Reported speech: statements
Vasitəli nitq: nəqli cümlələr
After this lesson you can
- Can report what other people said using said and told.
- Can change tenses, pronouns and time expressions when reporting.
- Can use say and tell correctly.
Explanation
Basic idea
When we report someone's words with a past reporting verb (said, told), the tense usually moves one step back:
- 'I'm tired.' → She said she was tired.
- 'I've lost my key.' → He said he had lost his key.
- 'I'll help.' → She said she would help.
Pronouns and time words also change: tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the day before, here → there.
say and tell
say (that) has no person after it. tell needs a person: He told me that he was leaving.
that is optional. If the fact is still true, the tense can stay the same.
Azərbaycan dilində ətraflı izah
Vasitəsiz və vasitəli nitq
- Vasitəsiz: Ali said, 'I am busy.'
- Vasitəli: Ali said (that) he was busy.
Azərbaycan dili ilə müqayisə
Azərbaycan dilində zaman çox vaxt dəyişmir: Əli dedi ki, məşğuldur. İngilis dilində isə giriş feli keçmişdədirsə (said, told), adətən zaman bir addım geri gedir. Bu, azərbaycanlılar üçün ən çətin hissədir. Həmçinin that bağlayıcısı Azərbaycan dilindəki ki kimidir, amma ingilis dilində tez-tez buraxılır.
Zamanların geri sürüşməsi
| Vasitəsiz | Vasitəli |
|---|---|
| Present Simple: I work. | Past Simple: he worked |
| Present Continuous: I'm working. | he was working |
| Present Perfect: I've finished. | he had finished |
| Past Simple: I saw it. | he had seen it (və ya saw) |
| will: I'll call. | would: he would call |
| can: I can swim. | could |
Fakt hələ də doğrudursa, zamanı dəyişməmək də olar: She said she lives in Baku.
Əvəzlik və zaman sözləri
- I → he/she, my → his/her, we → they
- today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the day before, now → then, here → there, this → that
say yoxsa tell?
- say + (that): She said (that) she was hungry.
- tell + kimə + (that): She told me (that) she was hungry.
- She said me, səhvdir! say to me mümkündür, amma told me daha təbiidir.
Examples
'I'm hungry,' said Nigar. → Nigar said she was hungry.
Nigar dedi ki, acdır.
He told me he had already seen the film.
O, mənə dedi ki, filmə artıq baxıb.
She said she would call me the next day.
O dedi ki, ertəsi gün mənə zəng edəcək.
will → would, tomorrow → the next day
My teacher told us that the exam was on Monday.
Müəllimimiz bizə dedi ki, imtahan bazar ertəsidir.
They said they couldn't come to the party.
Onlar dedilər ki, ziyafətə gələ bilməyəcəklər.
can't → couldn't
Rashad said that he was working from home that week.
Rəşad dedi ki, həmin həftə evdən işləyir.
She said that Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan.
O dedi ki, Bakı Azərbaycanın paytaxtıdır.
Həmişə doğru olan fakt: zaman dəyişməyə bilər
Common mistakes
She said me that she was tired.
She told me that she was tired.
Kimə dediyini göstərəndə tell + şəxs işlənir. say-dən sonra birbaşa şəxs gəlmir.
He told that he was busy.
He said that he was busy.
tell-dən sonra mütləq şəxs lazımdır (told me/us/her). Şəxs yoxdursa, said.
He said that he will come tomorrow.
He said that he would come the next day.
Keçmiş giriş felindən sonra will → would, tomorrow → the next day.
She said that I am late.
She said that I was late.
Azərbaycan dilində zaman saxlanılır, ingilis dilində isə adətən bir addım geri gedir.
Vocabulary
- admit verb
- to agree that something bad is true, often unwillinglyetiraf etmək“She admitted making a mistake.”
- announce verb
- to tell people something officiallyelan etmək“The results will be announced next week.”
- claim verb
- to say that something is true, often without proofiddia etmək“The company claims that its product is eco-friendly.”
- complain verb
- to say that you are unhappy about somethingşikayət etmək“He complained that the room was cold.”
- explain verb
- to make something clear or easy to understandizah etmək“He explained that the shop was closed.”
- mention verb
- to speak about something brieflyqeyd etmək, xatırlatmaq“She mentioned that she was moving.”
- the next day phrase
- the day after the day you are talking aboutertəsi gün“He said he would finish it the next day.”