reported speech german

the indirect speech is introduced by a verb or a noun that states that someone says, thinks, claims something.

, the less frequently used of the two types of subjunctive, is used to express indirect, or reported, speech. It is mainly used in newspaper articles and news reports to indicate, for the sake of objectivity, that which is being reported is not necessarily what is actually known.

Die Schlosseinwohner schauen fern.

From each pair of sentences below, select the correct phrasing in Konjunktiv I to find out what happened today according to the evening news. And they'd better be careful and avoid outright accusations!

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5 Kapitel 11.2: Indirect Speech (Subjunctive I)

11.2:  Indirect Speech

In English, we often sum up what people say or think indirectly, that is without quoting them word for word.

• My mother thinks the current fashion is awful.
• The president reported the economy is improving.
• The doctor said you guys need to exercise more.

We can do this in German as well.  It is often found in the news because things that politicians and officials say are quoted all the time.  In German, we use the subjunctive I (NOT the same as subjunctive II which you learned in 11.2) to distance ourselves from the quotes.  In other words, we’re just repeating the message, not necessarily agreeing with it or believing it.

Beispiel:   If you’re writing a history paper on World War II, you might need to indirectly talk about what Hitler thought or said.  You would put his words into the subjunctive I to show that you don’t necessarily agree with him; you put distance between yourself and his opinions.

Hitler meinte, Juden, Homosexuelle, und Sinti und Roma seien Untermenschen.  Er war der Meinung, Deutschland solle ein Bündnis mit Italien anstreben. 

→ Notice that the verbs after his quoted thoughts look a little different:  seien, solle .  This is the subjunctive I.

WHY is this important?   Well, for one, if you write a paper on Hitler and quote some of his ideas, you don’t want to sound like you support him.  Use the subjunctive I to say in effect, “ This is what he said; I don’t necessarily agree with it.  I’m just putting it out there, so don’t shoot the messenger! ”

What about newscasts?   If you have a report from the police about something that a criminal did that may or may not yet be confirmed, you’ll want to put the quoted statement in the subjunctive I.  Otherwise, it might sound like you believe an unconfirmed statement, which would sound really unprofessional on the news.  The news should sound neutral.

In English, newscasters often add the word “allegedly” to their stories to show that they’re just reporting what was told to them and to show that they’re being neutral.

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Reported speech.

You may have occasionally seen sentences like the following:  Sie sagte, er spreche sehr gut Deutsch. 

You may think,  er spreche? What is going on here?

This structure is an example of what is known as the indirekte Rede (in English "reported speech"), which is used more often but not exclusively in written German and formal reporting or storytelling. Sentences like this will involve the verb sagen  or other verbs used to talk about what people think and say, such as antworten, äußern, behaupten , berichten , denken , erklären , fragen , glauben , or meinen .

In instances where someone's speech or thoughts are reported, you may see the subjunctive  ( Konjunktiv I ) employed, like in the sentence above. For regular verbs, some of the endings are indistinguishable from other tenses, but some are very different.  Here is the complete Konjunktiv I  conjugation of the verb sprechen , and here are examples of how it would be used with reported speech:

Er sagte, ich spreche sehr gut Deutsch . ("He said I speak very good German.") Er sagte, du sprechest sehr gut Deutsch . ("He said you speak very good German.") Er sagte, er/sie spreche sehr gut Deutsch . ("He said she/he speaks very good German.") Er sagte, wir sprechen sehr gut Deutsch . ("He said we speak very good German.") Er sagte, ihr sprechet sehr gut Deutsch . ("He said you speak very good German.") Er sagte, Sie/sie sprechen sehr gut Deutsch . ("He said they speak very good German.")

In the following examples, you can see the same conjugation pattern with a few other verbs: 

Der König hatte sie nicht eingeladen, The King hadn't invited her, weil es hieß, sie habe ein böses Herz. because it was said she had an evil heart. Caption 19, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Dornröschen   Play Caption

Er verband ihm das Bein, He bandaged his leg, fragte ihn nicht, wohin er wolle , woher er käme . did not ask him where he was going , where he had come from. Captions 7-8, Janoschs Traumstunde - Der Wettlauf zwischen Hase und Igel   Play Caption

Der hat mir erzählt, er sei echt nur... he told me that he really just  is ... Er fahre eigentlich Mercedes He actually  drives  a Mercedes und kleide sich deshalb so schräg ... and the reason he dresses so weirdly... Captions 30-31, Yello-Biographie - Ein Leben für die Avantgarde   Play Caption

You may have noticed that kommen is irregular. One other irregular verb that you have likely seen conjugated like this is  sein :

Von daher werde ich nicht tanzen, Therefore I won't be dancing, so dass ich behaupten kann, ich sei ein brillianter Tänzer, so I can claim that  I'm  a brilliant dancer und niemand kann es konterkarieren. and nobody can disprove it. Captions 25-26, Deutsche Sporthilfe - Ball des Sports   Play Caption

Hans erklärte, er sei nicht verzaubert, Hans explained that he  was  not bewitched, sondern wirklich ein Igeljunge. but really a hedgehog boy. Caption 71, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Hans mein Igel   Play Caption

Sie behaupteten, sie seien Weber eines seltenen, They claimed that they  were  weavers of a rare, besonders schönen Stoffes. especially beautiful cloth. Caption 25, Märchen - Sagenhaft Des Kaisers neue Kleider   Play Caption

Further Learning You will likely come across examples of reported speech on  Yabla German  from time to time, but structures like Sie sagt, dass er Italienisch spricht  are simply more common in spoken German.   When you do see an example that uses Konjunktiv I , check to see if it's a regular or irregular verb in terms of its conjugation. 

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Indirect Speech – Free Exercise

Write the following sentences as indirect speech. Use the subjunctive.

• Er sagte: „Ich wohne in Frankfurt.“ → Er sagte,   ich → er|wohne → wohne He said he lives in Frankfurt.
• Sie behauptet: „Ich bin die Beste für den Job.“ → Sie behauptet,   ich → sie|bin → sei She claims she’s the best for the job.
• Der Minister meint: „Die Krise wird bald überwunden sein.“ → Der Minister meint,   wird → werde The minister says the crisis will soon be overcome.
• Die Reitlehrerin erzählt: „Bei mir ist noch niemand vom Pferd gefallen.“ → Die Reitlehrerin erzählt,   bei mir → bei ihr|ist → sei The riding teacher says that no one’s ever fallen off a horse with her.
• Der Firmenchef erklärte: „Meine Mitarbeiter haben noch nie Überstunden machen müssen.“ → Der Firmenchef erklärte,   meine → seine|haben → hätten (because the Konjunktiv I looks just like the indicative here, we have to use the Konjunktiv II.) The company leader explained that his employees had never had to work overtime.

Put the question sentences into indirect speech. You can use the subjunctive or the indicative.

• Sie fragte: „Was hat er gesagt?" → Sie fragte,   the finite verb moves to the end of the sentence| hat → habe (Konjunktiv), hat (indicative) She asked what he had said.
• Er fragte sie: „Willst du tanzen?“ → Er fragte sie,   Since there’s no question word, we have to use ob here.| du → sie |the finite verb moves to the end of the sentence| willst → wolle (Konjunktiv), will (indicative) He asked her if she wanted/wants to dance.
• Ich fragte ihn: “Wie alt bist du?“ → Ich fragte ihn,   du → er |the finite verb moves to the end of the sentence| bist → sei (Konjunktiv), ist (indicative) I asked him how old he is.
• Die Touristen fragten mich: „Können Sie uns den Weg zeigen?“ → Die Touristen fragten mich,   Since there’s no question word, we have to use ob here.| Sie uns → ich ihnen |the finite verb moves to the end of the sentence| können → könne (Konjunktiv), kann (indicative) The tourists asked me if I could show them the way.
• Die Verkäuferin fragt den Kunden: „Welche Jacke gefällt Ihnen besser?“ → Die Verkäuferin fragte den Kunden,   Ihnen → ihm |the finite verb moves to the end of the sentence| gefällt → gefalle (Konjunktiv), gefällt (indicative) The saleswoman asked the customer which jacket he liked better.

Write the demands/requests in indirect speech.

• Die Mutter sagte ihrem Sohn: „Sei nicht so laut!“ → Sie sagte ihrem Sohn,   er → solle (Konjunktiv), möge (very formal), soll (indicative)| sein (infinitive) She told her son not to be so loud.
• Der Polizist sagte uns: „Gehen Sie bitte weiter!“ → Der Polizist sagte uns,   wir → sollten (Konjunktiv), mögen (very formal), sollen (indicative)| weitergehen (infinitive) The policeman told us to please keep moving.
• Sie sagte mir: „Mach dir keine Sorgen!“ → Sie sagte mir,   ich → solle (Konjunktiv), soll (indicative)|we normally don’t use möge in negative sentences| dir → mir | machen (infinitive) She told me not to worry.
• Der Tierpfleger im Zoo sagte den Kindern: „Füttert die Tiere nicht!“ → Der Tierpfleger sagte den Kindern,   sie → sollen (Konjunktiv), soll (indicative)|we normally don’t use möge in negative sentences| füttern (infinitive) The zookeeper told the children not to feed the animals.
• Der Fahrgast sagte dem Taxifahrer: „Fahren Sie mich bitte zum Bahnhof.“ → Der Fahrgast sagte dem Taxifahrer,   er → solle (Konjunktiv), möge (very formal), soll (indicative)| mich → ihn | fahren (infinitive) The passenger told the taxi driver to please take him to the station.

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General With corrections by H.V., 31.03.98, marked red Indirect or reported speech is a way of showing what somebody says without quoting them directly (i.e. without using speech marks). The distinction between direct and indirect speech is made in English as well as in German. Examples of direct and indirect speech in English are as follows: She said, "I will arrive at 9 o' clock." ( direct speech) She said (that) she would arrive at 9 o' clock. ( indirect speech)

In German, the verbs within the indirect speech are put into the subjunctive . This is in order to "distance" the speaker from what is being said, in the same way as we put the reported verb into the past tense in English. For example:

Er sagte: „Ich spiele Klavier." ( He said, "I play the piano." ) Er sagte, er spiele Klavier. ( He said he played the piano. )

The use of the Konjunktiv I [ SEE HERE FOR DETAILS ON FORMING THIS ] indicates that the speaker/writer is not making a statement of fact which he/she knows to be true, but is simply reporting something which they have been told. Consider the following example:

Bundeskanzler Kohl sagte: „Ich werde die nächste Wahl gewinnen." Bundeskanzler Kohl sagte, er werde die nächste Wahl gewinnen.

The use of the Konjunktiv I in the second example (i.e. in the indirect speech version) shows that the reporter is not saying that Kohl will win the next election, but is merely reporting that Kohl made such a claim. Whether or not the reporter agrees with this view is not expressed.

In summary, then, the subjunctive is used in German indirect speech to convert what was originally stated as a fact or an opinion (in direct speech) into a simple report of what has been said, neither agreeing with nor disagreeing with the original utterance.

As a result of this, only those verbs in the original utterance which do express a fact or opinion are put into the subjunctive in indirect speech. (This is where the rules start to get a bit more fuzzy around the edges!) This generally tends to mean that verbs in subordinate clauses within the indirect speech remain in the indicative (i.e. are not put into the subjunctive), although this does not hold true in all cases. Consider the following example:

Der Lehrer sagte: „Schüler, die Englisch lernen können, sind sehr glücklich." ( The teacher said, "Pupils who can learn English are very happy." ) Der Lehrer sagte, Schüler, die Englisch lernen können , seien sehr glücklich. ( The teacher said (that) pupils who can learn English are very lucky. )

While the verb in the main clause is put into the subjunctive ( sind becomes seien ), the verb in the subordinate clause ( können ) remains in the indicative. This can be explained by viewing the sentence thus: sind in the original utterance expresses the opinion of the teacher (and hence is put into the subjunctive in indirect speech), whilst können is not used by the teacher either to express his opinion, or to impart a fact or piece of information, but is instead used to describe the pupils: "pupils who can learn English". In the following example, however, the verb in the subordinate clause is put into the subjunctive:

Die Frau sagte zum Polizisten: „Ich konnte die Haare des Einbrechers nicht sehen, da er einen Hut trug." ( The woman told the policeman, "I couldn't see the burglar's hair, as he was wearing a hat." ) Die Frau sagte zum Polizisten, sie habe die Haare des Einbrechers nicht sehen können , da er einen Hut getragen habe . ( The woman told the policeman (that) she hadn't been able to see the burglar's hair, as he had been wearing a hat. )

In this case, the subordinate clause forms part of the woman's description of the burglar - in other words, it is part of the information (or facts ) she is giving to the police - and so in this case the verb in the subordinate clause is also put into the subjunctive.

Although the above distinction between what parts of the original utterance are and are not "fact" or "opinion" may seem confusing at first, it soon becomes clearer with practice. As the indirect speech is used extensively in German by reporters, newspapers and magazines are an excellent place to start to familiarise yourself with the usage of the subjunctive.

Finally, just as in English, use of the reported speech often means that not only the verb, but also other parts of the utterance have to be altered in the transition from direct to indirect speech. The most common example of this are phrases indicating time . For example, look at the following examples in English:

He said last week, "I'll be there tomorrow ." He said last week (that) he'd be there the next day .

As we would expect, exactly the same applies in German:

Er sagte letzte Woche: „Ich werde morgen da sein." Er sagte letzte Woche, er werde am nächsten Tag da sein.

The reason for this is simple: the "tomorrow" of the original utterance is no longer "tomorrow" to the speaker of the second sentence. Wherever this is the case (and only where this is the case!), the expression of time must be altered accordingly:

Sie sagte am Montag: „Ich habe Klaus heute gesehen." Sie sagte am Montag, sie habe Klaus an ( diesem )dem Tag/am gleichen Tag gesehen. ( *****diesem compares with jenem. Jenem undefined, use dem.) But: Er sagte heute: „Ich werde dich morgen besuchen." Er sagte heute, er werde mich morgen besuchen.

In the final example, the "tomorrow" of the original utterance is still "tomorrow" to the speaker of the indirect speech version, and consequently there is no need to alter the time phrase.

Two main principles dictate the form of the subjunctive to be used in indirect speech. The first is the tense of the original utterance , the second is the substitution rule .

Tense of the original utterance The tense of the original utterance (i.e. the tense of the verb in the direct speech ) determines which form of the Konjunktiv I should be used: ********Generally correct from this point to the end, ********* ********yet, complicated and incomplete.********** See our Subjunctive and Indirect Speech page Tense of original utterance Form of Konjunktiv I to be used present Konjunktiv I der Gegenwart preterite perfect pluperfect Konjunktiv I der Vergangenheit future (with werden ) future (with present verb) Konjunktiv I der Zukunft This can be demonstrated with the following examples: Er sagte: „Ich kann das einfach nicht!"

Although the indirect speech version of this sentence in English would read He said he just couldn't do it , with a verb in the past tense ( couldn't ), don't be misled into forming your German indirect speech in the same way (this is a very common mistake amongst English learners of German). In German, the tense of the original utterance determines the tense of the subjunctive to be used in indirect speech. As the original utterance in this case contains a present verb ( kann ), we have to use the Konjunktiv I der Gegenwart in indirect speech:

Er sagte, er könne das einfach nicht. (könnte)

And so on. Another possible snag lies in the various past tenses in German, which are all replaced by the Konjunktiv I der Vergangenheit in indirect speech. This seems fairly straightforward when the original utterance is in the perfect tense :

Sie sagte: „Ich habe ein neues Auto gekauft." Sie sagte, sie habe ein neues Auto gekauft . (hätte !!!)

But when the verb of the original utterance is in the preterite tense, it is tempting to use the similar-looking Konjunktiv II in indirect speech. Don't! The preterite tense, just like the perfect tense, is always rendered with the Konjunktiv I der Vergangenheit in indirect speech:

Sie sagte: „Sie kamen um elf Uhr an." Sie sagte, sie seien um elf Uhr angekommen . (wären) ( NOT : Sie sagte, sie kämen um elf Uhr an.)

Similarly, the pluperfect in direct speech is always put into the Konjunktiv I der Vergangenheit in indirect speech:

Sie sagten: „Er hatte uns angeschossen!" Sie sagten, er habe sie angeschossen . (hätte)

The substitution rule The substitution rule states that in every case where (and only where) the appropriate form of the Konjunktiv I looks identical to the indicative form, the Konjunktiv II is used in indirect speech. This generally tends to apply to plural verb forms, as these resemble the indicative for every verb except sein . For example, consider the following example: Sie sagten: „Wir können euch helfen."

The indirect speech version of this, using the Konjunktiv I der Gegenwart , as dictated by the "tense of the original utterance" rule, would therefore be:

Sie sagten, sie können uns helfen.

However, as the indirect speech phrase ("sie können uns helfen") looks identical to an indicative phrase, the verb has to be replaced by the appropriate Konjunktiv II form:

Sie sagten, sie könnten uns helfen.

Hence, in cases where the substitution rule requires a Konjunktiv I der Gegenwart form to be changed, it is a simple case of replacing this with the Konjunktiv II form. However, cases where the "tense of the original utterance" rule would ordinarily require a Konjunktiv I der Vergangenheit or Konjunktiv I der Zukunft form, the replacement is a little bit more complicated. In these cases, only the auxiliary verb (i.e. haben , sein or werden ) is converted into the Konjunktiv II , as illustrated in the following examples:

Die Sprecherin berichtete: „Die Überschwemmungen haben ganze Dörfer zerstört."

As the verb in the original utterance is in the perfect tense, the Konjunktiv I der Vergangenheit is required, giving us an indirect speech version as follows:

Die Sprecherin berichtete, die Überschwemmungen haben ganze Dörfer zerstört .

However, as the indirect phrase ("die Überschwemmungen haben ganze Dörfer zerstört") is identical to the corresponding phrase in the indicative, the substitution rule dictates that the verb in the Konjunktiv I (here, haben ) must be changed into the Konjunktiv II :

Die Sprecherin berichtete, die Überschwemmungen hätten ganze Dörfer zerstört .

It is vital to note that it is not the main verb which is put into the Konjunktiv II , but only the auxiliary . Changing the main verb into a Konjunktiv II form would produce an incorrect version ("Die Sprecherin berichtete, die Überschwemmungen zerstörten ganze Dörfer.") Similarly, indirect speech in the future tense behaves in the same way:

Unser Chef sagte: „Sie werden bald eine Lohnerhöhung kriegen." [with Konj. I:] Unser Chef sagte, wir werden bald eine Lohnerhöhung kriegen . [correct version:] Unser Chef sagte, wir würden bald eine Lohnerhöhung kriegen .

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Biden and Trump will debate on Thursday. Here’s what you need to know

President Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off Thursday night in Atlanta. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Carlos Osorio/AP hide caption

President Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 general election tonight in Atlanta .

It begins a new phase of the presidential race, less than five months out from Nov. 5, Election Day, as the matchup remains extremely tight. Biden and Trump stand virtually tied, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll , which echoes a months-long trend of recent national surveys.

The debate also breaks with campaign tradition, occurring months earlier than usual and with a new set of rules both candidates have agreed to, including no live audience. It’s also the first debate either candidate has participated in this campaign season. Biden largely ran unopposed, and Trump notably skipped the GOP primary debates.

How Biden is getting ready for his high-stakes debate with Trump

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Candidates will likely speak to recent respective legal dramas. The debate comes about a month after Trump was found guilty of 34 criminal charges in New York, becoming the first U.S. president in history to be convicted of felony crimes. Biden’s son, Hunter, who is not running for office, was convicted on felony gun charges in Delaware in mid-June and faces a second federal trial in September over failing to pay his taxes.

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Can "indirekte Rede" be without a reporting verb?

I've been learning about indirect speech in German. I think I understand the concept pretty well, but I have come across an article with this paragraph (it's a translation from another language into English, sorry if there are mistakes):

There are a lot of theories about the Earth - the Earth is round, the Earth is flat, the Earth is carried on the back of four elephants... Recently, however, the flat Earth theory has been gaining popularity. Among the supporters of this concept is an Italian couple who tried to reach the "edge of the world", but got lost on the way and ended up in quarantine. This was reported by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

I am not sure if this would be considered an indirect speech. The sentences themselves don't have a reporting verb, but the "reported" at the end of the paragraph threw me off. Should I, therefore, use Konjunktiv?

I tried to look for similar structures online and found this example, where they used "sollen":

Haushalte mit geringem Einkommen sollen im Juni einen einmaligen Heizkostenzuschuss bekommen. Das berichtete Tagesschau.de.

Could someone please explain this to me?

• indirect-speech

• What's your translation? This is GermanSE. You can ask about German. If you want to know how indirect speech works in English, this is the wrong place. –  Olafant Commented Mar 22, 2022 at 19:30
• 1 I am asking about if and where one would use "indirekte Rede" in the first paragraph. It is my translation from my mother tongue that I don't think many people will know. That's why I translated it into English. Edit: I would just like to know, if in German, one would use "indirekte Rede" anywhere in it. I was thinking maybe in the sentence starting with "Among the supporters", but as it does know have a reporting verb per se, I wasn't sure if using Konjunktiv for indirekte Rede would work. –  amoric Commented Mar 22, 2022 at 19:43
• @amoric: The fist paragraph is not in German. It is in a foreign language (it's in English which is not German). But you are here on german .stackexchange.com. So, your question is off topic here. The paragraph written in German does not contain any indirect speech. The sentence say that someone will get something ( "Low-income households are set to receive a one-time heating subsidy in June." ) –  Hubert Schölnast Commented Mar 22, 2022 at 22:18
• 4 I don't think the question is off-topic at all. The poster speaks English better than German and is asking the question in English. The fact that their first language is neither English or German shouldn't be a factor. –  RDBury Commented Mar 22, 2022 at 22:41
• 1 @HubertSchölnast I'd like to make you aware that amoric is new here. It would be more welcoming to first find out what the poster wants to know, instead of apodictically rejecting the question as off-topic. Even if that was the case, it would help to give some guidance how to turn it on-topic. But in order to do so, we need to understand the need of the OP better - by asking questions. If one enters a new community, it is hard to not find this kind of behavior repelling. Finally, the prev. comments make clear that the verdict is wrong in fact. Please give new members more benefit of the doubt. –  Jonathan Herrera ♦ Commented Mar 22, 2022 at 23:38

3 Answers 3

What counts as indirect speech seems to be about the same between English and German, though English and German handle it differently. (German may use the special subjunctive, Konjunktiv I , while the English special subjunctive is not used.) Though some of the statements given are "second-hand", they are not "reported speech" in the grammatical sense. For that to happen the statement and the fact that someone else made the statement have to be in the same sentence. Also, direct quotes are not considered reported speech. So reported speech will almost always involve sagen , denken , or some similar verb. The reported speech itself will be in the same sentence, either in an independent clause or in a dependent clause preceded by dass . It may seem odd that second-hand information would not considered "reported"; in the real world it is speech that someone reported. But grammatical jargon is meant to describe the structure of sentences in the simplest way possible, and sometimes that means that you can't take the definitions literally all the time.

I agree with RDBury's answer. To supplement his answer, a German sentence with reported speech may lack a reporting verb, but it has at least to be implied.

For example:

Karl beklagte sich über Walter. Dieser habe sich unangemessen verhalten.

The Konjunktiv I in the second sentence marks it as reported speech. The sentence lacks a reporting verb but there is an implied "Karl sagte," or similar which can be inferred from the first sentence.

Without the Konjunktiv I, the second sentence would not be considered reported speech.

It's perfectly possible to form reported speech without a reporting verb (and even without a verb at all) in German (but it generally isn't, be aware we're talking about exceptions). You just somehow need to make it clear a statement has been made (often with a substantivation, less often with a preposition):

Die Klage des Wirtschaftsministers, dass Subventionen nicht in Anspruch genommen worden seien, ist ungehört verpufft

Die Frage, ob die NATO sich in den Krieg einmischen solle, stellt sich hier gar nicht.

Die Behauptung, Separatisten hätten das Flugzeug abgeschossen, konnte bisher noch nicht bewiesen werden.

Continuation sentences that continue reported speech can live perfectly well without an introductory reporting verb as long as it is made clear from context this is reported speech (consider the switch to reported speech a real "switch" - As long as you don't leave the Konjunktiv in follow-up sentences, it's still clear this is reported, German Konjunktiv (as opposed to subjunctive in other languages) can live alone in sentences):

Sie sagte, sie seien erst gestern aus Berlin gekommen. Der Zug hätte extreme Verspätung gehabt. Danach seien sie nicht mehr zum Kauf einer Fahrkarte bereit gewesen. Dass der Schaffner sie deswegen ohne Fahrkarte erwischt hätte, sei also kein Wunder.

A bit different is the introduction of reported speech using prepositions: Regularly, the report is being done in indicative, but Konjuktiv is at least possible (and would thus hint to indirect speech):

Laut ukrainischen Regierungsquellen seien/sind im bisherigen Krieg über 10000 russische Soldaten getötet woden

Gemäß des Verteidigungsministeriums hat/habe eine Besprechung bisher noch nicht stattgefunden.

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