You will report what someone said or asked while keeping their exact wording. Learn where dedi, diye and dedi ki belong, and whose perspective the quoted sentence keeps.
The idea
To quote someone, keep the person and tense of their words: Elif “Yarın geliyorum.” dedi. Here dedi is a past form of demek (say); the present form inside the quote stays unchanged. With verbs such as sormak (ask), cevap vermek (reply) or düşünmek (think), put diye after the quote and before the reporting verb. A quoted question keeps its question words or particle: “Çay ister misin?” diye sordu. You can also introduce the words with dedi ki: Elif dedi ki: “Bugün evdeyim.” Here ki is written separately. This lesson covers quotation; the purpose meaning of diye is a separate use.
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| “…” dedi | Elif “Yarın geliyorum.” dedi. |
| “…” diye sordu | Mert “Anahtar nerede?” diye sordu. |
| dedi ki: “…” | Elif dedi ki: “Bugün evdeyim.” |
Examples
- Elif “Yarın geliyorum.” dedi.Elif said, “I’m coming tomorrow.”
- Mert “Anahtar nerede?” diye sordu.Mert asked, “Where is the key?”
- Zeynep “Ben beklerim.” diye cevap verdi.Zeynep replied, “I’ll wait.”
- Annem “Kapıyı kapat!” diye seslendi.My mother called out, “Close the door!”
- Elif dedi ki: “Bugün evdeyim.”Elif said, “I’m at home today.”
- Elif “Ben hazırım.” dedi.Elif said, “I am ready.”
- Elif hazır olduğunu söyledi.Elif said that she was ready.
- Mert “Bu iş kolay.” diye düşündü.Mert thought, “This job is easy.”
- Annem “Çay ister misin?” diye sordu.My mother asked, “Would you like some tea?”
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Watch out
Do not change the first person just because you are reporting someone else. In Elif “Ben hazırım.” dedi., ben and the ending in hazırım refer to Elif, not the narrator. An indirect report changes the construction: Elif hazır olduğunu söyledi. That gives the content without presenting her exact words. Nor is diye itself a past-tense verb: sordu tells us who asked and when.
Try it yourself
Fill the blank linking the question to the verb: Mert “Bilet nerede?” ___ sordu.
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diye
diye: the missing word connects the quoted question about the ticket to sordu. The question already has its own word nerede; it does not need ki after it.
Complete with demek in the simple past: Elif “Ben hazırım.” ___.
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dedi
dedi: Elif is the speaker, so the reporting verb is third-person singular past. The first-person ending inside hazırım does not make the reporting verb dedim.
Keep Elif’s exact words about herself, Ben hazırım: Elif “Ben ___.” dedi.
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hazırım
hazırım: Elif is still saying “I am ready” inside the quotation. Writing hazır would remove the first-person ending from her original words.
Put demek in the simple past followed by ki before the quote: Elif ___: “Bugün evdeyim.”
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dedi ki
dedi ki: the reporting expression comes before the quoted sentence here. ki introduces what follows and remains a separate word.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Fill the blank linking the question to the verb: Mert “Bilet nerede?” ___ sordu.
Complete with demek in the simple past: Elif “Ben hazırım.” ___.
Keep Elif’s exact words about herself, Ben hazırım: Elif “Ben ___.” dedi.
Put demek in the simple past followed by ki before the quote: Elif ___: “Bugün evdeyim.”
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Keep your progress
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Invent a short exchange: one person asks a question and the other replies. Report the question with diye sordu and the reply with dedi. Then put dedi ki before the reply, preserving the quoted words.