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### Reporting Speech with إنّ

In the previous lesson, you learned to use أنّ as the word "that" to connect verbs of knowledge and perception to statements of fact. However, Arabic has a very strict exception to this rule when it comes to reporting speech.

Whenever you use the verb "to say" (قال) or any of its variations, you must ALWAYS use إنّ instead of أنّ for the word "that". Even though it appears in the middle of a sentence, the verb "to say" acts as a hard break, essentially introducing a fresh, quoted sentence. 

Let's see this in action using some courtroom vocabulary:

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### Applying the Rule Across Tenses and Pronouns

This rule is absolute and applies no matter the tense of the verb. Whether you are using the past tense (قال) or the present tense (يقول), the word "that" immediately introducing the statement must be إنّ.

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Just like in previous lessons, if the subject of the reported speech is a pronoun, it attaches directly to the particle. For example, "said that he..." becomes قال إنه.

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As long as you are using a form of the verb "to say", إنّ is the only correct choice to introduce the reported statement, even when combining multiple clauses.

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Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Predicative adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

Dual nouns (ـان / ـين)

Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

Present tense plural verbs

Topicalized sentences (SVO)

The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

The future tense (سـ / سوف)

Intentions and desires (أن)

Negating states and possession (ليس)

Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

Asking how many (كم)

Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Expressing purpose (لـ)

Question	Answer
judge	قاضqâdin
court	محكمةmahkama
defendant / accused person, suspect	متهمmuttaham
innocent	بريءbari'
The judge said in the court that the defendant is innocent.	قال القاضي في المحكمة إن المتهم بريء.qâla al-qâdi fî al-mahkamati inna al-muttahama barî'un.
witness	شاهدshâhid
guilty	مذنبmudhnib
crime	جريمةjarîma
The witness said that the defendant is guilty in this crime.	قال الشاهد إن المتهم مذنب في هذه الجريمة.qâla ash-shâhidu inna al-muttahama mudhnibun fî hâdhihi al-jarîmah
lawyer	محامmuhaamin
case / issue, matter	قضيةqadiyya
The lawyer says that the defendant is innocent in this case.	يقول المحامي إن المتهم بريء في هذه القضية.yaqûlu al-muhâmî inna al-muttahama barî'un fî hâdhihi al-qadiyyah
prison	سجنsijn
The judge said that prison is the solution.	قال القاضي إن السجن هو الحل.qâla al-qâdî inna as-sijna huwa al-hall
This case is very difficult, and the witness said that the crime is strange.	هذه القضية صعبة جدا وقال الشاهد إن الجريمة غريبة.hâdhihi al-qadiyyatu sa'batun jiddan wa qâla ash-shâhidu inna al-jarîmata gharîbatun
The lawyer said that the man is guilty and will enter the prison.	قال المحامي إن الرجل مذنب وسيدخل السجن.qâla al-muhâmî inna ar-rajula mudhnibun wa-sayadkhulu as-sijna
The policeman said in front of the court that the crime is dangerous.	قال الشرطي أمام المحكمة إن الجريمة خطيرة.qâla ash-shurtiyyu amâma al-mahkamati inna al-jarîmata khatîratun
The people say that the defendant is guilty.	يقول الناس إن المتهم مذنب.yaqûlu an-nâsu inna al-muttahama mudhnibun
The young man said that he is innocent and does not want prison.	قال الشاب إنه بريء ولا يريد السجن.qâla sh-shâbbu innahu barî'un wa lâ yurîdu s-sijna
Did the judge say that the witness lied to the lawyer?	هل قال القاضي إن الشاهد كذب على المحامي؟hal qâla al-qâdî inna ash-shâhida kadhaba 'alâ al-muhâmî
The case ended today and the judge said that the court is closed.	انتهت القضية اليوم وقال القاضي إن المحكمة مغلقة.intahatil qadiyyatul yawma wa qâlal qâdi innal mahkamata mughlaqah.