Discorso diretto ed indiretto in inglese
In questa sezione ci occupiamo di due modi diversi per riferire ciò che dice una persona: il discorso diretto e il discorso indiretto. Cosa sono? Facciamo un esempio. Discorso diretto: “Mamma, sto imparando l’inglese!”, dice Marco.
Discorso indiretto: Marco dice alla mamma che sta imparando l’inglese. E fin qui abbiamo parlato in italiano; cosa succede in inglese?
Nel discorso diretto si citano tra virgolette le parole pronunciate da una persona:
He says: “Mommy, I am learning English.”
Nel discorso indiretto le parole sono riferite, ma non riportate fedelmente.
He says he is learning English.
Discorso indiretto al presente
Se il verbo che introduce la frase riferita è al tempo presente, i tempi dei verbi nel discorso indiretto non subiscono alcuna trasformazione:
| | DISCORSO DIRETTO | DISCORSO INDIRETTO |
| Present | She says: “I speak French”. | She says she speaks French. |
| Present continuous | He says: “I am going to school”. | He says he is going to school. |
| Simple past | She says: “I drank some milk”. | She says she drank some milk. |
| Future present | He says: “I will work with my father”. | He says he will work with his father. |
Discorso indiretto al passato
Quando il verbo che introduce la frase riferita è al tempo passato, nel discorso indiretto cambiano i tempi verbali, gli aggettivi dimostrativi, gli avverbi di tempo e di luogo.
TEMPI VERBALI CHE VARIANO
| DISCORSO DIRETTO | DISCORSO INDIRETTO |
| Present Tom said to Sue: “I have a new pc.” | Past simple Tom said to Sue he had a new pc. |
| Present continuous He said: “I am playing football”. | Past continuous He said he was playing football. |
| Present perfect She said: “James has just left.” | Past perfect She said James had just left. |
| Present perfect continuous Luke said: “I have been talking for hours”. | Past perfect continuous Luke said he had been talking for hours. |
| Past simple He said: “I ate an apple”. | Past perfect He said he had eaten an apple. |
| Future He said: “I will pass this exam”. | Conditional He said he would pass the exam. |
| Future continuous Mary said: “I will be sleeping”. | Present conditional continuous Mary said she would be sleeping. |
| Imperative The policeman said: “Stop your car.” | Infinitive The policeman said to stop my car. |
TEMPI VERBALI CHE NON VARIANO
Nel discorso indiretto alcuni tempi e modi verbali restano invariati, ossia past continuous, il past perfect continuous, past conditional, past perfect, present conditional.
Ecco un esempio:
“I was playing the piano when the phone rang”, said Sam.
Sam said he was playing the piano when the phone rang.
VERBI MODALI
| DISCORSO DIRETTO | DISCORSO INDIRETTO |
| can | could |
| may | might |
| shall | should |
| will | would |
| must | must/had to |
Esempi:
He asked: “Can you come with me?”
He asked if I could come with him.
My boyfriend asked me: “Will you dance with me?”
My boyfriend asked if I would dance with him.
AGGETTIVI DIMOSTRATIVI, AVVERBI DI LUOGO E DI TEMPO
| DISCORSO DIRETTO | DISCORSO INDIRETTO |
| this | that |
| these | those |
| now | then |
| today | that day |
| tonight | that night |
| yesterday | the previous day |
| tomorrow | the following day |
| next week/month/year | the following week/month/year |
| last week/month/year | the last week/month/year |
| here | there |
| this place | that place |
Esempi:
He said: “I am fixing this car.”
He said he was fixing that car.
Verbi introduttivi del discorso indiretto
I verbi più comuni per introdurre il discorso indiretto sono to say e to tell.
Altri verbi sono:
Affermazioni
To add
To announce
To argue
To decide
To explain
To inform
To observe
To point out
To remark
To reply
Domande
To ask
To inquire
To wonder
Risposte
To accept
To agree
To answer
To deny
To disagree
To refuse
Inviti
To invite
To beg chiedere (formale)
To urge sollecitare
Ordini
To order
To instruct
To forbid
To threaten
Suggerimenti
To advise
To dissuade
To encourage
To persuade
To warn
The extra-mile…
In caso di short answers, nel discorso diretto viene utilizzato lo stesso ausiliare della domanda.
Esempi:
Tom said: “Do you like surfing the net?” I said: “Yes, I do.”
He asked me if I liked surfing the net and I answered I did.
Mary said: “Are you going to school?” I said: “Yes, I am.”
She asked if I was going to school and I answered I was.
Esercizio 1 Facile
Trasforma le seguenti frasi in discorso indiretto
1. “I like this car.”
Mark said…
2. “Kate is busy now.”
Her mother said…
3. “I have been speaking German a lot today.”
He told me…
4. “I met Sandy yesterday.”
Mike said…
5. “It will snow tomorrow.”
Tim said…
6. “I watched an interesting movie last week.”
Alex told us…
7. “Sarah will come next week.”
He told me…
8. “ We’ll move into the new house soon.”
My mother said…
9. “John phoned half an hour ago.”
Mark told us…
10. “Your exercise is full of mistakes.”
The teacher told me…
Esercizio 2 Medio
1. “You must be at home by 8pm” said my father.
My father…
2. The doctor said: “You should take a month’s rest.”
The doctor said…
3. Jessica said: “I am sorry, but I can’t be there in time.”
Jessica…
4. Sam told me: “You must do it again.”
Sam…
5. “Are you going to spend the whole night working?” asked my brother.
My brother..
6. “My brother will teach you to speak German” said my girlfriend.
My girlfriend…
7. He said: “May I make a phone call?”
He…
8. My mother said: “Dinner’s ready.”
My mother…
9. “I can’t remember when I went to Pisa” said my old friend.
My old friend…
10. “Kate might know the answer” said Mary.
Mary…