Reported Speech
उद्धृत वाणी (Reported Speech)
Saying what someone else said or asked follows a few straightforward word-order rules in everyday German — much like Hindi's "...कि..." structure, without the fuss of tense-shifting.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
dass-clauses: reporting a statement — like Hindi's 'कि'
Er sagt, dass er müde ist. (He says (that) he's tired.)
वह कहता है कि वह थका हुआ है।
The simplest way to report a statement is sagen + dass + the reported content, sending the verb to the end of the dass-clause like any subordinate clause. Hindi's "कि" is also almost always required, exactly like German dass. In spoken German, dass can be dropped, but then the clause returns to normal verb-second order: Er sagt, er ist müde. Both forms are common — just keep the word order consistent with whichever you choose.
ob and W-words: reporting a question
Sie fragte, ob ich Zeit hätte. Er fragte, wann der Zug ankommt.
उसने पूछा कि क्या मेरे पास समय है। उसने पूछा कि ट्रेन कब आती है।
ob ('whether') is used to report a yes/no question; a question that already has a question word (wann, wo, warum, wie...) reuses that same word as the subordinator. In both, the verb goes to the end — Hindi's "कि क्या...", "कि कब..." also keeps the verb in its natural sentence position, with no question-like inversion (which English speech sometimes has), so this German order should feel natural.
The tense can shift back, but spoken German often doesn't bother — just like Hindi
Er sagte, dass er krank war. / Er sagte, dass er krank sei. (more formal)
उसने कहा कि वह बीमार है।
Formally, reported speech should shift tense back one step, like English, or use the Konjunktiv I mood (sei, covered later). But in everyday spoken German, people often just keep the original tense and rely on context plus the reporting verb (sagte, meinte) — Hindi's "उसने कहा कि वह बीमार है" also doesn't shift tense, so this simplification should feel natural.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| German | Pronunciation | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| er sagt, dass... | air zahkt, dahs | वह कहता है कि...vah kahtā hai ki... | he says that... |
| sie fragte, ob... | zee FRAHK-teh, op | उसने पूछा कि क्या...usne pūchā ki kyā... | she asked whether... |
| er fragte, wann... | air FRAHK-teh, vahn | उसने पूछा कि कब...usne pūchā ki kab... | he asked when... |
| sie meint, dass... | zee mynt, dahs | उसका मानना है कि...uskā mānnā hai ki... | she thinks/believes that... |
| er behauptet, dass... | air beh-HOWP-tet, dahs | वह दावा करता है कि...vah dāvā kartā hai ki... | he claims that... |
| sie erklärte, dass... | zee air-KLAIR-teh, dahs | उसने समझाया कि...usne samjhāyā ki... | she explained that... |
| angeblich | AHN-gay-blikh | कथित तौर परkathit taur par | supposedly / allegedly |
| laut ihm/ihr | lowt eem/eer | उसके अनुसारuske anusār | according to him/her |