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18<br />

Indirect<br />

speech<br />

122<br />

Erik: Ik zei dat ik vanavond naar voetbal kijk.<br />

I said that I’ll be watching football tonight.<br />

Indirect statements are often introduced with phrases that include the<br />

v<strong>er</strong>bs zeggen ‘say’, denken ‘think’, v<strong>er</strong>tellen ‘tell’, menen ‘think, have an<br />

opinion’, vinden ‘think, have an opinion’, bew<strong>er</strong>en ‘maintain’, antwoorden<br />

‘answ<strong>er</strong>’ and oth<strong>er</strong>s. An indirect statement always begins with dat.<br />

Indirect questions are introduced by a question word (wie, wat, waar,<br />

wanne<strong>er</strong>, hoe, waarom, etc.) or, if the question is a yes/no question, by<br />

of ‘if, wheth<strong>er</strong>’. Indirect questions might be introduced with phrases such<br />

as ik wil weten ...‘I want to know . . .’, kunt u mij v<strong>er</strong>tellen ...‘can you<br />

tell me ...’ mag ik even vragen ...‘may I ask . . .’ and the like.<br />

Now, imagine a situation wh<strong>er</strong>e Pet<strong>er</strong> is on the phone to Karin (who<br />

is staying with a friend in Amst<strong>er</strong>dam) while Sanne is in the room with<br />

him. Ev<strong>er</strong>y now and then Sanne throws in a question or comment which<br />

Pet<strong>er</strong> then relates to Karin. This goes as follows:<br />

Sanne: Heeft ze het leuk?<br />

Is she having a good time?<br />

Pet<strong>er</strong>: Mama vraagt of je het leuk hebt.<br />

Mom asks if you’re having a good time.<br />

Sanne: Wat doet ze allemaal?<br />

What is she doing?<br />

Pet<strong>er</strong>: Mama wil weten wat je allemaal doet.<br />

Mom wants to know what you’re doing.<br />

Sanne: Zeg maar tegen haar dat ze naar het Van Goghmuseum<br />

moet gaan.<br />

Tell h<strong>er</strong> that she should go to the Van Gogh Museum.<br />

Pet<strong>er</strong>: Mama zegt dat je naar het Van Goghmuseum moet gaan.<br />

Mom says that you should go to the Van Gogh Museum.<br />

As you can see in the examples above, the subject of the indirect statement<br />

or question depends on who addresses whom and how many people<br />

are involved in the exchange of information. Note that also possessive<br />

pronouns will change. More examples:<br />

Sanne to Erik: Je wordt een beetje te dik.<br />

You’re gaining a little too much weight.<br />

Erik to a friend: Sanne zegt dat ik te dik word.<br />

Grandpa and Grandma Beum<strong>er</strong> to Pet<strong>er</strong>: We gaan dit jaar ons huis<br />

v<strong>er</strong>kopen.<br />

We’re going to sell our house this year.<br />

Pet<strong>er</strong> to Erik: Opa en oma Beum<strong>er</strong> zeiden dat ze dit jaar hun huis<br />

gaan v<strong>er</strong>kopen.

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