Direkte in indirekte Rede umwandeln

Das Wichtigste in Kürze

Die indirekte Rede wird verwendet, wenn man etwas wiedergibt, was eine andere Person gesagt hat. Wie auf Deutsch gibt es hier ein paar Regeln, z.B. betreffend der Zeitform, die sich in der indirekten Rede verändern kann. In dieser Zusammenfassung erfährst Du das Wichtigste zur indirekten Rede bzw. „reported speech“ oder „indirect speech“ auf Englisch.

Info 1: Direkte in indirekte Rede umwandeln

Wenn man eine Aussage der direkten Rede in die indirekte umwandelt, verwendet man meist ein „berichtendes Verb“ in der Vergangenheit (z.B. „sie sagte“ = „she said“). Aus diesem Grund muss man bei den meisten Zeitformen der direkten Rede eine passende Vergangenheitsform in der indirekten Rede nehmen.

Zeitform/Verbform	Direkte Rede	Indirekte Rede	Veränderung
PRESENT SIMPLE	Nina: „I am thirsty.“	Nina said (that) she was thirsty.	present simple à past simple
PRESENT CONTINUOUS	Joy: „I am eating.“	Joy said (that) she was eating.	present continuous à past continuous
PRESENT PERFECT	Mandy: „I have* been to Europe.“*	Mandy said (that) she had been to Europe.	present perfect à past perfect
PAST SIMPLE	Ralph: „I went* to the cinema.”*	Ralph said (that) he had gone to the cinema.	past simple à past perfect
PAST CONTINUOUS	Mike: „I was cooking* dinner.“*	Mike said (that) he had been cooking dinner.	past continuous à past perfect continuous
PAST PERFECT	Oscar: „I had* already left by then.“*	Oscar said (that) he had already left by then.	past perfect à past perfect
WILL (FUTURE)	Laura: „I will* call you.“*	Laura said (that) she would call me.	will à would
GOING TO (FUTURE)	Joe: „She is going* to marry me.“*	Joe said (that) she was going to marry him.	am/are/is going to à was/were going to

Zeitform/Verbform	Direkte Rede	Indirekte Rede	Veränderung
would (modal)	Maya: „I would* help you, but I’m busy.“*	Maya said (that) she would help me, but she’s busy.”	would à would
can (modal)	Julie: „I can* swim.“*	Julie said (that) she could/was able to swim.	can à could/was able to
could (modal)	Alex: „I could* read when I was five.“*	Alex said (that) he could read when he was five.	could à could
shall (Future)	Amy: „I shall* come later.“*	Amy said (that) she would come later.	shall à would
shall (asking)	Zoe: „Shall* I bring some cake for you, too?“*	Zoe asked if she should bring some cake for me, too.	shall à should
should (modal)	Ian: „I should* eat healthier.“*	Ian said (that) he should eat healthier.	should à should
might (modal)	Nora: „I might* be a little late.“*	Nora said (that) she might be a little late.	might à might
imperative	„Come* here, Max!“*	Max was told to come there.	come à was told to come
yes/no question	Lily: „Do you want* some coffee?“*	Lily asked me if I wanted some coffee.	do you ... à if + (noun clause)

Info 2: Weitere Veränderungen in der indirekten Rede

Neben den Verbformen gibt es noch andere Wörter, die man für die indirekte Rede abändern muss, damit die Aussage dieselbe Bedeutung behält. So zum Beispiel Pronomen, Orts- und Zeitangaben.

Beispiele:

„now“ à at that time; then

„here“ à in New York, Zurich, Paris…; there

„today“ à on May 2^nd, June 15^th; that day

„yesterday“ à the day before; the previous day

„tomorrow“ à a day later; the next day; the following day

„in two days“ à two days later; two days from then

„next week“ à a week later; the next week; the following week

„three days ago“ à three days earlier; three days previously; three days before

„last year“ à the preceding year; the previous year; the year before