Reported speech
የተዘዋዋሪ ንግግር (reported speech)
Telling someone what another person said or asked: the tense moves back, pronouns and time words change, and questions go into statement order.
Statements: the tense moves back
Amharic keeps the speaker's words and adds አለ at the end: “እመጣለሁ” አለ. English usually changes the words: “I'll come” → He said he would come. When the reporting verb is past (said, told), the tense moves one step back, and I/my/here change to fit the new speaker. If the fact is still true, or the reporting verb is present (She says…), you can keep the tense.
In Amharic
አማርኛ የተናጋሪውን ቃል ይዞ መጨረሻ ላይ "አለ" ይጨምራል፦ “እመጣለሁ” አለ። እንግሊዝኛ ግን ብዙ ጊዜ ቃላቱን ይለውጣል፦ “I'll come” → He said he would come። የሚዘግበው ግሥ ኀላፊ ሲሆን (said, told)፣ ጊዜው አንድ ደረጃ ወደ ኋላ ይሄዳል፤ I/my/here ደግሞ ለአዲሱ ተናጋሪ ይለወጣሉ። ነገሩ አሁንም እውነት ከሆነ ወይም የሚዘግበው ግሥ የአሁን ከሆነ (She says…) ጊዜውን መተው ይቻላል።
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| present simple: “I work nights.” | past simple: He said he worked nights. |
| present continuous: “I'm waiting.” | past continuous: She said she was waiting. |
| present perfect: “I've finished.” | past perfect: He said he had finished. |
| past simple: “I lost my key.” | past perfect: She said she had lost her key. |
| will: “I'll call.” | would: He said he would call. |
| can: “I can help.” | could: She said she could help. |
| may: “I may be late.” | might: He said he might be late. |
| must: “I must go.” | had to: She said she had to go. |
- that is optional: He said (that) he was tired.
- would, could, should, might and had to don't change.
- No backshift when it is still true: She said the clinic opens at eight.
- My supervisor said I was doing a great job.
- The landlord said he would fix the sink on Monday.
- She told me she had already paid the deposit.
- He said he couldn't come to the meeting.
Questions and commands
A reported question is not a question any more: it has normal statement order and no question mark, and do/does/did disappear. Yes/no questions use if or whether. Commands and requests use tell / ask + person + to + verb, and not to for negatives.
In Amharic
የተዘገበ ጥያቄ ከእንግዲህ ጥያቄ አይደለም፦ የተለመደ የዓረፍተ ነገር ቅደም ተከተል አለው፣ የጥያቄ ምልክት የለውም፣ do/does/did ይጠፋሉ። የአዎ/አይ ጥያቄዎች if ወይም whether ይጠቀማሉ። ትዕዛዝና ጥያቄ tell / ask + ሰው + to + ግሥ ይጠቀማሉ፤ ለአሉታዊ not to።
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| “Do you have a car?” | He asked (me) if / whether I had a car. |
| “Where do you live?” | She asked where I lived. |
| “When will the bus come?” | I asked when the bus would come. |
| “Wait here.” | The nurse told us to wait there. |
| “Don't park here.” | The guard told me not to park there. |
| “Can you help me, please?” | She asked me to help her. |
- No did in reported questions: She asked where I lived (not where did I live).
- tell and ask need a person: told us to, asked me to.
- Negative command: not to + verb (not don't).
- The interviewer asked me how long I had worked in hotels.
- My son asked if he could go to his friend's house.
- The doctor told me to drink more water.
- The teacher asked the parents not to send snacks with nuts.
Time and place words, and reporting verbs
When you report later or somewhere else, words like today, tomorrow and here change too. say and tell are the main reporting verbs: say something (to someone), tell someone something. Other verbs give more information and have their own patterns.
In Amharic
በኋላ ወይም በሌላ ቦታ ሲዘግቡ፣ እንደ today, tomorrow እና here ያሉ ቃላትም ይለወጣሉ። ዋናዎቹ የመዘገቢያ ግሦች say እና tell ናቸው፦ say something (to someone)፣ tell someone something። ሌሎች ግሦች ተጨማሪ መረጃ ይሰጣሉ፤ የራሳቸውም አወቃቀር አላቸው።
| Direct | Reported later | Reporting verb | Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| now | then | promise | promised to call |
| today | that day | offer | offered to help |
| tomorrow | the next day / the following day | refuse | refused to pay |
| yesterday | the day before / the previous day | remind | reminded me to bring my ID |
| next week | the following week | warn | warned us not to go |
| last week | the week before | suggest | suggested taking the bus |
| ago | before | apologise | apologised for being late |
| here / this | there / that | explain | explained that the office was closed |
- say + (to someone) + that: He said (to me) that… tell + someone + that: He told me that…
- suggest takes -ing or that: She suggested calling / that we call (not suggested to call).
- He said he would come back the next day.
- She told me she had seen him the day before.
- My friend reminded me to renew my license.
- The manager apologised for the long wait.
- They offered to drive us to the airport.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Correct | Why |
|---|---|---|
| He told me that he was tired. | tell + person; say has no person after it (or say to me). | |
| She asked where I lived. | Reported questions use statement order, with no did. | |
| He asked me if I had a car. | Yes/no questions are reported with if or whether. | |
| The manager told us to wait. | tell needs a person: told us to… | |
| She said she would call the next day. | will → would, and tomorrow → the next day, when you report it later. | |
| He told me not to be late. | Negative commands: not to + verb. |
Practice
Each answer is checked as you go, with the reason. Nothing here is saved.
“I'm tired.” → She said she ___ tired. (one word)
He ___ me that the store was closed.
“Where do you work?” → She asked me where ___.
“Do you have a car?” → He asked ___ I had a car. (one word)
“Wait here.” → The nurse told us ___ there.
“Don't park here.” → The guard told me ___ park there. (two words)
A week later: “I'll call you tomorrow.” → He said he would call me ___.
“I can help.” → She said she ___ help. (one word)
“I've finished the report.” → He said he ___ the report.
“I'm sorry I was late.” → She apologised ___ late.