Reported Speech in Hindi

In Brief

Hindi commonly reports a statement with a reporting verb plus कि “that”: उसने बताया कि वह बीमार है (“She said that she was/is ill”). Questions keep their question word, while commands can retain an imperative form or use verb stem + -ने को कहा. Unlike English, Hindi does not require an automatic shift into a past tense after a past reporting verb; tense is chosen according to the intended time and whether the information is still valid.

Overview

Reported speech, also called indirect speech, lets you convey what someone said without quoting their exact words. In रीना ने कहा, “मैं कल आऊँगी” (“Reena said, ‘I will come tomorrow’”), the speaker’s words are quoted directly. In रीना ने कहा कि वह अगले दिन आएगी (“Reena said that she would come the next day”), they are presented from the reporter’s point of view.

At B1, learners usually meet basic कि clauses after verbs such as कहना “to say,” बताना “to tell,” सोचना “to think,” and पूछना “to ask.” At B2, the important work is choosing a natural structure for questions and commands, shifting pronouns and time expressions when the viewpoint changes, and resisting English-style tense changes where Hindi does not need them.

A clause is a group of words built around a verb. In reported speech, the reporting clause identifies the source—उसने कहा “he/she said”—and the reported clause gives the content—कि वह आएगा “that he would come.” Hindi normally places the reporting clause first, although other orders occur for emphasis or in literary narration.

How It Works

Reporting statements with कि

The most reusable pattern is:

speaker + reporting verb + कि + reported content

• अमन ने कहा कि वह व्यस्त है। — Aman said that he was/is busy.
• डॉक्टर ने बताया कि रिपोर्ट सामान्य है। — The doctor explained that the report was normal.

कि introduces the content. In careful writing it is normally retained. In quick conversation it can occasionally be left out after a familiar reporting phrase, but learners should use it: it makes the boundary between the two clauses clear.

The reporting verb changes the relationship between speaker, listener, and information:

Reporting expression	Core meaning	Typical construction
कहना	say; tell	X ने कहा कि…; X ने Y से कहा कि…
बताना	tell; inform; explain	X ने Y को बताया कि…
पूछना	ask a question	X ने Y से पूछा कि…
जवाब देना	reply	X ने जवाब दिया कि…
समझाना	explain; make someone understand	X ने Y को समझाया कि…
आदेश देना	order	X ने Y को आदेश दिया कि…
सलाह देना	advise	X ने Y को सलाह दी कि…

The small words matter. With कहना and पूछना, the person addressed is commonly marked by से: उसने मुझसे कहा/पूछा. With बताना, the recipient is commonly marked by को: उसने मुझे बताया. Here मुझसे means “to/from me” in this construction, while मुझे is the oblique form used before or in place of को.

Pronouns and viewpoint

Indirect speech reports meaning, not necessarily the original wording. A pronoun changes if its reference changes from the new speaker’s viewpoint:

• Direct: सीमा ने कहा, “मैं तैयार हूँ।”
• Reported: सीमा ने कहा कि वह तैयार है।

मैं becomes वह because the current reporter is not Seema. But if Seema reports her own earlier words, मैं can remain:

• मैंने कल कहा था कि मैं तैयार हूँ। — I said yesterday that I was/am ready.

Second-person forms depend on whom the report is now addressed to. There is no mechanical rule that तुम must always become वह. First identify the real person, then select मैं, तुम, आप, यह, वह, or a name accordingly. Keep honorific agreement as well: आप आएँगे, not आप आएगा.

Tense: no automatic English-style backshift

English often changes “is” to “was,” “will” to “would,” and “has done” to “had done” after “said.” Hindi has no equally automatic sequence-of-tenses rule. The verb in the reported clause reflects the event’s actual time and the reporter’s stance.

Intended meaning	Hindi	Why
The information is still valid	उसने बताया कि वह बीमार है।	Present है presents the illness as current or still relevant.
The state belonged to that past time	उसने बताया कि वह बीमार था।	Past था locates the illness in the past.
The event was future from the past viewpoint	उसने कहा कि वह अगले दिन आएगा।	Hindi future आएगा can remain future inside a past report.
The event had already happened	उसने कहा कि वह काम पूरा कर चुका था।	कर चुका था marks prior completion.

This means that उसने बताया कि वह बीमार है can correspond to English “She said she is sick” or, in some contexts, “She said she was sick.” Do not choose a Hindi tense merely by copying the tense of the English translation.

Reporting information questions

For a question containing कब “when,” कहाँ “where,” क्यों “why,” कैसे “how,” कौन “who,” or another question expression, keep that expression in the reported clause:

speaker + addressee से + पूछा कि + question word + ordinary Hindi clause

• Direct: उसने पूछा, “तुम कब आओगे?”
• Reported: उसने पूछा कि तुम कब आओगे।

The reported version is no longer punctuated as a direct question, and quotation marks disappear. Hindi does not add an English-style auxiliary equivalent to “did”: उसने पूछा कि तुम कहाँ गए थे is literally structured around “you where had gone.”

Depending on focus and natural Hindi word order, the question expression need not always stand immediately after कि:

• उसने पूछा कि बैठक कहाँ होगी।
• उसने पूछा कि तुम्हें किसने बुलाया था।

Reporting yes–no questions

For a question answerable with yes or no, क्या can mark the embedded question:

• Direct: उसने पूछा, “क्या तुम तैयार हो?”
• Reported: उसने पूछा कि क्या तुम तैयार हो।

The sequence कि क्या is especially clear in writing. In conversation, speakers may say उसने पूछा, तुम तैयार हो? and reproduce much of the original intonation. That is a looser, more direct style rather than the fully integrated indirect pattern taught here.

Do not insert question क्या when another question word already supplies the unknown information: उसने पूछा कि तुम कब आओगे, not ordinarily …कि क्या तुम कब आओगे.

Reporting commands, requests, and advice

Hindi has several natural options. The choice depends on whether you want to preserve the command’s voice or describe the requested action more compactly.

1. कि + imperative

A direct command can remain in an imperative form (a command form of the verb):

• माँ ने कहा कि खाना खा लो। — Mom said to eat the food.
• अध्यापक ने कहा कि ध्यान से सुनो। — The teacher said to listen carefully.
• डॉक्टर ने कहा कि आराम कीजिए। — The doctor said to rest.

Choose the imperative ending according to the relationship represented in the report: कर, करो, or respectful कीजिए/करिए. A reporter can preserve the original level of politeness, but may also reframe it for the current audience.

2. verb infinitive + को कहना

The infinitive (the dictionary-like verb form ending in -ना) becomes oblique -ने before को:

• माँ ने मुझे खाना खाने को कहा। — Mom told me to eat the food.
• उसने सबको बाहर जाने को कहा। — He/She told everyone to go outside.

This compact construction clearly names the person instructed. In everyday speech, के लिए कहना is also heard in suitable contexts, but -ने को कहना is a standard, concise pattern for reported instructions.

3. nouns expressing order, request, or advice

More precise reporting verbs show the force of the original words:

• अधिकारी ने कर्मचारियों को आदेश दिया कि वे समय पर पहुँचें। — The officer ordered the employees to arrive on time.
• मैंने उससे अनुरोध किया कि वह थोड़ा इंतज़ार करे। — I requested that he/she wait a little.
• डॉक्टर ने मुझे सलाह दी कि मैं अधिक पानी पियूँ। — The doctor advised me to drink more water.

Forms such as पहुँचें, करे, and पियूँ are subjunctive forms: verb forms used here for a desired, requested, or intended action rather than a statement of fact. They are especially natural after formal expressions of orders, requests, recommendations, and wishes.

Shifting time and place expressions

Change a time or place word only when the reporting situation makes the original expression misleading. This is a shift in deixis—words such as “here,” “tomorrow,” and “this” whose meaning depends on the speaker’s situation.

Direct-speech viewpoint	Possible reported form	Meaning
आज	उस दिन	today → that day
कल	अगले दिन / पिछले दिन	tomorrow/yesterday → the next/previous day
अभी	उस समय / तभी	now → at that time/then
यहाँ	वहाँ	here → there
यह	वह	this → that

Hindi कल can mean either “yesterday” or “tomorrow,” so context or the verb usually resolves it. In an indirect report, पिछले दिन and अगले दिन can prevent ambiguity. However, if you report the words on the same day and at the same place, आज and यहाँ may remain completely logical.

Examples in Context

Hindi	English	Note
उसने बताया कि वह बीमार है।	She said that she is sick.	The condition is presented as current.
राहुल ने कहा कि वह अगले दिन दिल्ली जाएगा।	Rahul said that he would go to Delhi the next day.	Viewpoint and time expression shift.
मीरा ने कहा कि उसने काम पूरा कर लिया था।	Meera said that she had finished the work.	The completion precedes the report.
उसने पूछा कि तुम कब आओगे।	He asked when you would come.	The question word कब remains.
प्रबंधक ने पूछा कि बैठक कहाँ होगी।	The manager asked where the meeting would be.	An embedded information question.
उसने मुझसे पूछा कि क्या मैं तैयार हूँ।	She asked me whether I was ready.	कि क्या introduces a yes–no question.
माँ ने कहा कि खाना खा लो।	Mom said to eat the food.	An informal imperative is retained.
शिक्षक ने छात्रों से कहा कि ध्यान से सुनो।	The teacher told the students to listen carefully.	से कहा marks those addressed.
डॉक्टर ने मुझे कुछ दिन आराम करने को कहा।	The doctor told me to rest for a few days.	करने को कहा reports an instruction.
अधिकारी ने आदेश दिया कि सभी लोग बाहर जाएँ।	The officer ordered everyone to go outside.	Subjunctive जाएँ suits a formal order.
मैंने उससे अनुरोध किया कि वह दरवाज़ा बंद कर दे।	I asked him/her to close the door.	अनुरोध किया makes it a request.
सीमा ने पूछा कि उसे किसने बुलाया था।	Seema asked who had called her.	किसने is the subject of the reported question.
उसने जवाब दिया कि उसे कुछ नहीं पता।	He replied that he did not know anything.	Natural negative content clause.

Common Mistakes

Backshifting every verb because English does

• Wrong: उसने कहा कि पृथ्वी गोल थी। (when stating a fact that remains true)
• Right: उसने कहा कि पृथ्वी गोल है।
• Why: A past reporting verb does not force the reported fact into the past. थी would frame the earth’s roundness as a past state, which is inappropriate here.

Using the wrong marker for the listener

• Wrong: उसने मुझे पूछा कि मैं कहाँ जा रहा हूँ।
• Right: उसने मुझसे पूछा कि मैं कहाँ जा रहा हूँ।
• Why: The person asked is normally marked with से after पूछना. By contrast, उसने मुझे बताया is natural with बताना.

Keeping मैं without checking who it refers to

• Wrong: रीना ने कहा कि मैं थकी हुई हूँ। (spoken by someone other than Reena, intending “Reena is tired”)
• Right: रीना ने कहा कि वह थकी हुई है।
• Why: Pronouns and agreement must fit the reporter’s viewpoint. थकी हुई is feminine because Reena is the tired person.

Combining क्या with another question word unnecessarily

• Wrong: उसने पूछा कि क्या तुम कहाँ रहते हो।
• Right: उसने पूछा कि तुम कहाँ रहते हो।
• Why: कहाँ already marks the missing information. Use कि क्या for a yes–no question: उसने पूछा कि क्या तुम दिल्ली में रहते हो।

Copying an English “to + verb” structure

• Wrong: उसने मुझे को जाना कहा।
• Right: उसने मुझे जाने को कहा।
• Why: Before को, the infinitive जाना takes its oblique form जाने. The person instructed is मुझे, not मुझे को.

Forgetting respect in a reported command

• Wrong: डॉक्टर ने दादी से कहा कि आराम करो। (if preserving respectful address)
• Right: डॉक्टर ने दादी से कहा कि आराम कीजिए।
• Why: Hindi commands encode social relationship. A respectful addressee normally calls for कीजिए/करिए or an appropriately polite subjunctive construction.

Usage Notes

कहना is broad and frequent. It can introduce words, instructions, or an opinion, but बताना more strongly suggests giving information to someone. Compare उसने कहा कि दुकान बंद है (“He said that the shop is closed”) with उसने मुझे बताया कि दुकान बंद है (“He informed me that the shop is closed”).

Hindi conversation often lies between a polished direct quotation and fully indirect speech. A speaker may use उसने कहा, मैं बाद में आऊँगा with a pause and a change in voice. This is vivid and common, but its pronouns can be ambiguous on the page. In formal writing, quotation marks for exact words or कि with adjusted pronouns makes the intended structure clearer.

Reported questions normally end as statements in formal punctuation because the whole sentence reports an act of asking: उसने पूछा कि तुम कब आओगे। In dialogue or informal digital writing, a question mark may appear to preserve the quoted question’s force, but it is not required by the indirect structure.

Gender is sometimes left unspecified in English but appears in Hindi agreement. English “She said she was ill” might be उसने कहा कि वह बीमार थी if the past copula agrees with a woman. Present है does not reveal gender. Always work from the people and timeline in the real context, not from isolated English words.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

कि can report thoughts and perceptions too

The same content-clause structure extends beyond spoken words:

• मुझे लगा कि कोई दरवाज़े पर है। — I thought/felt that someone was at the door.
• हमें पता चला कि ट्रेन रद्द हो गई है। — We found out that the train had been cancelled.

These are not reports of a quotation, but they use the same grammar for presenting content.

Reporting the force, not the wording

An accurate report need not imitate the original sentence type. “दरवाज़ा बंद करोगे?” is grammatically a question, but in context it may function as a polite request. You can report its practical force as उसने मुझसे दरवाज़ा बंद करने को कहा (“He/She asked me to close the door”), rather than as उसने पूछा कि क्या मैं दरवाज़ा बंद करूँगा. The second version sounds as if the speaker genuinely wanted information about a future action.

Similarly, चेतावनी दी “warned,” वादा किया “promised,” स्वीकार किया “admitted,” and इनकार किया “refused/denied” let the reporter interpret what the original utterance was doing. This often sounds more natural than repeatedly using कहा.

Ambiguity and names

Repeated वह, उसने, and उसे can make a report hard to follow because Hindi pronouns do not distinguish “he” from “she.” Repeat a name when two possible people are present:

• Ambiguous: अनीता ने पूजा से कहा कि वह देर से आएगी।
• Clearer: अनीता ने पूजा से कहा कि पूजा देर से आएगी।

The first sentence can mean that Anita or Pooja will arrive late. Context may settle it, but repeating पूजा removes doubt.

Deliberate distance and present relevance

Tense choice can subtly show the reporter’s attitude. Present tense may endorse or keep information current: वैज्ञानिकों ने बताया कि पानी सुरक्षित है. Past tense may limit the claim to an earlier situation: अधिकारियों ने कहा था कि पानी सुरक्षित था. This is not a rigid rule about truthfulness, but a discourse choice—how a speaker frames information in the surrounding conversation.

Practice Tips

1. Transform one quotation three ways. Take a direct statement, question, and command from a Hindi dialogue. Rewrite them with कहा कि, पूछा कि, and -ने को कहा, then check every pronoun and time word.
2. Draw a two-point timeline. Mark the time of the original words and the time of reporting. Decide whether है/था, आज/उस दिन, or कल/अगले दिन expresses the intended relationship; do not translate the English tense automatically.
3. Build reporting-verb families. Practise one message with कहा, बताया, समझाया, आदेश दिया, and सलाह दी. Notice how the listener marker and the social force change.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Indirect Speech — introduces basic कि clauses and common reporting verbs.