Ordstilling

Indirekte tale på engelsk: sådan rykker du tiden tilbage

Niveau B1 Ordstilling
Hovedidé

Når du på engelsk genfortæller, hvad nogen har sagt, rykker tiden som regel ét trin tilbage: nutid bliver datid, 'will' bliver 'would', og 'can' bliver 'could'. 'I am busy' bliver til He said (that) he was busy, 'I will call' bliver til She told me she would call, og 'we can help' bliver til They said they could help. Husk at 'that' er valgfrit, og at både pronominer og tidsord skifter: 'here' bliver 'there', og 'tomorrow' bliver 'the next day'. På dansk laver vi ikke altid det samme tilbageryk efter datids udsagnsverbum, så pas på ikke at overføre den danske vane direkte til engelsk.

Eksempler

  • He said (that) he was busy. reporting 'I am busy'
  • She told me she would call. reporting 'I will call'
  • They said they could help. reporting 'we can help'

Hele lektionen

Alt i videoen, som tekst.

  1. Reported speech

    det de sagde, et skridt tilbage

    Nogen fortæller dig noget. Du giver det videre, og laver en fejl næsten alle laver.

  2. 🗣️

    Reporting? Shift the tense one step back.

    Når du gengiver, hvad nogen sagde, rykker du som regel tiden et skridt tilbage i fortid. Det kaldes <t>backshift</t>.

  3. Et skridt tilbage

    they said
    • am / is / are
    • will
    • can
    • have
    you report
    • was / were
    • would
    • could
    • had

    De oprindelige ord var sande i det øjeblik, de blev sagt. Når du gengiver dem senere, på afstand, viser du afstanden ved at rykke verbet tilbage.

  4. He said (that) he was busy.

    am → was

    Start nemt. Han sagde: <t>I am busy</t>. Nutid bliver datid, og <t>I</t> bliver <t>he</t>. He said (that) he was busy.

  5. She told me she would call.

    will → would

    <t>Will</t> går tilbage til <t>would</t>. Hun sagde: <t>I will call</t>. She told me she would call.

  6. They said they could help.

    can → could

    <t>Can</t> går tilbage til <t>could</t>. De sagde: <t>We can help</t>. They said they could help.

  7. said vs told

    said
    • He said he was late.
    • ingen person
    told
    • He told me he was late.
    • told + nogen

    Læg mærke til to små ord. <t>Said</t> kræver ingen person. <t>Told</t> gør: du siger noget til nogen.

  8. She said she would leave the next day.

    tomorrow → the next day

    Tidsord ændrer sig også. <t>Tomorrow</t>, gengivet senere, bliver <t>the next day</t>. She said she would leave the next day.

  9. He said he liked it there.

    here → there

    Og stedsord. <t>Here</t> bliver <t>there</t>, når du gengiver det fra et andet sted. He said he liked it there.

  10. ✗ She said she is tired. tid ikke rykket
    ✓ She said she was tired. is → was

    Gengivelse i datid? Ryk også verbet tilbage.

    Her er den klassiske fejl. Gengivelsen er i datid, så lad ikke verbet stå i nutid. Det er ikke <t>she said she is tired</t>: ryk det tilbage.

  11. 💡

    Still true now? You can skip the backshift.

    En nuance. Hvis det stadig er sandt nu, en kendsgerning der ikke har ændret sig, må du beholde nutid. <t>He said he lives in Rome</t> er fint.

  12. "That" is optional — keep it or drop it.

    Og det lille ord <t>that</t> er altid valgfrit. Tag det med eller drop det: begge dele virker.

  13. Husk

    • Verbet → et skridt tilbage
    • Stedord og tid/sted ændres
    • that er valgfrit

    Kort: verbet et skridt tilbage, stedord og tidsord justeret, og <t>that</t> valgfrit. Det er indirekte tale.

Relaterede lektioner

Engelske relative clauses: who, which og thatIndirekte tale på engelsk: spørgsmål og kommandoer