Reported Speech
Reported Speech
Dutch reports speech without the elaborate tense shifting English performs. Hij zei dat hij ziek is is perfectly acceptable even though the reporting verb is past — and there is no subjunctive to worry about at all.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
dat introduces the report and sends the verb to the end
Hij zei dat hij ziek was.
He said (that) he was ill.
The conjunction dat cannot be dropped the way English 'that' can, and it pushes the verb of the reported clause to the end. Tense shifting is optional rather than obligatory: both Hij zei dat hij ziek was and Hij zei dat hij ziek is are correct, with the present form suggesting the illness continues. English grammar is much stricter about backshifting here.
Reported questions use of or a question word, both verb-final
Ze vroeg of ik meeging. Ze vroeg waarom ik laat was.
She asked whether I was coming. She asked why I was late.
A reported yes/no question takes of ('whether'); a reported wh-question keeps its question word — waarom, wanneer, hoe, waar. In both cases the clause loses its question word order and becomes a normal subordinate clause with the verb at the end. English does the same reordering ('why I was late'), so the main new thing is remembering of rather than 'if'.
zou marks a claim the speaker does not vouch for
Volgens de krant zou hij ontslagen zijn.
According to the paper, he has reportedly been dismissed.
For information attributed to someone else, Dutch adds zou to signal distance from the claim — the journalistic workhorse. Combined with volgens ('according to') it produces the standard formula for unverified reporting. English needs an adverb ('reportedly', 'allegedly') or a full clause ('is said to have been'); Dutch does it with one auxiliary verb.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- to say
- English
- to tell
- English
- to ask
- English
- to claim
- English
- according to
- English
- whether
- English
- to answer
- English
- to admit
- English
- to deny
- English
- the source
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