Ukrainian reported speech is simpler than English: there is no backshift. «Я працюю» stays працює inside Він сказав, що працює. Yes/no questions take чи at the head of the clause, and after a verb of speaking neither що nor чи may be dropped the way English drops «that»; wh-questions keep their question word, and orders become щоб + the past-tense form once the doer is the subject of the clause (a doer left as an object allows the infinitive: Він попросив мене зачинити вікно).
I can report what someone said, asked or requested using що, чи, question words and щоб, keeping the original tense and adjusting the person and the time and place words.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Сусідка сказала, що на базарі вже продають першу черешню.
The neighbour said that they were already selling the first cherries at the market.
Провідниця запитала, чи є в нас квитки на нижні полиці.
The train attendant asked whether we had tickets for the lower berths.
Бабуся попросила, щоб на Святвечір ми приїхали до неї в село.
Grandma asked us to come out to her village for Sviatvechir, the twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper.
Марійка запитала, коли ми йдемо на Андріївський узвіз, і я відповів, що вирушаємо після обіду.
Mariyka asked when we were going to Andriyivskyi Descent, and I answered that we were setting off after lunch.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
English reported speech asks you to move the tense one step back: «I'm working» → He said he was working. Ukrainian does not do this at all. The tense you heard is the tense you repeat.
| Direct | Reported | English |
|---|---|---|
| «Я вже їду.» | Тарас сказав, що вже їде. | Taras said he was on his way. |
| «Ти вільний?» | Оля запитала, чи я вільний. | Olia asked whether I was free. |
| «Де ти живеш?» | Вона запитала, де я живу. | She asked where I lived. |
| «Зачини вікно!» | Він попросив, щоб я зачинив вікно. | He asked me to close the window. |
Three things to watch. (1) чи carries the meaning of «whether/if» and opens the clause, and the question mark disappears; after a verb of speaking neither що nor чи can be dropped the way English drops «that», and a comma is obligatory before it - «He said he was working» → Він сказав, що працює. (2) An order becomes щоб + the past-tense form: «Приходь!» → Він сказав, щоб я прийшов, literally «he said that I came». The English pattern does have a twin as long as the doer stays an object - Він попросив мене зачинити вікно «he asked me to close the window», Він наказав нам зачекати «he ordered us to wait» - but as soon as you make the doer the subject of the clause, you need щоб. (3) Pronouns and time words shift exactly as they do in English: я → він, мій → його, сьогодні → того дня, завтра → наступного дня.
Where English adds «supposedly» or an eyebrow, Ukrainian has two small particles that mark you as quoting rather than vouching. мовляв sits inside the clause - він, мовляв, не знав «he didn't know, or so he says» - and нібито is «supposedly»: Каже, нібито був удома. Worth recognising at A2, using later.
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises
Practice ExercisesDo not backshift: Він сказав, що працює (not «що працював»). Use чи, not що, for yes/no questions, and put it at the front of the clause; the question mark goes away. «He asked me to come» is Він попросив, щоб я прийшов; the infinitive works too while the doer stays an object (Він попросив мене прийти, Він наказав нам зачекати), but once you make the doer the subject of the clause use щоб plus the past-tense form.
Errors in reported speech: backshifting the tense on the English model («Він сказав, що працював» for що працює), reaching for a German Konjunktiv-style hedge instead of the plain indicative, placing чи after the first word the way the Russian enclitic ли works («Він запитав, вільний чи я», or the cruder «прийду ли я», for чи я вільний), keeping the question mark and the intonation of the original question, reaching for що in a clause that needs щоб («Він попросив мене, що я зачинив вікно» for Він попросив, щоб я зачинив вікно), and the missing comma before що / чи / щоб.
Repeat the tense you heard - Ukrainian has no sequence of tenses: «Я працюю» → Він сказав, що працює. Open a yes/no question with чи at the head of the subordinate clause and drop the question mark: Він запитав, чи ми готові. Keep the question word in wh-questions: Вона запитала, де я живу. Turn orders and requests into щоб + the past-tense form (зачинив, зачинила, зачинили) whenever you name the doer as the subject of the clause: Він попросив, щоб я зачинив вікно. After просити a plain infinitive is fine too: Він попросив мене зачинити вікно. Always put a comma before що, чи, щоб. To signal doubt about someone else's words, use the particles мовляв or нібито - not a change of mood.
Сусідка сказала, що на базарі вже продають першу черешню.
The neighbour said that they were already selling the first cherries at the market.
Ukrainian keeps продають in the present, exactly as the neighbour said it; English backshifts to «were selling».
Провідниця запитала, чи є в нас квитки на нижні полиці.
The train attendant asked whether we had tickets for the lower berths.
чи means «whether/if» and opens the clause; the question mark disappears, and unlike English «that», чи can never be left out.
Бабуся попросила, щоб на Святвечір ми приїхали до неї в село.
Grandma asked us to come out to her village for Sviatvechir, the twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper.
A request becomes щоб + the past-tense form приїхали, even though nothing happened in the past; English uses «asked us to come».
Марійка запитала, коли ми йдемо на Андріївський узвіз, і я відповів, що вирушаємо після обіду.
Mariyka asked when we were going to Andriyivskyi Descent, and I answered that we were setting off after lunch.
The question word коли stays, the clause keeps statement word order, and the tense does not shift - English says «were going».
Тато сказав, що приїде по нас на вокзал у п'ятницю ввечері.
Dad said he would pick us up at the station on Friday evening.
The original was «Я приїду по вас» - a future, and it stays a future. English has to switch to «would pick up»; Ukrainian never does.
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Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises