Tiempos verbales en el estilo indirecto

Normalmente, en el estilo indirecto usamos el tiempo verbal inmediatamente anterior en el tiempo al verbo empleado en estilo directo:
She said, "I am tired." = She said that she was tired.

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Frase en estilo directo Equivalente en estilo indirecto
Simple present Simple past
"I always drink coffee", she said She said that she always drank coffee.
Present continuous Past continuous
"I am reading a book", he explained. He explained that he was reading a book
Simple past Past perfect
"Bill arrived on Saturday", he said. He said that Bill had arrived on Saturday.
Present perfect Past perfect
"I have been to Spain", he told me. He told me that he had been to Spain.
Past perfect Past perfect
"I had just turned out the light," he explained. He explained that he had just turned out the light.
Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
They complained, "We have been waiting for hours". They complained that they had been waiting for hours.
Past continuous Past perfect continuous
"We were living in Paris", they told me. They told me that they had been living in Paris.
Future Present conditional
"I will be in Geneva on Monday", he said. He said that he would be in Geneva on Monday.
Future continuous Conditional continuous
She said, "I'll be using the car next Friday". She said that she would be using the car next Friday.

No es necesario cambiar el tiempo si el verbo introductorio está en presente o si la afirmación inicial sigue siendo cierta o se aplica siempre, por ejemplo :

  • He says he has missed the train but he'll catch the next one.
  • We explained that it is very difficult to find our house.

Estos verbos modales no cambian en estilo indirecto : might, could, would, should, ought to:

  • We explained, "It could be difficult to find our house." = We explained that it could be difficult to find our house.
  • She said, "I might bring a friend to the party." = She said that she might bring a friend to the party.
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