Evidence / Source Signal
How does the speaker know?
含义
A signal that marks whether information is seen, heard, inferred, assumed, reported, remembered, or generally known.
如何识别
Ask whether the sentence shows the source of knowledge.
示例
apparently|I heard|it seems|they say
I heard that|apparently true|it looks like
Apparently, the train is late.
Visual guide
claim: the train is late
^
evidence layer:
how does speaker know?
I heard / it seems / apparently
Apparently, the train is late.
Evidence choices: seen -> direct I heard -> heard they say -> reported it seems -> inferred apparently -> indirect
语言视角
用母语深入讲解
Mandarin can mark information source with lexical phrases such as 听说, 据说, 看来, but evidentiality is not generally obligatory.
听说他搬家了。
tīngshuō tā bānjiā le = heard-say he moved LE
在所学语言中
英语没有广泛强制使用的“证据来源”系统，但会用 apparently、reportedly、I heard that 等词语说明信息是听说、推测还是报道来的。
Apparently, he left early.
Apparently 表示信息来源或判断依据：说话者不是亲自确认，而是根据听说或迹象判断他早走了。
学习者在正式写作或转述中可能不区分亲自知道、推测和听说的信息，使语气显得过于肯定。
Good transfer potential
This block behaves relatively similarly, so you can transfer intuition more safely between the two languages.