HEYGOW ASMR

Reporting what was said

10 phrases
HD
tā shuō tā bù zhīdào.
他说他不知道。
ENhe said he didn't know
HD
wǒ dāngshí jiù wèn tā.
我当时就问他。
ENso I asked him right then
HD
tā gēn wǒ shuō le shíhuà.
他跟我说了实话。
ENhe told me the truth
HD
tā zhǐ shuō le yí jù.
她只说了一句。
ENshe said just one thing
HD
wǒ huí le yí jù.
我回了一句。
ENI answered back
HD
tā yí jù huà méi shuō.
他一句话没说。
ENhe didn't say a word
HD
yuánhuà shì zhème shuō de.
原话是这么说的。
ENhis exact words were these
HD
wǒ jì bu qīng yuánhuà le.
我记不清原话了。
ENI can't recall the exact words
HD
dàgài shì zhège yìsi.
大概是这个意思。
ENthat was roughly the gist
HD
tā hòulái dàoqiàn le.
他后来道歉了。
ENhe apologised afterwards

他说他不知道 shows that Chinese reported speech does not shift tense the way English does - the inner clause stays exactly as it was spoken. 原话是这么说的 - the original words went like this - flags a verbatim quote, and 大概是这个意思 admits you are paraphrasing.