Reported Speech (Preguntas)
Cuándo lo usamos
Para contar preguntas de otras personas sin comillas, transformando la pregunta directa en una pregunta indirecta natural. Yes/No → ask + if / whether + orden de enunciado; Wh‑questions → ask + wh‑word + orden de enunciado.
Cómo se forma
| Tipo Directa |
Indirecta (reported) |
| Yes/No: “Do you like tea?” | She asked if / whether I liked tea. |
| Wh: “Where were you yesterday?” | She asked where I had been the day before. |
Yes/No: ask + if / whether + Sujeto + Verbo (orden de enunciado).
Wh: ask + wh‑word + Sujeto + Verbo (orden de enunciado).
Sin do/does/did, sin inversión, sin signo de interrogación.
“Do you like coffee?” → She asked if I liked coffee.
¿Te gusta el café? → Preguntó si me gustaba el café.
Notas
-
Orden de palabras: como enunciado (Sujeto + Verbo), sin inversión.
He asked where I was.
- Puntuación: no se usa signo de interrogación al final; se usa punto.
- Conectores: if / whether (Yes/No); mantener who / what / where / when / why / how para Wh.
-
Backshift (cambio de tiempo): con verbo de reporte en pasado (asked/said/told) el tiempo suele retroceder.
Present Simple → Past Simple “Do you work here?” → He asked if I worked there. Present Continuous → Past Continuous “Are you waiting?” → He asked if I was waiting. Present Perfect → Past Perfect “Have you finished?” → She asked if I had finished. Past Simple → Past Perfect (frecuente) “Did you call?” → She asked if I had called. Will → Would “Will he come?” → They asked if he would come. Can / May → Could / Might “Can you help?” → She asked if I could help. -
Marcadores de tiempo/lugar:
today → that day now → then yesterday → the day before tomorrow → the next / following day last week → the previous week next week → the following week here → there this/these → that/those -
say / tell / ask:
- ask + objeto: She asked me where I lived.
- tell + objeto: He told us that…
- say sin objeto o con to + objeto: He said (to me) that…
Errores comunes
❌ He said me that he was busy.
✅ He told me (that) he was busy. / He said to me that…
❌ She asked me do I like tea?
✅ She asked me if I liked tea.
❌ What was the time — inversión.
✅ what the time was — orden de enunciado.
❌ Signo de interrogación al final: … if I liked tea?
✅ Punto: … if I liked tea.
Más ejemplos
“What are you doing now?”
He asked what I was doing then.
“How long have you worked here?”
The interviewer asked how long I had worked there.
“Why did you call yesterday?”
She asked why I had called the day before.
“Who is responsible for the task?”
The director asked who was responsible for the task.
Yes/No → if / whether
Wh → wh‑word + orden de enunciado
Sin do/does/did ni “?”
Backshift + marcadores de tiempo/lugar