reported speech On emploie le
discours indirect (
reported speech) pour dire ce que quelqu'un a dit. Il y a deux façons de faire cela:
- Vous pouvez répéter les mots (discours direct): He said: "I'm watching TV" (Il a dit: "Je regarde la télé").
- Ou vous pouvez employer le discours indirect: He said (that) he was watching TV (Il a dit qu'il regardait la télé).
Le mot
that est entre parenthèses parce qu'il n'est pas obligatoire.
En général, lorsque nous employons le
discours indirect, nous parlons du passé. D'ordinaire donc nous mettons le verbe (ou auxiliaire) au
prétérit.
Exemples:Discours directDiscours indirect
| "Mary is happy." | He said (that) Mary was happy. |
| "I want to buy a new computer, but I don't know which one to buy." | He said (that) he wanted to buy a new computer but didn't know which one to buy. |
| "I am going to buy a car." | He said (that) he was going to buy a car. |
| "It is cold in here; I will close the window." | He said (that) it was cold; he would close the window.
Note: would est le prétérit de will. |
| "I have lost my watch." | He said (that) he had lost his watch. |
La plupart des modaux (
could, might, must, ought, should, would) restent inchangés dans le
discours indirect. En revanche,
can devient
could et
may devient
might.
En général, le
prétérit simple (
I did) reste inchangé dans le
discours indirect, mais vous pouvez le changer au
past perfect (
I had done):
Discours directDiscours indirect
| I didn't go to school on Thursday because there was a train strike. | He said he hadn't gone (ou didn't go) to school on Thursday because there had been (ou was) a train strike. |
Parfois, on ne modifie pas le verbe lorsqu'on emploie le
discours indirect. Si ce que vous rapportez est toujours vrai, vous n'êtes pas obligé de changer le temps du verbe:
Discours directDiscours indirect
| "Diamonds are more expensive than pearls." | He said (that) diamonds are (ou were) more expensive than pearls. |
| "Computers have gone down in price." | He said (that) computers have (ou had) gone down in price. |
Dans ces deux exemples on peut mettre le verbe au
prétérit (ou
past perfect) ou le laisser comme il est.
Mais on est obligé d'employer le
prétérit lorsqu'on n'est pas d'accord avec ce que on rapporte (si on estime qu'il est faux).
Discours directDiscours indirect
| "France is bigger than Canada." | He said (that) France was bigger than Canada. |
| "Ireland have never beaten England at rugby." | He said (that) Ireland had never beaten England at rugby. |
Say et tellAprès
say on n'est pas obligé d'employer un complément d'object indirect (COI); après
tell on est obligé d'en employer un. Donc, si vous mentionnez avec qui vous parlez, employez le verbe
tell comme ceci:
- Correct: He told me [COI] (that) he didn't know the answer.
- Incorrect: *He said me he didn't know the answer.
Sinon, employez
say:
- Correct: He said (that) he didn't know the answer.
- Incorrect: *He told he didn't know the answer.
Si on emploie
say avec un
COI, on est obligé d'employer la préposition
to, mais cela est rare. Voici un exemple:
- Correct: He said to me that he didn't know the answer.
A la différence de
say (ou
said), après
tell (ou
told) on peut avoir différentes structures:
COI + mot en WH:
what, who, when, where, why, how | He told me what he wanted. |
| COI + infinitif | He told me to go home. |
| COI + mot en WH + infinitif | He told me where to go. |
| COI + groupe nominal | He told me the truth. |
On emploie
l'infinitif dans le
discours indirect, surtout avec
tell et
ask (pour des ordres et des requêtes):
Discours directDiscours indirect
| My boss said: "Finish that project by Friday." (ordre) | The boss told me to finish the project by Friday. |
| She said: "Please be quiet while the baby is asleep." (requête) | She asked me to be quiet while the baby was asleep. |
| He said: "Can you pass me the salt?" (requête) | He asked me to pass the salt. |
On peut aussi employer
said avec
l'infinitif:
- The boss said to finish the work by Friday.
