Reporting Verbs in the News

Level 5

In the news, a quote often comes first, followed by the verb and then the speaker with -k: «Pozik gaude», adierazi du alkateak ("We are happy," the mayor has said).

How It Works

1. The most common verbs.

  • esan: say
  • adierazi: state, declare
  • azaldu: explain
  • gaineratu: add
  • nabarmendu, azpimarratu: stress, highlight
  • zehaztu: specify
  • jakinarazi: announce, report
  • salatu: denounce, complain publicly
  • ohartarazi: warn
  • aitortu: admit

Journalists vary these verbs so that a long report does not repeat esan in every line.

2. After a direct quote. The order is quote, verb, auxiliary, speaker: «Ez dugu amore emango», nabarmendu du sindikatuko bozeramaileak. The speaker has ergative -k because the verb is transitive.

3. Indirect speech. Use a -(e)la clause, and news style prefers to put the saying verb early: Ministroak azaldu du neurriak datorren astean sartuko direla indarrean. The Berria style book also warns against a half-and-half mix: put the whole sentence inside the quotation marks as direct speech, or report it without them. Do not quote a verb that already has -la.

4. "According to". With -(e)nez, the verb becomes a source: Poliziak jakinarazi duenez, ez da inor zauritu (According to the police, nobody was hurt).

5. Watch out for azaldu. Azaldu has two meanings. With du it means explain: azaldu du. With da it means appear or show up: Ez da bilerara azaldu (He did not show up at the meeting). For reporting speech, always use du.

Tip: Check the tense against the day. Today's statements take the present perfect; yesterday's take the simple past: atzo adierazi zuen.

Examples (6)

  1. «Pozik gaude», adierazi du alkateak.

    "We are happy," the mayor has said.

  2. «Ez dugu amore emango», nabarmendu du sindikatuko bozeramaileak.

    "We will not give in," the union spokesperson has stressed.

  3. Ministroak azaldu du neurriak datorren astean sartuko direla indarrean.

    The minister has explained that the measures will come into force next week.

  4. Poliziak jakinarazi duenez, ez da inor zauritu.

    According to the police, nobody was hurt.

    Literally: as the police have announced.

  5. Bozeramaileak gaineratu du ez dagoela beste aukerarik.

    The spokesperson has added that there is no other option.

  6. Herritarrek salatu dute autobusak beti berandu iristen direla.

    Residents have complained that the buses always arrive late.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the speaker without -k.

    «Pozik gaude», adierazi du alkatea.
    «Pozik gaude», adierazi du alkateak.

    adierazi is transitive, so the speaker is in the ergative: alkateak.

  • Using azaldu with da.

    «Egoera larria da», azaldu da ministroa.
    «Egoera larria da», azaldu du ministroak.

    azaldu da means appeared or showed up. To explain, azaldu takes du, and the speaker takes -k.

  • Quoting a verb that already has -la.

    «Pozik gaudela», adierazi du alkateak.
    «Pozik gaude», adierazi du alkateak.

    Inside quotation marks, give the exact words: gaude. The -la form belongs to indirect speech without quotation marks: Alkateak adierazi du pozik daudela.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Reporting Verbs in the NewsLevel 5

Learn This First

Reporting verbs follow reported speech and dio.

Words in This Pattern

adieraziazaldugaineratunabarmendujakinarazisalatu