What changes and what does not when you report what someone said. The tense stays; the pronouns and the time words move.
I can report statements, questions and requests, moving the pronouns and time words while leaving the tense alone.
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Ён сказаў, што прыйдзе а сёмай.
He said he would come at seven.
Яна спытала, ці я буду дома ўвечары.
She asked whether I would be at home in the evening.
Ён спытаў, калі мы паедзем у Мір.
He asked when we would go to Mir.
Лекарка папрасіла, каб я ляжаў два дні.
The doctor asked me to stay in bed for two days.
Зверніть увагу на виділені частини. Що у них спільного?
This is the whole difference from English, and it is worth stating flatly: Belarusian reports the verb exactly as the speaker said it.
| Said | Reported |
|---|---|
| «Я прыйду.» | Ён сказаў, што прыйдзе. |
| «Я хворы.» | Ён сказаў, што хворы. |
| «Я быў там.» | Ён сказаў, што быў там. |
English would give "he said he would come", "he said he was ill". Shifting the tense back in Belarusian changes the meaning rather than the register.
| Original | Introduced by | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Statement | што | Ён сказаў, што прыйдзе. |
| Yes/no question | ці | Ён спытаў, ці я прыйду. |
| Wh-question | the question word | Ён спытаў, калі я прыйду. |
| Order or request | каб + past form | Ён папрасіў, каб я прыйшоў. |
The last row is where the imperative goes: there is no reported imperative, so a request becomes a каб clause with a past-tense form.
казаць / сказаць to say, гаварыць to talk, пытацца / спытаць to ask a question, прасіць / папрасіць to request, адказваць to answer, дадаць to add, паведаміць to inform.
A reported question keeps the order of a statement, and ці or the question word simply opens the clause. Nothing is inverted, because nothing was inverted in the first place.
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу B1
Вправи для практикиTypical errors: shifting the tense back as English does, and trying to report an imperative directly instead of turning it into a каб clause.
Shifting the tense back as in English
Belarusian keeps what was said: Ён сказаў, што прыйдзе.
Trying to report an imperative directly
Use каб with a past-tense form: папрасіў, каб я прыйшоў.
Using ли after the word
Ці opens the clause: спытала, ці я буду дома.
Leaving сёння, заўтра and тут unchanged
They move with the point of view: у той дзень, на наступны дзень, там.
Ён сказаў, што прыйдзе а сёмай.
He said he would come at seven.
The future stays a future, even after a past-tense verb of speaking.
Яна спытала, ці я буду дома ўвечары.
She asked whether I would be at home in the evening.
A reported yes/no question with <em>ці</em>, which opens the clause.
Ён спытаў, калі мы паедзем у Мір.
He asked when we would go to Mir.
A wh-question keeps its question word and its direct word order.
Лекарка папрасіла, каб я ляжаў два дні.
The doctor asked me to stay in bed for two days.
A request becomes a <em>каб</em> clause with a past-tense form - there is no reported imperative.
Ён сказаў, што на наступны дзень будзе там.
He said he would be there the next day.
The time and place words have moved - <em>заўтра</em> and <em>тут</em> would be wrong here.
Практикувати в курсі
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу B1