Tracking Sources Through Nested Reports

Level 6

Writer reports Sara → Sara reports Reza → Reza reports arrival.

How It Works

Start at the outside. سارا گفت is the narrator’s statement about Sara speaking. Its following که introduces what Sara said; it does not make Sara the subject of every later verb.

Find the next report. رضا گفته است identifies Reza as the inner source. Its following که introduces the claim نامه رسیده است. نامه is the arriving thing; neither Sara nor Reza becomes the arrived object.

Keep polarity at its own layer. سارا نگفت که رضا نامه را فرستاده است denies that particular report from Sara. It does not by itself assert that Reza failed to send the letter. Negating a report and negating its event are different claims.

Track the passage’s commitment. A writer may later confirm arrival or reject Reza’s account. Until that happens, read the chain as attributed information. Use explicit names when repeated او would make the chain’s sources or actors unclear.

Examples (4)

  1. سارا گفت که رضا گفته است که نامه رسیده است.

    Sara said that Reza has said that the letter has arrived.

  2. سارا نگفت که رضا نامه را فرستاده است.

    Sara did not say that Reza has sent the letter.

    The denial concerns Sara’s report.

  3. سارا گفت که رضا نامه را نفرستاده است.

    Sara said that Reza has not sent the letter.

    The embedded sending event is negative.

  4. به گفتهٔ سارا، رضا می‌گوید که نامه رسیده است.

    According to Sara, Reza says that the letter has arrived.

How It Connects

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

Tracking Sources Through Nested ReportsLevel 6

Learn This First

Identify a report’s subject and complement. Keep a source phrase separate from the event’s actor. Read the embedded completed-event predicates.