Reported Speech in Chinese

Overview

Reported speech in Chinese is simpler than in English because there are no tense shifts, no backshifting, and no changes to pronouns beyond what context requires. The reporting verbs 说 (shuō, say), 告诉 (gàosu, tell), 问 (wèn, ask), and 觉得/认为 (think/believe) introduce the reported content directly.

At the CEFR B2 level, reported speech is essential for narrating conversations, summarizing others' opinions, and relaying information. The lack of tense shifts makes Chinese reported speech structurally straightforward, but the variety of reporting verbs and the distinction between direct and indirect quotation still require attention.

Direct quotes in Chinese use a colon and special quotation marks (："..."), while indirect speech simply follows the reporting verb with no special markers.

How It Works

Indirect speech: Reporting verb + clause

Pattern	Example	Meaning
S + 说 + clause	他说他明天来。	He said he'll come tomorrow.
S + 告诉 + person + clause	她告诉我她要走了。	She told me she was leaving.
S + 问 + clause	老师问我是不是中国人。	The teacher asked if I was Chinese.
S + 觉得/认为 + clause	我觉得这个很好。	I think this is very good.

Key differences from English

Feature	English	Chinese
Tense shift	"He said he would come"	他说他会来 (no shift)
Pronoun shift	may change	same logic, but no form changes
Question form	if/whether	是不是 or original question word

Examples in Context

Chinese	Pinyin	English	Note
他说他明天来。	Tā shuō tā míngtiān lái.	He said he'll come tomorrow.	no tense shift
她告诉我她要走了。	Tā gàosu wǒ tā yào zǒu le.	She told me she was leaving.	indirect
老师问我是不是中国人。	Lǎoshī wèn wǒ shì bu shì Zhōngguó rén.	The teacher asked if I was Chinese.	reported question
他说："我很忙。"	Tā shuō: "Wǒ hěn máng."	He said: "I'm busy."	direct quote
妈妈让我早点回来。	Māma ràng wǒ zǎo diǎn huílái.	Mom told me to come home early.	reported command
医生说要多休息。	Yīshēng shuō yào duō xiūxi.	The doctor said to rest more.	reported advice
她问我去不去。	Tā wèn wǒ qù bu qù.	She asked if I was going.	reported yes/no question
他认为这个很重要。	Tā rènwéi zhège hěn zhòngyào.	He thinks this is important.	opinion
朋友告诉我那个地方很好玩。	Péngyǒu gàosu wǒ nàge dìfāng hěn hǎowán.	A friend told me that place is fun.	relay
大家都说中文很难。	Dàjiā dōu shuō Zhōngwén hěn nán.	Everyone says Chinese is hard.	general report

Common Mistakes

Applying English tense backshifting

• Wrong: Thinking you need to change tenses in reported speech
• Right: Keep the original tense: 他说他很忙 (He said he is busy) -- no shift needed
• Why: Chinese has no grammatical tense system, so there is nothing to shift.

Confusing 说 and 告诉

• Wrong: 他说我他要走了。
• Right: 他告诉我他要走了。(He told me he was leaving.)
• Why: 说 = say (no recipient needed); 告诉 = tell (requires a recipient before the content).

Using 吗 in reported questions

• Wrong: 他问我去吗。
• Right: 他问我去不去。or 他问我是不是要去。
• Why: Reported yes/no questions typically use the verb-not-verb pattern rather than 吗.

Practice Tips

• Practice retelling conversations: after a chat, summarize what the other person said using 他/她说...
• Notice that Chinese reported speech is almost identical to direct speech -- just add a reporting verb at the beginning.
• Use 觉得 and 认为 to report opinions: 他觉得..., 大家认为...

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Sentence Structure -- understand clause structure before embedding it in reports