Quesitions with quotes? ¿Es correcto?

Question

I want to put what this character said in quotes.. So I must change everything she said into the imperfect, correct?

Ejemplo...

Del texto...

No sabía llegar, así que ordené una pizza y seguí al muchacho.

Ella dijo, "No sabía llegar, así que ordenaba una pizza y seguía al muchacho."

¿Es correcto?

Gracias para tu ayuda.

Answer 1

No sabía llegar, así que ordené una pizza y seguí al muchacho.

Ok, so this is what the person said?

if this is what she said, it does not change if you quote it.

Ella dijo: "No sabía llegar, así que ordené una pizza y seguí al muchacho."

Now, you might have misunderstood the instructions.

Can you write them out here?

Answer 2

Sorry, I misunderstood the instructions... if you are just mentioning what they said without quotes you put in the the preterite, or imperfect?

Answer 3

if you are just mentioning what they said without quotes you put in the the preterite, or imperfect?

The sentence you have quoted ...I have written it out for you above.

Ella dijo que no sabía llegar, así que ordenó una pizza y siguió al muchacho.

The tense depends on which tense was used in direct speech- here we would use past simple.

Answer 4

If you are directly quoting her exact words you would use whatever tense that she used when she said it. You do not change the speech in a direct quote.

Cita directa o textual: Usar las palabras de otro autor sin hacer ningún cambio al texto original

Gracias por....

Answer 5

Does anyone else know?

Answer 6

HI aaron, hmmm, I don't quite get your question.

The sentence in black is direct speech...so you want to put it into indirect speech?

YOu don't need quotes then.

Ella dijo que No sabía llegar, así que ordenó una pizza y siguió al muchacho.

I want to put it into quotes for a formal paper... my professor told me that the verbs change into the impferct when you do this... right? - aaroncodden, Jan 29, 2012

And the quote in black in the one I need to put into quotes. - aaroncodden, Jan 29, 2012