If you want to write for example this sentence in short form, can you change all formal verbs into informal version?
ナオミさんは勉強しますと言っていました
->
ナオミさんは勉強すると言っていた
I feel like there’s something wrong, but can’t tell 😀
Also I’m not sure if there is te form how do you change that into informal or shouldn’t I do that?
Example:
私は結婚しています。ー＞ 私は結婚している?
Would this be ok?
3 comments
I’m not sure that this is a hard rule but in general only the last verb in a sentence takes the polite form.
Also your informal 〜ている form is correct.
When writing an indirect speech you keep the ます form of the verb even before and inside the quotation, because you are saying what others said word by word
On the contrary, when writing a direct speech you use the dictionary form of the verb.
Regarding the verb 言う, it becomes in ます from when are you the one talking in ます form regardless of what you are quoting.
Ex:
友達は「締め切りまでに宿題を出さなくて申し訳ございません」と先生に言っていた。here you are quoting a sentence your friend said to a teacher word by word, so you don’t have to change anything.
友達は締め切りまでに宿題を出さなくて申しわけござらないと先生に言っています On the other hand here you are saying to someone (maybe a teacher or a third party) what someone said without quoting him, so you have to make the sentence into dictionary form. Notice how, 言う it’s in his ます form how. That’s because of our assumptions.
Usually subordinate clauses don’t use the polite form at all, unless you’re quoting directly. ナオミさんは勉強すると言っていました is what I would expect in polite speech most of the time (I won’t say this is 100% because you will occasionally hear, e.g., newscasts where they say 警察によりますと, but as a rule of thumb it’s OK to stick to). So your informal example is fine but your formal example is actually strange.
> 私は結婚しています。ー＞ 私は結婚している?
Yeah that’s right. In speech many people would just say 結婚してる (dropping the い) but you should avoid that in formal writing.