Indirekte Rede (Grundlagen)
Reported speech is repeating what someone else said - "she said that she was tired" instead of quoting directly. In everyday spoken German, the practical way to do this is a simple dass-clause, reusing what you already know (Lesson 172-ish subordinate word order). Formal written German uses a different, special verb form for this - you only need to recognize it for now, not produce it.
Just add "dass" and push the verb to the end, the same as any subordinate clause.
Er sagt: "Ich bin müde." (He says: "I'm tired.")
Er sagt, dass er müde ist. (He says that he is tired.)
Sie hat gesagt, dass sie keine Zeit hat. (She said that she doesn't have time.)
Quick check: "He says that he is tired." - Er sagt, dass er müde ______.
News articles and official texts often report speech without dass, using a special verb form called Konjunktiv I instead - you will see this in newspapers and should recognize it, but you do not need to produce it yourself yet.
| Normal form | Konjunktiv I | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ist | sei | Er sagte, er sei müde. (He said he was tired.) |
| hat | habe | Sie sagte, sie habe keine Zeit. (She said she had no time.) |
| kann | könne | Er meinte, er könne nicht kommen. |
Full recognition table in the reference doc. For now, treat "sei," "habe," and "könne" as signals that you are reading someone else's reported words, and mentally translate them back to ist/hat/kann.
Quick check: in formal news German, "sei" is the reported-speech form of which normal verb?
1. "She said that she doesn't have time." - Sie hat gesagt, dass sie keine Zeit ______.
2. Do you need to actively produce Konjunktiv I forms right now, or just recognize them?
Aligned with standard Goethe-Zertifikat B1 / telc B1 exam syllabus topics.
Want practice reporting real things people have told you, in German? Ask your teaching agent.