LIMBALIMBA
B2 · Upper intermediateUnit 18: Society and the cityLesson 176 of 200

Reported speech in depth

Goal: Report long speeches.

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1Limba’s diary

LIMBA

Retelling a news report

Every evening at eight Bat turns on the news, and the whole flat goes quiet. Tonight the mayor spoke about the heating season, the minister spoke about the new school year, and a weather forecaster warned us about the first snow.

Nomin came home late and asked what she had missed. When I tried to retell it all, I discovered that a news report is a chain of other people's words: the mayor announced, the minister stressed, the forecasters warned. In Mongolian every link of that chain ends with гэж and a verb of saying.

2Dialogue

Номин
Мэдээгээр юу гэж байна?What are they saying on the news?
Limba
Хотын дарга халаалтын улирал энэ сарын дундуур эхэлнэ гэж мэдэгдлээ.The mayor announced that the heating season will start in the middle of this month.
Номин
Сайн мэдээ байна. Өөр юу гэсэн бэ?That's good news. What else did he say?
Limba
Тэр бүх байр цагтаа дулаантай болно гэдгийг онцолсон.He stressed that every building will be heated on time.
Бат
Цаг уурчид бас анхааруулсан шүү.The weather forecasters gave a warning too, you know.
Limba
Тийм ээ. Ирэх долоо хоногт анхны цас орж магадгүй гэж мэдээллээ.Yes. They reported that the first snow may fall next week.
Номин
Цас уу? Есдүгээр сард уу?Snow? In September?
Бат
Улаанбаатарт есдүгээр сард цас орох нь сонин биш.Snow in September is nothing unusual in Ulaanbaatar.
Limba
Сайд хичээлийн шинэ жилийн тухай ярьсан. Сургуулиуд бэлэн гэнэ.The minister talked about the new school year. The schools are ready, they say.
Номин
Тэр өөр юу гэж хэлсэн бэ?What else did he say?
Limba
Хүүхдүүд дулаан хувцас өмсөх хэрэгтэй гэж онцолсон.He stressed that children need to wear warm clothes.
Номин
Чи мэдээг их сайн ойлгосон байна шүү!You really understood the news well!
Limba
Мэдэхгүй үгээ Батаас асуусан.I asked Bat about the words I didn't know.

3Words in this lesson

MongolianEnglish
мэдэгдэхto announce, to state officially
онцлохto stress, to emphasise
мэдээлэхto report, to inform
анхааруулахto warn
хотын даргаmayor (literally "head of the city")
сайдminister
цаг уурчweather forecaster
халаалтheating
улиралseason
дундуурin the middle of (сарын дундуур: in mid-month)
цагтааon time
анхныfirst (before a noun: анхны цас, the first snow)
хичээлийн шинэ жилthe new school year
гэнэso they say, reportedly

4Grammar and explanations

Quote, гэж, verb of saying

A news report is a chain of other people's words, and Mongolian builds every link the same way: first the words that were said, then гэж ("saying"), then a verb that tells you *how* they were said. Only that last verb changes.

VerbMeaningWhere you meet it
хэлэхto sayeverywhere
мэдэгдэхto announce, to state officiallynews, official statements
онцлохto stress, to emphasisenews, speeches
мэдээлэхto reportnews
анхааруулахto warnweather, safety notices
Сайд сургуулиуд бэлэн гэж онцоллоо.minister school-PL ready say-CONV stress-PAST"The minister stressed that the schools were ready."
Хотын дарга халаалт удахгүй эхэлнэ гэж мэдэгдлээ.The mayor announced that the heating would start soon.

The speaker's own tense stays

English shifts "will start" back to "would start" after "announced". Mongolian does not: the quoted verb keeps the form the speaker used — эхэлнэ, орж магадгүй, бэлэн. Decide the English tense only when you translate.

гэдгийг: "the fact that…"

After онцлох and мэдээлэх, the quoted clause is often turned into an object with гэдэг plus the accusative: гэдгийг, "the fact that". The meaning hardly changes; the style is more written.

Тэр бүх байр цагтаа дулаантай болно гэдгийг онцолсон.He stressed that every building would be heated on time.

Naming the source first: –ын хэлснээр

To open the sentence with the source, put the speaker in the genitive and add хэлснээр, "according to what … said". It is the past participle хэлсэн with the instrumental ending.

Сайдын хэлснээр сургуулиуд бэлэн байна.minister-GEN say-PAST-INS school-PL ready be-PRES-FUT"According to the minister, the schools are ready."

The newsreader's pasts, and yours

A bulletin uses –лаа for what has just been announced (мэдэгдлээ, онцоллоо, мэдээллээ), and newspapers use –в (мэдэгдэв, онцлов). When you retell the news at home, the everyday –сан is all you need: Хотын дарга … гэж мэдэгдсэн.

гэнэ: so they say

When you pass on something you heard and the source does not matter, end the sentence with гэнэ (lesson 157). It is the shortest reported speech of all.

Маргааш цас орно гэнэ.They say it will snow tomorrow.

Go deeper in the grammar guide: Complex sentences: гэж and nominalised clauses · The four Mongolian pasts

5Good to know

Flats in Ulaanbaatar are heated by hot water from the city's power plants, the kind of plant where Bat works. The heating season usually starts in the middle of September, so the weeks before it are spent in thick socks, and its start is real news: you will hear халаалт in every bulletin.

When you read a newspaper, look for гэж first. Everything in front of it is the quotation; the verb after it tells you whether the words were said, announced, stressed or a warning.

6Exercises

Choose the right answer, then press Check my answers. Score 70% or more and the lesson is ticked on your course map.

  1. What does онцлох mean?
  2. The newsreader says Сайд сургуулиуд бэлэн гэж мэдэгдлээ. What did the minister do?
  3. Тэр бүх байр дулаантай болно ___ онцолсон. ("He stressed the fact that every building would be heated.")
  4. The mayor said "Халаалт удахгүй эхэлнэ." How do you report it?
  5. What does гэнэ add to Маргааш цас орно гэнэ.?
  6. Сайдын хэлснээр means…
  7. In a newspaper, мэдэгдэв is…
  8. In the dialogue, what will start in the middle of the month?
  9. Цаг уурчид цас орж магадгүй гэж ___. ("The forecasters warned that it might snow.")
  10. In Цаг уурчид анхны цас орж магадгүй гэж мэдээллээ, which words are the reported words?

Well done! Lesson 176 is ticked on your course map.

Write it yourself

Write your answer on paper or in your head first, then reveal the model answer.

  1. Report with хэлэх: the minister said "Сургуулиуд бэлэн."
    Show answerСайд сургуулиуд бэлэн гэж хэлсэн.
  2. Translate: "The mayor stressed that the heating would start on time."
    Show answerХотын дарга халаалт цагтаа эхэлнэ гэж онцолсон. / Хотын дарга халаалт цагтаа эхэлнэ гэдгийг онцолсон.
  3. Pass it on as hearsay: "They say it will snow tomorrow."
    Show answerМаргааш цас орно гэнэ.
  4. In news style: "The forecasters reported that the weather would turn cold."
    Show answerЦаг уурчид цаг агаар хүйтрэнэ гэж мэдээллээ.
  5. Open with the source: "According to the minister, the schools are ready."
    Show answerСайдын хэлснээр сургуулиуд бэлэн байна.

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This written course teaches you to read and write. The LIMBA audio course makes you speak: 24 lessons of 12 to 15 minutes, recorded with a native speaker. You listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect partner for these pages.

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Hear lesson 1 free:

Unit 18: Society and the city B2

  1. 171Reading the news
  2. 172Politics and elections
  3. 173Economy and jobs
  4. 174Formal complaints
  5. 175Bureaucracy: forms and offices
  6. 176Reported speech in depth
  7. 177Polite and honorific language
  8. 178Generations and change
  9. 179Opinions in writing
  10. 180Review: society
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