Explanation
Use reported statements when you tell someone what another person said. The reporting verb is often "said" or "told".
For example, "She said she was tired." Here, "She" is the speaker, "said" introduces the report, and "she was tired" is the new clause. The original words were probably "I'm tired," so English changes "I" to "she" and "am" to "was." Japanese often uses "〜と言った" without changing the sentence form as much, but English usually shows the change inside the reported clause.
Use "told" when you mention the listener, like "He told me that he loved you very much." You will need to include "me" in this structure, unlike in the sentence "He said he loved you very much."
だれかが言ったことを、別の人に伝えるときに間接話法を使います。よく使う動詞は "said" と "told" です。
例えば、"She said she was tired." では、"She" が話した人で、"said" が「言った」を示し、"she was tired" が伝えた内容です。元の言葉はたぶん "I'm tired." なので、英語では "I" が "she" に変わり、"am" が "was" に変わります。日本語は「〜と言った」でそのまま表せますが、英語では伝える文の中で人称や時制が変わることが多いです。
「He told me that he loved you very much.」のように、聞き手を具体的に挙げる場合は「told」を使います。この構文では、「He said he loved you very much.」という文とは異なり、「me」を含める必要があります。
Examples
- She said she was tired. 彼女は疲れていると言いました。
- He told me that he needed a break. 彼は私に、休憩が必要だと言いました。
- My friend said she didn't like coffee. 友だちはコーヒーが好きではないと言いました。
- Tom said he was going home early. トムは早く帰ると言いました。
- The teacher said we could leave at three. 先生は3時に帰ってもよいと言いました。
- Anna said that the train had been late. アンナは電車が遅れていたと言いました。
Common Mistakes
Japanese learners often write "He said me that he was busy." after the Japanese pattern "〜に言った." In English, "say" does not take a person like that, so use "He said that he was busy." Alternatively, use "told me" as in "He told me that he was busy."
Another common error is to keep the same pronouns and tense, such as "She said she is tired." Use "She said she was tired."
日本語学習者はよく「〜に言った」の後に「He said me that he was busy.」と書きます。英語の「say」はこのように人称をとらないので、 「He said that he was busy.」と書きます。あるいは、「told me」を使って「He told me that he was busy.」と書くこともできます。
もう一つよくある間違いは、 「She said she is tired.」のように、代名詞と時制をそのまま使い続けることです。 「She said she was tired.」とすべきです。