Reporting Past Events: wier / hätt + Participle

Reporting Past Events: Wier and Hätt + Participle

Level 6

To report what someone said about the past, use wier or hätt with the participle: Si sot, si wier scho fortgaangen. (She said she had already left.)

How It Works

1. How it is built
Start from the perfect of the original words. Keep the same auxiliary as in the perfect with hunn or the perfect with sinn, but use its conditional form wier or hätt:

  • «Ech si scho fortgaangen.» → Si sot, si wier scho fortgaangen. (She said she had already left.)
  • «Ech hu mäi Schlëssel verluer.» → Hie mengt, hien hätt säi Schlëssel verluer. (He thinks he has lost his key.)

The simple past of the original words works the same way: «Et war perfekt.» → Si seet, et wier perfekt gewiescht.

2. With or without datt
Without datt, the reported clause keeps the verb in second place. With datt, the verb goes to the end, after the participle:

  • D'Anni seet, de Jempi wier krank gewiescht.
  • D'Anni seet, datt de Jempi krank gewiescht wier. (Anni says that Jempi was ill.)

3. Why use it
The conditional keeps a distance: the speaker passes on the claim without saying it is true. That is why the news uses it so often: D'Police seet, de Chauffeur wier vill ze séier gefuer. In everyday talk, you will also hear the normal perfect after datt: Si sot, datt si scho fortgaangen ass. See reported speech.

4. Past or present?
The participle moves the report into the past. Si sot, si wier krank reports that she is ill. Si sot, si wier krank gewiescht reports that she was ill.

5. Same form, different job
The same forms also express the unreal past: Wann ech dat gewosst hätt, ... After a verb of saying or thinking, they report words. In a condition or a wish, they describe something that did not happen.

6. Plural forms
In the plural, use wieren and hätten, which lose their n before most consonants because of the n-rule: Si soten, si wiere scho fortgaangen.

Examples (6)

  1. Si sot, si wier scho fortgaangen.

    She said she had already left.

    Fortgoen takes sinn in the perfect, so the report uses wier.

  2. Hie mengt, hien hätt säi Schlëssel verluer.

    He thinks he has lost his key.

    Verléieren takes hunn in the perfect, so the report uses hätt.

  3. Si seet, et wier perfekt gewiescht.

    She says it was perfect.

    Her own words were Et war perfekt. The simple past also becomes wier with the participle.

  4. De Minister seet, hien hätt vun näischt gewosst.

    The minister says he knew nothing about it.

    A typical news sentence: the reporter passes on the claim without confirming it.

  5. D'Police seet, de Chauffeur wier vill ze séier gefuer.

    The police say the driver was going much too fast.

  6. D'Anni seet, datt de Jempi krank gewiescht wier.

    Anni says that Jempi was ill.

    After datt, wier moves to the very end, after the participle.

Common Mistakes

  • Using hätt with a verb that takes sinn in the perfect.

    Si sot, si hätt scho fortgaangen.
    Si sot, si wier scho fortgaangen.

    Keep the auxiliary of the perfect: si ass fortgaangen becomes si wier fortgaangen.

  • Using géif with a participle.

    Hie sot, hie géif säi Schlëssel verluer.
    Hie sot, hien hätt säi Schlëssel verluer.

    Géif goes with an infinitive, not a participle. For a reported past event, use hätt or wier with the participle.

  • Adding a participle when the report is about now (intended meaning: she said she is ill).

    Si sot, si wier krank gewiescht.
    Si sot, si wier krank.

    Wier krank gewiescht means she was ill before. For a present state, use wier alone.

How It Connects

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

Reporting Past Events: wier / hätt + ParticipleLevel 6Reporting Past Events: Wier and Hätt + Participle

Learn This First

Before Reporting Past Events: Wier and Hätt + Participle, learn Reported Speech and Unreal Past: Hätt or Wier + Participle.

Words in This Pattern

hunn