Hablaremos en esta oportunidad de una estructura gramatical muy utilizada en el idioma inglés que se emplea cuando queremos contar o hacer referencia sobre algo que otra persona a dicho con anticipación.
Este recurso recibe el nombre de Reported Speech (Lenguaje Indirecto) y veremos a continuación un ejemplo:
«Yo voy a la escuela todos los días», dijo Alicia.
Alice said that she went to school everyday.(Lenguaje Indirecto)
Alicia dijo que ella fue a la escuela todos los días.
Para poder convertir una oración de Lenguaje Directo a Indirecto podemos introducir la frase utilizando diferentes verbos como por ejemplo: answer (responder), suggest (sugerir), explain (explicar), say (decir),tell (contar), promise (prometer).
También debemos tener en cuenta que si la oración en Lenguaje Directo se encuentra en Presente Simple, al pasarla a Lenguaje Indirecto no es necesario cambiar el tiempo verbal. En otros casos, al convertir una oración a Reported Speech el verbo principal retrocede un tiempo verbal como muestra el siguiente cuadro:
| Lenguaje Directo | Lenguaje Indirecto |
| Presente Simple I go to the school |
Presente Simple / Pasado Simple He said that he goes to the school He said that he went to the school |
| Presente Continuo I am going to the school |
Pasado Continuo He said that he was going to the school |
| Pasado Simple I went to the school |
Pasado Perfecto He said that he had gone to the school |
| Presente Perfecto I have gone to the school |
Pasado Perfecto He said that he has gone to the school |
| Presente Perfecto Continuo I have been going to the school |
Pasado Perfecto Continuo He said that he had been going to the school |
| Futuro Simple I will go to the school |
Condicional Simple He said that he would go to the school |
| Futuro Perfecto I will have gone to the school |
Condicional Perfecto He said that he would have gone to the school |
| Lenguaje Directo | Lenguaje Indirecto |
| CAN I can study the lesson |
COULD He said that he could study the lesson |
| MAY I may study the lesson |
MIGHT He said that he might study the lesson |
| WILL I will study the lesson |
WOULD He said that he would study the lesson |
| MUST I must study the lesson |
HAD TO He said that he had to study the lesson |
| Lenguaje Directo | Lenguaje Indirecto |
| now | at that moment / then |
| today | that day |
| last night | the night before |
| tonight | that night |
| this afternoon | that afternoon |
| this month | that month |
| next week | the following week |
| here | there |
| next year | the year after |