Reporting what someone said

The pattern

A reported statement starts with dat, a reported question with of or a question word. After that word, the subject and verb are not swapped and the verbs go to the end, as in any subordinate clause (a sentence inside a sentence).

• Statements: zeggen, vertellen, schrijven or laten weten plus dat: Sanne zei dat de trein vertraging had.
• Yes or no questions: vragen or willen weten plus of: Hij vroeg of ik koffie wilde.
• Other questions: keep wie, wat, waar, wanneer, hoe or waarom: Ze vroeg waarom ik te laat was.
• English often drops that. Dutch keeps dat.
• Pronouns and time words shift to your point of view: ik becomes hij or zij, morgen may become de volgende dag.
• The tense often moves one step back: ben becomes was, heb gedaan becomes had gedaan, zal becomes zou.

Examples

Why it works this way

Think of yourself as a reporter. The other person's words become a piece of information inside your own sentence, and once they are inside, they follow the rules of any subordinate clause. A reported question is no longer a real question, so it loses its question order, just like in indirect questions such as Weet jij of de winkel open is?

Everything that points at a person, a place or a moment is recalculated from your chair:

• "Ik ben ziek," zei Fatima. becomes Fatima zei dat ze ziek was.
• "Woon je hier al lang?" vroeg Carlos. becomes, told later at work, Carlos vroeg of ik daar al lang woonde.
• "Wat heb je gisteren gedaan?" vroeg Emma. becomes Emma vroeg wat ik de dag ervoor had gedaan.

The usual time swaps are vandaag to die dag, morgen to de volgende dag, gisteren to de dag ervoor and nu to toen. Change a time word whenever it would now point to a different moment than the speaker meant. If Joris asked you this morning, Joris vroeg of ik morgen kom is exactly right, because his morgen is still your morgen. If he asked yesterday, his morgen is today: Joris vroeg gisteren of ik vandaag kom.

The tense follows the same logic, loosely. One step back is the normal choice when you retell a past situation. When something is still true or still ahead, speakers often keep the present: Mei zei dat ze in Utrecht woont tells you she lives there now. Mei zei dat ze in Utrecht woonde is also correct, but leaves open whether she still does. For zal becoming zou, see zou and zouden.

English if and Spanish si cover both conditions and reported questions. Dutch splits that job: als for conditions, of for reported questions.

Remember: report from your own chair. Ask who ik is now, where hier is now and which day morgen is now, then park the verbs at the end of the clause that dat, of or the question word opens.

Watch out

• نادرستDaan zei dat hij was moe.

  درستDaan zei dat hij moe was.

  after dat, the verb goes to the end

• نادرستMei vroeg als ik meeging.

  درستMei vroeg of ik meeging.

  a reported yes or no question uses of; als is the if of conditions

• نادرستDe conducteur vroeg waar ging ik naartoe.

  درستDe conducteur vroeg waar ik naartoe ging.

  no question order inside a reported question

• نادرستLotte zei dat ze komt vanavond langs.

  درستLotte zei dat ze vanavond langskomt.

  a separable verb like langskomen joins up again at the end

Quick check

Use it today

This evening, retell one conversation from your day in Dutch, in a message or out loud: one thing someone said with dat and one thing someone asked with of or a question word. For example: Mijn collega vroeg of ik morgen op kantoor ben.