<p>今年初，我的朋友告诉我他这个学期每个星期要打工三十个小时。<br>
It is correct. You can use 告诉 in this way.</p>

<p>You can add a comma to make it clearer.<br>
今年初，我的朋友告诉我，他这个学期每个星期要打工三十个小时。  </p>

<p>BTW, the sentence can be simplified as follows.<br>
今年初，朋友告诉我，他这个学期每周要打工三十个小时。<br>
今年初，我朋友说，他这个学期每周要打工三十个小时。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-22T11:48:40.787Z
You deserve to be dipped in gold for such a quick and concise answer. Thankyou!!!
Sulfly
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-22T11:46:28.673Z
2017-03-22T11:46:28.673Z
user3a
<p>I'm wondering whether the use of the word 告诉 is restricted to certain places in a sentence. </p>

<p>I'm wondering whether this sentence would be correct: </p>

<p>今年初，我的朋友告诉我他这个学期每个星期要打工三十个小时。Is 告诉 allowed to be used to quote what someone has said?</p>

<p>Thanks very much in advance. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-22T11:43:39.593Z
why not enter 告诉 into jukuu and examine their 100 example sentences?
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-22T19:35:13.240Z
English grammar distinguishes between direct (e.g.: he said :" ..."，quoting s。o。) and indirect speech (e.g. he said that ...), 告诉某人。。。 corresponds to "tell s.o. (that)...,
i.e. indirect speech, one can add 说： 告诉某人说。。。
which  still could correspond to indirect speech,  using quotation marks 告诉某人说:"direct quotation"  may correspond to direct speech，i。p。indirect speech：。。。告诉我他这个学期。。。,direct speech：。。。 告诉我 **说** ：＂ **我**  这个学期。。。＂。
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-31T08:32:35.267Z
@user6065 direct and indirect speech (直接跟间接引语）seem to be concepts that exist in any language, i.e. any language would seem to distinguish between them, besides "quoting" usually implies direct speech
user6065
<translation><word-choice><sentence-structure>
Can I use 告诉 to quote what someone has said? Please help!
# Can I use 告诉 to quote what someone has said? Please help!

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-03-22)

I'm wondering whether the use of the word 告诉 is restricted to certain places in a sentence.

I'm wondering whether this sentence would be correct:

今年初，我的朋友告诉我他这个学期每个星期要打工三十个小时。Is 告诉 allowed to be used to quote what someone has said?

Thanks very much in advance.

**Tags:** translation, word-choice, sentence-structure

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: why not enter 告诉 into jukuu and examine their 100 example sentences?  
> **username_1**: English grammar distinguishes between direct (e.g.: he said :" ..."，quoting s。o。) and indirect speech (e.g. he said that ...), 告诉某人。。。 corresponds to "tell s.o. (that)..., i.e. indirect speech, one can add 说： 告诉某人说。。。 which  still could correspond to indirect speech,  using quotation marks 告诉某人说:"direct quotation"  may correspond to direct speech，i。p。indirect speech：。。。告诉我他这个学期。。。,direct speech：。。。 告诉我 **说** ：＂ **我**  这个学期。。。＂。  
> **username_1**: @username_1 direct and indirect speech (直接跟间接引语）seem to be concepts that exist in any language, i.e. any language would seem to distinguish between them, besides "quoting" usually implies direct speech  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-03-22. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

今年初，我的朋友告诉我他这个学期每个星期要打工三十个小时。  
It is correct. You can use 告诉 in this way.

You can add a comma to make it clearer.  
今年初，我的朋友告诉我，他这个学期每个星期要打工三十个小时。

BTW, the sentence can be simplified as follows.  
今年初，朋友告诉我，他这个学期每周要打工三十个小时。  
今年初，我朋友说，他这个学期每周要打工三十个小时。

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: You deserve to be dipped in gold for such a quick and concise answer. Thankyou!!!  

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