Reported Speech
மறைமுக பேச்சு (என்று)
Reporting what someone else said is one of the tightest structural matches on this whole site — German's dass and Tamil's quotative என்று do almost identical jobs.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
dass ≈ என்று, the universal quote-marker
Er sagt, dass er müde ist. (He says that he is tired — dass introduces the quote, verb goes to the end)
அவன் களைப்பாக இருக்கிறான் என்று சொன்னான். (he-tired-is என்று said — என்று closes the quote, placed AFTER it)
Both languages mark reported speech with a small word whose entire job is 'what follows/precedes is someone's words'. The difference is position: German's dass sits at the front of the reported clause, with the verb pushed to the end (the familiar subordinate-clause pattern). Tamil's என்று sits at the very end of the quoted material, right before the reporting verb (சொன்னான், 'said'). Once you're comfortable with dass as 'a spoken-word marker', mentally flip its position from the end (Tamil) to the front (German) and the sentence falls into place.
Formal written German also shifts the verb form (Konjunktiv I)
Er sagt, er sei müde. (formal/news register — sei instead of ist)
தமிழில் மேற்கோள் காட்டும்போது வினைச்சொல் வடிவம் மாறாது
In news reports and formal writing, German often swaps the ordinary verb for a special reporting form (Konjunktiv I: sei instead of ist, habe instead of hat) to signal 'this is someone else's claim, not necessarily a fact I'm confirming'. Tamil's என்று doesn't require any change to the quoted verb's form — it stays exactly as the speaker said it. You'll mostly meet Konjunktiv I in written news German; everyday spoken German usually just uses dass with the ordinary verb, as in the first example above.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| German | Pronunciation | Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Er sagt, dass... | air zahkt dahs | அவன் ...என்று சொன்னான்avan ...eṉṟu sonnāṉ | He says that... |
| Sie glaubt, dass... | zee glowpt dahs | அவள் ...என்று நம்புகிறாள்avaḷ ...eṉṟu nambugiṟāḷ | She believes that... |
| er sei | air zy | அவன் இருக்கிறான் என (formal)avan irukkiṟān ena | he is (reported, Konjunktiv I of sein) |
| er habe | air HAH-beh | அவனிடம் இருக்கிறது என (formal)avaṉiḍam irukkiṟadhu ena | he has (reported, Konjunktiv I of haben) |