Relaying Messages with Reported Speech
Working at a busy front desk, you will constantly need to take messages and pass them on. To report what someone else has said, you use reported speech (óbein ræða).
To relay a statement, use the phrase sagði að (said that) followed by the reported statement. When the reporting verb is in the past tense (sagði), the verb inside the að clause must take a step back in time. A statement originally spoken in the present tense will "backshift" into the past subjunctive.
Backshifting vera (to be)
The most common verb you will backshift is vera. If someone says "Línan er upptekin" (The line is busy), er (is) shifts to its past subjunctive form, væri (was).
| The woman in the reception said that the line was busy. | Konan í móttökunni sagði að línan væri upptekin. |
| She said that the boss was not present. | Hún sagði að stjórinn væri ekki viðstaddur. |
Backshifting Other Verbs
Other verbs also shift from present to past when reported. For many regular verbs, the past subjunctive looks identical to their simple past tense.
For example, byrjar (starts) becomes byrjaði (started):
| First the video call starts, then we drink coffee. | Fyrst byrjar fjarfundurinn, svo drekkum við kaffi. |
| He said that the video call started immediately. | Hann sagði að fjarfundurinn byrjaði strax. |
If a caller says "ég ætla að..." (I will...), ætla becomes ætlaði:
| I will connect the phone call. | Ég ætla að tengja símtalið. |
| She said that she intended to connect the phone call. | Hún sagði að hún ætlaði að tengja símtalið. |
Irregular verbs backshift too. For vilja (to want), vill (wants) becomes vildi (wanted):
| The managing director said that he wanted to leave a message. | Framkvæmdastjórinn sagði að hann vildi skilja eftir skilaboð. |
| The man said that he was here regarding the contract. | Maðurinn sagði að hann væri hér varðandi samninginn. |
