Indirect speech

  1. When changing direct (or quoted) speech into indirect (or reported) speech, in Russian you always keep the tense of the quoted speech in the indirect speech.
    Direct: Нина сказала: « В воскресенье я читала газету.»
    Nina said: "On Sunday I was reading a newspaper."
    Indirect: Нина сказала, что в воскресенье она читала газету.
    Nina said, that on Sunday she was reading a newspaper.
  2. Notice that in the above example the verb in both expressions is in the past tense.
  3. In the examples below the verb in both expressions is in the present tense.
    Direct: Антон сказал: «Я смотрю футбол по телевизору.»
    Anton said: "I'm watching soccer on TV."
    Indirect: Антон сказал, что он смотрит футбол по телевизору.
    Anton said, that he is watching soccer on TV.
  4. The verb in both examples below is in the future tense:
    Direct: Сергей сказал: «Завтра я буду читать весь день.»
    Sergey said: "Tomorrow I'll be reading all day."
    Indirect: Сергей сказал, что завтра он будет читать весь день.
    Sergey said, that tomorrow he'll be reading all day.

Copyright ©. George Mitrevski. Auburn University. e-mail:mitrege@auburn.edu