Reporting What Someone Said
Управни говор (Direct speech) quotes exact words inside quotation marks („...”).
Неуправни говор (Indirect speech) converts the quote into a complex sentence with a reporting verb and a subordinate clause (e.g. да, да ли, or question words).
How It Works
When switching between direct and indirect speech in Serbian, pay attention to four crucial shifts: clause connectors, punctuation, tense anchoring, and person/deictic perspective.
1. Clause Connectors and Punctuation by Sentence Type
Quotation marks and colon collocations are dropped, and subordinate content clauses introduced by да do not take a comma before the conjunction.
- Declarative statements: attach with the conjunction да (e.g., Марко каже: „Уморан сам.” → Марко каже да је уморан) or occasionally како (e.g., Рекао је како је све завршио).
- Yes/No questions: attach with да ли or verb-first with the clitic ли (e.g., Питао ме је знам ли одговор). The sentence ends with a period unless the main clause itself is a direct question.
- Wh-questions: retain the original question word via indirect questions (e.g., где, када, зашто).
- Imperatives and requests: direct imperatives cannot stand inside indirect clauses; they convert into да + present tense (e.g., Рекао ми је да дођем) or third-person directives with нека + present (e.g., Рекао је нека уђу).
2. Relative Tense Anchoring (No Mechanical Backshifting)
Serbian does not observe English-style consecutio temporum. The tense inside the subordinate clause reflects the time relative to the reporting verb / matrix event (or retains the tense of the original direct utterance):
- Simultaneity: Use the present tense (Рекао је да ради = 'He said he was working [at that time]').
- Prior event: Use the ordinary past tense (Рекао је да је радио = 'He said he had worked / worked').
- Posterior event: Use the future tense (Рекао је да ће доћи = 'He said he would come').
3. Person and Deictic Shifts
Pronouns and verb person inflections shift according to the reporting speech act's participants (who is speaking to whom), shifting to 3rd person only when reporting non-participants. For instance, self-reporting preserves the 1st person (Рекао сам да сам уморан), reporting the listener's words retains the 2nd person (Рекао си да ћеш доћи), and a command directed to the speaker shifts from 2nd person to 1st person (Рекао ми је да му помогнем). Deictic adverbs adjust to the reporting context: данас becomes тог дана, сутра becomes сутрадан or следећег дана, and овде becomes ту or тамо.
4. Word Order and Clitic Placement
Follow standard clitic ordering rules: clitic pronouns and auxiliaries attach directly in the second position of the subordinate clause, immediately following complementizers like да or да ли.
Examples (6)
- Марко ми је рекао: „Сутра ћу завршити цео посао.”
Marko said to me: "I will finish the entire job tomorrow."
Word by Word: Marko to-me is said: "Tomorrow I-will finish whole job."
Direct speech with quotation marks and a colon after the introductory reporting clause.
- Марко ми је рекао да ће сутрадан завршити цео посао.
Marko told me that he would finish the entire job the next day.
Word by Word: Marko to-me is said that will next-day finish whole job.
Indirect speech conversion: the statement uses 'да', 'сутра' shifts to 'сутрадан', and the future tense remains future relative to the speech event.
- Ана је упитала Милана: „Да ли си понео кључеве?”
Ana asked Milan: "Did you bring the keys?"
Word by Word: Ana is asked Milan: "Whether are brought keys?"
Direct yes/no question ending with a question mark inside quotation marks.
- Ана је упитала Милана да ли је понео кључеве.
Ana asked Milan whether he had brought the keys.
Word by Word: Ana is asked Milan whether is brought keys.
Indirect question embedded with 'да ли'. Note that the sentence ends with a period, not a question mark.
- Професор је наредио ученицима: „Отворите књиге на педесетој страни!”
The teacher ordered the students: "Open your books to page fifty!"
Word by Word: Teacher is ordered students: "Open books on fiftieth page!"
Direct command using the imperative mood in quotation marks.
- Професор је наредио ученицима да отворе књиге на педесетој страни.
The teacher ordered the students to open their books to page fifty.
Word by Word: Teacher is ordered students that open books on fiftieth page.
Indirect command where the imperative transforms into 'да + present tense'.
Common Mistakes
Using the past ('је био уморан') when the tiredness is simultaneous with speaking.
Different MeaningРекао је да је био уморан у том тренутку.Рекао је да је уморан у том тренутку.'Рекао је да је био уморан у том тренутку' is correct, but it says he had been tired earlier. If he said 'I am tired', Serbian reports it with the present: 'Рекао је да је уморан.'
Placing a question mark at the end of an indirect question.
Питао ме је да ли знам одговор?Питао ме је да ли знам одговор.An indirect question functions as a subordinate clause within a declarative sentence. The sentence must end with a full stop, not a question mark.
Misplacing clitics after the subordinating conjunction.
Рекао је да урадио је то.Рекао је да је то урадио.Clitics (such as the auxiliary 'је') must strictly occupy the second structural slot of the subordinate clause, attaching directly to 'да'.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To shift between direct speech and indirect reported speech (управни и неуправни говор), learners need to know how to structure subordinate clauses using 'да' after declarative verbs, use the past tense (перфекат) for reporting frameworks, and accurately shift and order pronominal enclitics in the subordinate clause.
- мислити да / мислити оSaying What You Think
Reported speech relies fundamentally on complement clauses introduced by the conjunction 'да' following reporting verbs.
Level 2 - бити + Active ParticipleOrdinary Past Tense
Speech is routinely reported after the event occurred, requiring competence in forming reporting verbs and shifting temporal context using the past tense.
Level 2 - Short Pronouns and Clitic Order
Converting direct quotes to indirect reporting involves shifting pronouns and placing clitics in their grammatically correct positions within the reported clause.
Level 2
Related Patterns
- Time in Reported Speech
Explains how relative time functions in reported clauses without mechanical backshifting.
Level 6 - да лиReporting a Yes or No Question
Details how to report yes/no questions using the complementizer 'да ли'.
Level 4 - Embedded Wh Questions
Covers how to report interrogative sentences that begin with question words like 'где', 'шта', or 'ко'.
Level 4 - Free Indirect Discourse
Examines literary free indirect discourse, where indirect speech is used without reporting verbs or conjunctions.
Level 6
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