a terrible week.
She told me she was going to call.
They claimed they had not seen anything.

Bloque 7 — Producción escrita (6 min)

Piensa en una conversación real reciente y reporta 6 frases que alguien te dijo, usando backshift y al menos 3 verbos distintos (said, told me, explained, admitted, mentioned).

Ver soluciones

B1: 1. He said he was happy. 2. He said he worked in a bank. 3. He said he had lost his keys. 4. He said he had seen the film. 5. He said he would travel to Rome. 6. He said he could speak French. 7. He said he had to finish that day. B2: 1. told · 2. said · 3. told · 4. said · 5. tell · 6. said B3: 1. He said he would see me the next day. 2. He said he had bought that the day before. 3. He said he was leaving then. 4. He said he would come there the following week. B4: 1. He told me that he was busy. / He said that he was busy. 2. She told me that she had finished. / She said that she had finished. 3. They told us they would call. / They said they would call. 4. He said that he was tired. 5. She told me a secret. / She told a secret to me. B5: 1. He said (that) he was tired. 2. He/She told me (that) he/she would call the next day. 3. He/She admitted (that) he/she had forgotten the report. 4. They said (that) they couldn't come. 5. She explained (that) she lived in London. 6. He/She mentioned (that) he/she had seen the film. B6: 1. Dijo que había tenido una semana terrible. 2. Me dijo que iba a llamar. 3. Afirmaron que no habían visto nada. B7: Respuesta libre.

🚀 Reto del día (60 min)

"The phone call report" — reportar una conversación real.

Piensa o inventa una llamada telefónica de 8–10 intercambios entre dos personas. (10 min)
Escríbela primero en estilo directo con comillas. (15 min)
Conviértela a un párrafo en estilo indirecto aplicando backshift, cambios de pronombres y de referencias de tiempo/lugar, usando al menos 4 reporting verbs distintos. (20 min)
Grábate leyendo el párrafo reportado con buena entonación (1–2 min). (10 min)
Autoevalúa con la rúbrica. (5 min)

Rúbrica (0–10):

Backshift correcto en todos los tiempos: 0–3
say/tell usados correctamente: 0–2
Cambios de pronombres/posesivos correctos: 0–2
Referencias de tiempo/lugar bien adaptadas: 0–2
Fluidez y pronunciación de said/told: 0–1

✅ Quiz (~15 min)

Pon en indirecto: "I am tired." (He said...)
¿A qué tiempo cambia el present perfect con backshift?
¿Cambia would con backshift?
Corrige: He said me that he was busy.
"I must go." → He said he ___ go.
¿Cuándo es opcional el backshift?
tomorrow → ? (en contexto pasado)
Corrige: She told that she had finished.
"I can swim." → He said he ___ swim.
Traduce: Dijo que había visto la película.

Ver respuestas

He said (that) he was tired. 2. Al past perfect (had + participio). 3. No, would no cambia. 4. He told me that he was busy. / He said that he was busy. 5. had to. 6. Cuando lo dicho sigue siendo verdad o es una verdad general (también si el reporting verb está en presente). 7. the next day / the following day. 8. She told me that she had finished. / She said that she had finished. 9. could. 10. He/She said (that) he/she had seen the film.

📚 Recursos

British Council — Reported speech: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org
BBC Learning English — Reported speech: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish
Cambridge Grammar — Reported speech: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar

⏭️ Siguiente

Mañana: preguntas reportadas (reported questions) — cómo contar lo que alguien preguntó cambiando el orden de palabras y usando if/whether.

Quiz

Q "I work here." → He said he ___ there.
* worked
- works
- has worked
Q ¿A qué tiempo retrocede el present perfect con backshift?
* Past perfect
- Past simple
- Present perfect continuous
Q ¿Cuál es correcta?
* He told me that he was busy.
- He said me that he was busy.
- He told that he was busy.
Q "I must go." → He said he ___ go.
* had to
- must
- musted