Reported Forms Across Tenses

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Reported forms exist for every time: now, before and later. Утре ќе дојдел. (He will come tomorrow, they say.)

How It Works

A partner for every tense. When you pass on something you heard, each ordinary tense has a reported partner. Almost all of them are built from the l-form:

  • present → l-form from the imperfect: работи → работел; е → бил
  • imperfect → the same form: работеше → работел
  • aorist → l-form: дојде → дошол; see reported forms
  • future → ќе + l-form from the imperfect: ќе дојде → ќе дојдел
  • negative future → немало да: нема да дојде → немало да дојде
  • past perfect → бил + l-form: беше дошол → бил дошол (less common; many speakers use the plain l-form); see бил + л-форма
  • have-perfect → имал: има видено → имал видено; see имал + -но

Now or before? The reported present and the reported imperfect look the same. Тој бил болен can mean "he is sick, I hear" or "he was sick, I hear". Time words such as сега and вчера make it clear.

The future. After ќе, use the l-form made from the imperfect stem: дојдеше → дојдел, речеше → речел. So the usual form is Утре ќе дојдел; ќе дошол is rare. The same form also reports "would": Ќе дојдел, ама се разболел. (He would have come, but he got sick, they say.) For I and you, the forms of сум stay: ќе сум дојдел, ќе си дојдел. For he, she, it and they, they drop: ќе дојдел, ќе дојделе.

Where you meet it. Retold plans, news and rumors: Утре немало да има настава. (There will be no classes tomorrow, apparently.) Words such as наводно often go with these forms, and news reports use them with care; see reported forms in the news.

Examples (6)

  1. Тој сега работел во Германија.

    He works in Germany now, I hear.

    Word by Word: He now worked in Germany.

    Сега shows that the reported form means the present here.

  2. Нина сега била во Охрид.

    Nina is in Ohrid now, they say.

    Word by Word: Nina now was in Ohrid.

  3. Марко утре ќе дојдел.

    Marko will come tomorrow, they say.

    Word by Word: Marko tomorrow will came.

  4. Утре немало да има настава.

    There will be no classes tomorrow, apparently.

    Word by Word: Tomorrow not-had to has classes.

  5. Кога стигнале, возот веќе бил заминал.

    When they arrived, the train had already left, they say.

    Word by Word: When they-arrived, the-train already been left.

  6. Таа веќе имала видено сѐ.

    She has already seen everything, they say.

    Word by Word: She already had seen everything.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting a reported l-form after нема да.

    Утре нема да дојдел.
    Утре немало да дојде.

    In the negative, нема becomes немало, and the verb after да stays in the present: немало да дојде. Bookish style also has не ќе дојдел.

How It Connects

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

Reported Forms Across TensesLevel 5

Learn This First

Reported forms across tenses build on reported forms and ќе.