wí pé

Reporting What Was Said

Level 2

Speaker + wí + pé + content clause.

How It Works

Put the speaker before wí, then introduce the statement with pé. The content has its own subject and predicate. Context, time expressions and appropriate preverbal markers frame the saying event. Neither wí nor pé takes an ending agreeing with the speaker's person or number.

Compare Mo gbàgbọ́ pé Bísí ti dé, “I believe that Bísí has arrived,” with Mo wí pé Bísí ti dé, “I said that Bísí has arrived.” The proposition stays the same, but the second attributes it to an act of saying. The textbook also attests sọ pé as a reporting expression. An indirect report can convey the substance of a statement without quotation marks or exact wording. Pronoun reference and time reference depend on the reporting context; a marker inside the content clause describes that clause's event.

Examples (3)

  1. Bísí wí pé ìpàdé yóò bẹ̀rẹ̀ ọla.

    Bísí said that the meeting would start tomorrow.

    Yóò frames the meeting's start; ọla means tomorrow.

  2. Mo wí pé a nílò omi.

    I said that we need water.

    Mo identifies the speaker; a identifies the group needing water.

  3. Wọ́n wí pé ilẹ̀kùn náà ti ṣí.

    They said that the door was already open.

    Ti belongs to the content about the door.

How It Connects

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

wí péLevel 2Reporting What Was Said

Learn This First

Wí pé means “say that,” followed by the reported content.