Complement a / nga

Reporting a Thought or Fact

Level 3

Imbaga ni Teresa a napan ni Mario. — Teresa said that Mario went.

How It Works

Build an indirect report from a reporting predicate, its actor, a linker, and a content clause. The embedded clause retains its predicate, aspect and participant marking. Its actor need not be the reporter. The linker has no person or number agreement.

The 2022 convention followed here selects nga before a following vowel sound and a before a consonant sound. Constantino records nga before consonant-initial complements too; those source-variety forms are grammatical. The 2020 manual recognizes multiple linker styles, including all-nga usage.

A relative clause describes a noun; this complement states reported content. Direct quotation preserves a speaker's viewpoint. Other governing predicates have their own complement frames: shared-actor desire and adjective complements cannot be generalized from reporting. These examples support saying constructions but do not establish the complement selection of every thinking or knowing verb.

Examples (3)

  1. Imbaga ni Teresa a napan ni Mario.

    Teresa said that Mario went.

    The embedded actor differs from the reporter.

  2. Imbagak nga adda ti danum ditoy.

    I said that there was water here.

    Nga precedes the vowel-initial existential predicate.

  3. Imbagada nga agawidkami inton bigat.

    They said that we, excluding you, would go home tomorrow.

    The reporters and embedded actors have different reference.

How It Connects

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

Complement a / ngaLevel 3Reporting a Thought or Fact

Learn This First

A linker introduces the content of an indirect report.