Di-tuwirang Pananalita — Reported Speech

Relaying what people said: sabi niya na…, the reportative daw, and tinanong kung…

Conversation is full of relaying: "She said she'll come." "He asked if you're free." "They say it's closed." That's reported (indirect) speech, and Tagalog handles it with a few reliable tools — the quotative sabi, the little reportative particle daw/raw, and (a callback to Lesson 9) kung for reported questions. Best of all, Tagalog has no awkward tense-backshift like English — the aspect stays put.

1. Direct vs. Reported

Direct speech quotes the exact words; reported speech folds them into your sentence, shifting the pronouns to your point of view:

Notice two shifts: the quote-marks give way to the linker na, and ako ("I", Ana's word) becomes siya ("she", your word). The verb pupunta — its aspect — does not change.

2. sabi / sinabi: "He Said (That)…"

The everyday quotative is sabi (+ ni/nila for the speaker). More formally you'll see sinabi (the object-focus verb "said"):

FrameExample
Sabi ni [speaker] na…Sabi ni Ben na uuwi siya. — Ben said he'll go home.
Sabi niya na…Sabi niya na busy siya. — She said she's busy.
Sinabi ni [speaker] na…Sinabi ng guro na may pasok bukas. — The teacher said there's class tomorrow.
No backshift — keep the aspect. English shifts "will → would," "is → was" in reported speech. Tagalog doesn't. If the original was pupunta (contemplated), it stays pupunta; if it was kumakain (imperfective), it stays. You only change the pronouns to match who's speaking now.

3. The Reportative daw / raw

The single most Filipino way to report is the enclitic particle daw (after a consonant) / raw (after a vowel) — "reportedly / they say / (someone) said." It slips into the sentence and instantly marks the info as second-hand:

daw/raw shields you from the claim. Using it says "this isn't my own knowledge — I'm passing it on." It's everywhere in Filipino gossip, news relay, and everyday hedging. Position: it sits right after the first word/phrase, like other enclitics (na, pa, ba).

4. Reporting Questions with kung

To report a question, use a "tanong" verb (nagtanong, tinanong) plus kung ("whether/if") — exactly the embedded-question kung from Lesson 9:

Yes/no questions take kung; "wh-" questions keep their question word (saan, ano, kailan) after the reporting verb: Tinanong niya kung ano ang gusto ko.

5. Ayon kay: "According To"

To attribute information to a source — common in news and careful speech — use ayon kay (+ name) / ayon sa (+ common noun):

graph TD D["Direct speech
Ana: 'Pupunta ako.'"] --> R{"Report it"} R -- "quotative" --> S["Sabi ni Ana na pupunta siya."] R -- "reportative particle" --> P["Pupunta raw si Ana."] R -- "attribute a source" --> A["Ayon kay Ana, pupunta siya."] style S fill:#0984e3,color:#fff style P fill:#00cec9,color:#fff style A fill:#6c5ce7,color:#fff

Practice — Report What Was Said

Exercise 1: daw or raw?

Choose the correct form (raw after a vowel, daw after a consonant):

Exercise 2: Shift the pronoun

Report the quote — give the pronoun that replaces the speaker's "ako":

Exercise 3: Report the question

Fill in the word that introduces a reported yes/no question:

Exercise 4: Keep the aspect (no backshift)

The quote's verb stays the same aspect — supply it:

Exercise 5: "According to"

Fill in kay (before a name) or sa (before a common noun):

Where This Takes You

You can now relay speech three ways: the quotative sabi/sinabi … na, the reportative particle daw/raw ("they say"), and reported questions with kung (Lesson 9 again) — plus ayon kay/sa to name a source. Remember the two habits: shift the pronouns, keep the aspect (no backshift). Next we push conditionals into the unreal: hypotheticals with sana and counterfactual "if."