How to Use Reported Speech and Indirect Questions in Ukrainian

Understanding Reported Speech in Ukrainian

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is used to convey what someone else has said without quoting their exact words. In Ukrainian, reported speech often involves changes in verb tense, pronouns, and sometimes word order, similar to English but with its own unique rules.

Basic Structure of Reported Speech

In Ukrainian, reported speech typically uses a reporting verb such as сказати (to say) or питати (to ask), followed by a clause introduced by the conjunction що (that) for statements, or як, коли, чому etc. for questions.

For example, direct speech:
Він сказав: «Я йду додому». (He said, "I am going home.")
becomes reported speech:
Він сказав, що йде додому. (He said that he is going home.)

Changes in Verb Tense and Pronouns

When converting direct speech to reported speech in Ukrainian, verb tenses often shift to reflect the time of reporting, and pronouns change to match the perspective of the reporter.

Example:
Direct: Вона сказала: «Я люблю читати книги». (She said, "I love reading books.")
Reported: Вона сказала, що любить читати книги. (She said that she loves reading books.)

Forming Indirect Questions in Ukrainian

Indirect questions are questions embedded within a statement or another question. In Ukrainian, indirect questions are introduced by question words such as хто (who), що (what), де (where), коли (when), чому (why), and як (how). The word order in indirect questions is typically that of a statement, not a direct question.

Examples of Indirect Questions

Direct question:
Де ти живеш? (Where do you live?)
Indirect question:
Я не знаю, де ти живеш. (I don't know where you live.)

Direct question:
Коли починається урок? (When does the lesson start?)
Indirect question:
Вона запитала, коли починається урок. (She asked when the lesson starts.)

Word Order in Indirect Questions

Unlike direct questions, indirect questions in Ukrainian use the standard subject-verb-object word order, not the inverted order typical of direct questions.

For example:
Direct: Що ти робиш? (What are you doing?)
Indirect: Я хочу знати, що ти робиш. (I want to know what you are doing.)

Common Reporting Verbs in Ukrainian

Here are some common verbs used to introduce reported speech and indirect questions:

• сказати – to say
• повідомити – to inform
• запитати – to ask
• пояснити – to explain
• попросити – to request

Examples of Reported Speech and Indirect Questions