Le discours rapporté

1. a)She found it stuck on the fridge door (« A note was stuck on the fridge door »). Her mother asked her to warm up the soup and reminded her not to forget to feed the cat. (1)
2. b)Noor had told her that there was a concert in the town hall that night and had asked her whether she could come ; Leila had answered that she would let her know. (1)
3. c)She understood that her mother's note was an indirect way of telling her to stay at home : « a quiet evening » meant that going out was not an option, and asking for permission would once again be postponed. (1)
4. d)It means « we will talk about it later », a polite way of putting the question off without saying no. It shows that the mother avoids refusing openly : she postpones the discussion instead of giving a clear answer. (1)

Repère — Un texte narratif au passé rapporte presque toujours les paroles au discours indirect : repérer « had written that », « asked her to », « reminded her not to » suffit à retrouver ce qui a été réellement dit.

1. a)Tom said (that) he was waiting for his brother there. (am waiting → was waiting ; I → he ; my → his ; here → there) (1)
2. b)They said (that) they had seen that film the week before. (saw → had seen ; we → they ; last week → the week before / the previous week) (1)
3. c)Anna told me (that) she would send me the photos the next day. (will → would ; you → me ; tomorrow → the next day / the following day ; « said to me » peut devenir « told me ») (1)
4. d)He said (that) he had never been to Scotland. (have never been → had never been ; I → he) (1)

Erreur fréquente — Oublier le troisième changement : le temps et les pronoms sont corrigés, mais « here » et « tomorrow » restent tels quels.

1. a)The officer asked me where I came from. (do disparaît, ordre affirmatif, point final) (1)
2. b)She asked him if / whether he had finished his project. (question fermée ; have finished → had finished ; your → his) (1)
3. c)My father asked (me) why I had not answered his call. (didn't answer → had not answered ; my → his) (1)
4. d)They asked her whether she was coming with them or not. (devant « or not », seul whether est possible ; us → them) (1)

Le point clé — Une question rapportée n'est plus une question : plus d'inversion sujet-auxiliaire, plus de do / does / did, et un point à la place du point d'interrogation.

1. a)The inspector asked the passenger to show him his ticket. (ask somebody to + base verbale ; me → him ; your → his) (1)
2. b)The teacher warned us not to use our phones during the test. (warn somebody not to + base verbale ; your → our) (1)
3. c)My sister advised me to revise my irregular verbs. (advise somebody to + base verbale ; your → my) (1)
4. d)Paul suggested taking the bus. (ou : Paul suggested that we should take the bus.) ✗ Paul suggested us to take the bus. (1)

Attention — Tous les verbes introducteurs n'ont pas la même construction : tell, ask, advise, warn et remind prennent « somebody + to », mais suggest prend V-ing et explain prend « to somebody ».

1. a)Attendus : trois phrases de cadrage au prétérit, avec un lieu, un moment et deux personnages identifiés, sans discours direct. (1)
2. b)Attendus : trois paroles au minimum rapportées avec la concordance correcte (présent → prétérit, will → would), pronoms et repères adaptés, et une question rapportée à l'ordre affirmatif, sans do et sans point d'interrogation. (1)
3. c)Attendus : deux introducteurs variés au moins, correctement construits (explained that, admitted + V-ing, promised to, suggested + V-ing, warned somebody not to). (1)
4. d)Attendus : une phrase finale avec verbe + complément + to + base verbale. Proposition rédigée (138 mots) : « Last Saturday, my cousin Julia came to see me in my room. She looked worried and sat down on the bed without saying a word. Finally, she explained that she had failed her driving test for the second time. I asked her whether she had told her parents, and she admitted that she had not. She said she was afraid they would be disappointed. I suggested talking to her mother that same evening. Julia promised that she would try, but she warned me not to say anything before she did. Then she asked me if I could help her revise the Highway Code the following week. Before she left, I advised her to take a few lessons with another instructor. She smiled and told me not to worry : she said she would pass the next time. » (1)

À retenir — Un récit noté au lycée gagne des points dès que les introducteurs varient : explained, admitted, promised et warned racontent l'intention du locuteur, ce que said ne fait jamais.