All About Indirect Speech in German – Everything you need to know

In indirect speech we repeat what the other person said. We can find out exactly how you do it and how you turn direct speech into indirect speech in this lesson.

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CONTENTS


What is indirect speech in German?
How to form indirect speech in German?
How to form the subjunctive in indirect speech?
Declarative sentences in indirect speech
Interrogative sentences in indirect speech
Imperative in indirect speech
Converting direct to indirect speech:

 

What is indirect speech in German?

We use indirect speech when we convey the statement of another person in your own words. We often encounter indirect speech in reports, for example in newspapers or on television, and usually only what is factually important is reported. To form indirect speech, we need subjunctives I and II.

How to form indirect speech in German?

If you want to turn a sentence from direct speech to indirect speech, you need to adjust a few things, because you may have a different opinion than what was said. Let’s see what we have to pay attention to:

Pronouns

With pronouns, we usually change the 1st person singular to the 3rd person singular.
Sie sagt: „Ich muss heute früh aufstehen.“ Sie sagt, sie müsse heute früh aufstehen.

Verbs

We must also transform the verbs from the indicative to the subjunctive I or II.

Er sagt: „Ich gehe gerne ins Theater.“ → Er sagt, er ginge gerne ins Theater.

Adverbs of place

We must pay attention to change adverbs such as hier to dort or an jenem Ort etc.
Mia sagt: „Ich arbeite seit einem Jahr hier.“ → Mia sagt, sie arbeite seit einem Jahr dort.

Adverbs of time

Heute we change to an diesem Tag, damals, … gestern we change to damals, am Tag zuvor, …
Leon hat mir vorgehalten: „Du bist heute Morgen zu spät zur Arbeit gekommen.“ → Leon hat mir vorgehalten, ich wäre am Tag zuvor zu spät zur Arbeit gekommen.

How to form the subjunctive in indirect speech?

To form indirect speech, you need a verb in the subjunctive I or II. The subjunctive I is usually used, but if the indicative and the subjunctive I match or are very similar, use the subjunctive II instead. Here is an example in a table.

In the spoken language, however, these rules are not strictly adhered to. So you can hear subjunctive II in the second person singular and plural: du kämest, ihr kämet.

The forms marked in yellow do not differ from the present indicative, so we replace them with subjunctive II. See the table with examples for the present indicative and subjunctive I in the present tense subjunctive. The same rule applies to the auxiliary verbs haben and werden and modal verbs:

The following endings are needed to build the subjunctive: ‚-e, – est, – e, – en, – et, –en. Those suffixes in the subjunctive I are added to the infinitive verb stem.

Leon: „Ich bin Mitglied im Verein „Basketballprofi.“
→ Leon sagt, er 
spiele Fußball im Verein „Basketballprofi.“.

In everyday speech, the construction würde + Infinitive is often used instead of the subjunctive. This construction is also used when the Subjunctive II overlaps with the Past Tense. That is, in cases where the subjunctive II and the Past Tense look the same. If the subjunctive II is the same as the Past Tense, then we often replace it with the construction würde + infinitive. It is marked in blue in the table above.

For example: ich spielte → ich würde spielen

Denis sagt: „Meine Großeltern wohnen auf dem Land.“
→ Denis sagt, seine Großeltern würden auf dem Land wohnen. 
(instead: wohnten)

Declarative sentences in indirect speech

Indirect speech can be introduced with the conjunction dass. Then the verbs are at the end of the sentence.

Mein Bruder sagt: „Wir fahren in den Urlaub nach Paris .“
→  Mein Bruder sagt, 
dass er und seine Familie Urlaub in Paris machen würden.

Indirect speech can also be introduced without a conjunction. This means that the sentence is the main clause with the verb in the subjunctive. The verb is then in the second place in the sentence.

Mein Bruder sagt: „Wir fahren in den Urlaub nach Paris .“
→  Mein Bruder sagt, er und seine Familie 
würden Urlaub in Paris machen.

Interrogative sentences in indirect speech

Interrogative sentences in indirect speech are introduced with a question word.

Mutti fragte: „Wann gehst du zum Training?“
→Mutti  fragte, 
wann du zum Training gingest?.

If it is an interrogative sentence without a question word, then instead of a question word, the sentence begins with ob.

Mutti fragt: „Willst zum Training gehen?“
→ Mutti fragt, 
ob du zum Training gehen wollest.

Imperative in indirect speech

The command in direct speech is transferred to the indirect by means of the subjunctive verb sollen. A sentence can begin with or without the conjunction dass.

– Er sagte: „Inna, komm um 8 Uhr!!“
Er sagte zu Inna, sie solle um 8 Uhr kommen.
– Er sagte den Kindern: „Kommt nach Hause!“
Er sagte den Kindern, dass sie nach Hause kommen sollten.

A request in direct speech is transferred to an indirect one by means of the subjunctive of the verb mögen.
–Ich bat ihn: „Komm um 8 Uhr!“
Ich bat ihn, dass er um 8 Uhr kommen möge.
– Sie bat mich: „Komm um 8 Uhr!“
Sie bat mich, ich möge um 8 Uhr kommen.

Converting direct to indirect speech:

When quoting other people’s words, you should use the appropriate forms of the subjunctive, namely:

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