Breakdown of Говорят, что этот анонимный источник сказал правду.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
говорить
to speak, to talk
сказать
to tell, to say
что
that (conjunction)
правда
truth
источник
source
анонимный
anonymous
Questions & Answers about Говорят, что этот анонимный источник сказал правду.
Why is there no они (they) before Говорят?
This is an indefinite-personal clause, which is the focus of this lesson. By dropping они and just using the 3rd-person plural verb (говорят), we express that "people in general say" or "rumor has it." If you included они, it would refer to a specific group of people you had already mentioned.
The English translation says "told the truth." Why do we use сказал instead of рассказал?
In Russian, "to tell the truth" is a set phrase: сказать правду. You use сказать (to say/tell a fact) because you are stating a factual piece of information. Рассказать means to narrate or tell a story, which doesn't fit the collocation for simply stating the truth.
Could I use истину instead of правду here?
Not really. While both mean "truth," правда is the everyday factual truth, the direct opposite of a lie. This is exactly what a journalistic source provides. Истина refers to a deeper, philosophical, or absolute truth, which wouldn't sound natural in this context.
Why is the verb сказал in the masculine past tense? What if the anonymous source was actually a woman?
The verb сказал must agree grammatically with its subject, источник (source). Since источник is a grammatically masculine noun, the verb takes the masculine form, regardless of the actual physical gender of the person hiding behind the anonymity.
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