Re: Singing bird (was: does my lang cover everything?)

>veritosproject@... wrote:
>
>I heard directly, rather than from hearsay or some other means, that
>the bird was singing.
In my L1 "I heard that..." means that someone else told me.

I heard that you were sick.
I hear that you're going to run in the race.
I have heard that he is an excellent speaker.
I heard that Pavarotti was singing the lead role.

"I heard that the bird was singing" means, to me, that someone has
told me that the BIRD was singing, as opposed to the tenor, or that
the bird was SINGING, as opposed to squawking.

Charlie