B1 · Joining sentences · about 7 minutes
What somebody said: reported speech with że, czy, żeby
reported speech
Polish does not shift the tense back in reported speech: the tense of the original stays, only persons and pronouns change.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need5
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- spotkaniemeeting
- obiecaćto promise
- zdrowyhealthy, well
- umyćto wash
- opowiadaćto tell (a story)
Understand
RememberReported speech: że, czy or żeby — and the tense the speaker used.
- Signal words
- powiedział
- mówi
- zapytał
- że
- czy
- żeby
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Polish.
question marker
| statement | Mówi, że jest zmęczony. |
| told in the past | Powiedziała, że jest chora. |
| the future stays future | Powiedział, że przyjdzie jutro. |
| yes-no question | Zapytał, czy mam czas. |
| question with a question word | Zapytała, gdzie mieszkam. |
| request, instruction | Powiedziała, żebym zadzwonił. |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
There is no special form: że and the ordinary tense.
Marek mówi, że ma dużo pracy.Marek says he has a lot of work.
The tense stays that of the original sentence.
Kasia powiedziała, że jest w domu.Kasia said she was at home (she is at home).
What somebody planned stays in the future.
Piotr napisał, że przyjedzie w piątek.Piotr wrote that he would come on Friday.
Questions are reported with czy or the question word.
Lekarz zapytał, czy palę.The doctor asked whether I smoke.
Requests are reported with żeby.
Mama prosi, żebyś kupił chleb.Mum is asking you to buy some bread. (to a man)
Example sentences
Ania mówi, że nie może przyjść.Ania says she can’t come.
Szef powiedział, że spotkanie jest o dziesiątej.The boss said the meeting was at ten.
Zapytałem, ile kosztuje bilet.I asked how much the ticket was. (a man speaking)
7 more example sentences
Piotr pyta, czy idziemy z nim do kina.Piotr is asking whether we are going to the cinema with him.
Powiedziała, że wróci późno.She said she would be back late.
Sąsiad poprosił, żebyśmy byli ciszej.The neighbour asked us to be quieter.
Babcia pyta, kiedy przyjedziemy.Gran is asking when we are coming.
Piotr twierdzi, że nic nie wie.Piotr claims he knows nothing.
Kelner zapytał, co podać.The waiter asked what he could bring.
Nauczycielka powiedziała, żebyśmy przeczytali ten tekst.The teacher told us to read this text.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English shifts the tense back when you report in the past: “She said she was ill.” Carried over, that gives była chora, which in Polish means she had been ill earlier. If she was ill when she said it, the present stays: jest chora.
Quick check
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Practise
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Next on the path: 71 · Numbers for groups of men: dwaj, dwóch, pięciuBack to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
When English reports what somebody said, it shifts the tense back: “I am tired” becomes “he said he was tired”. Polish does not. You take że and the sentence as it was: Mówi, że jest zmęczony. Only the person changes — jestem becomes jest, mój becomes jego.
The tense stays as it was in the original sentence, even when you are telling the story in the past. Ania said: Jestem chora. That becomes Ania powiedziała, że jest chora — literally “Ania said that she is ill”. Piotr said: Przyjdę jutro. That becomes Piotr powiedział, że przyjdzie jutro — “that he will come”, not “would come”. Nothing moves.
Questions are reported with czy or the question word: Zapytał, czy mam czas, Zapytała, gdzie mieszkam. Requests and instructions with żeby and the -ł form: Zadzwoń! becomes Powiedziała, żebym zadzwonił when Piotr tells it, and żebym zadzwoniła when Ania does — English “she told me to ring”.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
Keeping your distance
English keeps its distance with “apparently” or “supposedly”. Polish uses the verb of saying — mówi, że, twierdzi, że (claims that) — or podobno (apparently): Podobno jest chory — apparently he is ill.
Podobno Marek ma nową dziewczynę.Apparently Marek has a new girlfriend.
Worth knowing
Persons and pronouns change as in English
What does change is the same as in English: the person and the pronouns. Kasia says Mój brat mieszka w Berlinie. You report: Kasia mówi, że jej brat mieszka w Berlinie. With żeby you also fit the ending to the person who is to do something: żebym, żebyś, żeby, żebyśmy.
Kasia mówi, że jej brat mieszka w Berlinie.Kasia says her brother lives in Berlin.
The verbs on this page, in every form: być · powiedzieć · mówić · zapytać · mieć · iść · kupić · przyjść