Lesson 34B1

Reported Speech

अप्रत्यक्ष कथन

Reporting what someone said pushes English's verb tense one step further into the past — a shift Hindi's own reported speech, marked simply with कि ('that'), usually skips entirely.

Grammar Comparison

English shifts the tense back; Hindi's कि doesn't require any shift at all

English

She said, 'I am tired.' → She said (that) she was tired. (am shifts back to was)

Hindi (English explanations)

उसने कहा, 'मैं थकी हूँ।' → उसने कहा कि वह थकी है। (कि सिर्फ़ उद्धरण को जोड़ता है — काल में कोई बदलाव ज़रूरी नहीं)

Hindi reports a statement by simply inserting कि ('that') between the reporting verb and the original words, and the tense of the quoted verb typically stays exactly as it was spoken — उसने कहा कि वह थकी है keeps है ('is'), even though the statement is now being reported after the fact. English instead makes this shift the actual grammatical rule: the entire verb moves one tense further into the past — am becomes was, will becomes would, have becomes had — regardless of whether the situation is still true. Hindi's कि tells you a reported statement is coming, but you still have to apply English's tense-backshift yourself; it isn't optional the way it can feel with Hindi's untouched tense.

Vocabulary

She said she was tired.shee sed shee wuz TY-erd

Hindi (English explanations): उसने कहा कि वह थकी है।usne kahā ki vah thakī hai.

He said he would come.hee sed hee wood kum

Hindi (English explanations): उसने कहा कि वह आएगा।usne kahā ki vah āegā.

They said they had finished.thay sed thay had FIN-isht

Hindi (English explanations): उन्होंने कहा कि वे ख़त्म कर चुके हैं।unhoñne kahā ki ve khatm kar cuke haiñ.

English	Pronunciation	Hindi (English explanations)
She said she was tired.	shee sed shee wuz TY-erd	उसने कहा कि वह थकी है।usne kahā ki vah thakī hai.
He said he would come.	hee sed hee wood kum	उसने कहा कि वह आएगा।usne kahā ki vah āegā.
They said they had finished.	thay sed thay had FIN-isht	उन्होंने कहा कि वे ख़त्म कर चुके हैं।unhoñne kahā ki ve khatm kar cuke haiñ.

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