Narration |Reported Speech
Narration | Reported Speech
Narration | Reported Speech
In our everyday speech, we often speak to the other person about something that was said to us by somebody. In other words, to say, we often report a speech whether ours or someone else’s. We do this in two ways: we either report the speech exactly as we had heard without making any changes or we may change the sentence that we had heard without changing its meaning and then report it. For Example:,
The boy said to his friend, “My pen is red.”
The boy said to his friend that his pen was red.
In the first sentence, the exact words (i.e. ‘My pen is red’) said by the boy to his friend is reported exactly and in the second sentence, the statements of the boy made to his friend are reported with some changes, though the meaning of both the sentences remains almost the same.
Thus when the words (statements) of a speaker are reproduced exactly as he says without initiating any change in language is called Direct Narration or Direct Speech. On the other hand, when the statement of a speaker is reported or reproduced to the other person with some slight changes of language and form though not in meaning is called Indirect Narration or Indirect Speech.
A Direct Narration has the following features:
1. Direct speech is kept within inverted commas:
2. Direct speech begins with a capital letter.
3. The Clause which introduces Direct Speech is called Reporting Clause. A comma is used after the Reporting Clause.
4. The Verb which introduces Direct Speech is called Reporting Verb.
5. The verb which expresses the statement of the Direct Narration is called the Reported Verb.
Mind the following sentence:
Rani says, “I like sweetmeats.”
In the above example, ‘Rani says’ is Reporting Clause and ‘I like sweetmeats’ is the Reported Clause. The verb ‘says’ in the Reporting clause is the Reporting Verb, and the verb ‘like’ in the Reported clause is the Reported Verb.
We know that English sentences are classified into five kinds according to their meaning or purpose as Assertive, Interrogative, Imperative, Optative and Exclamatory. Let us discuss the change of narration of these kinds of sentences in detail as under:
Narration | Reported Speech
Change of Narration of Assertive Sentence
While transforming an Assertive sentence from Direct into Indirect, the following changes are made:
1. The comma (,) after the Reporting clause is removed and the connective word ‘that’ is used.
2. The inverted commas are removed.
3. The forms of Pronouns are changed
4. No capital letter is used after the connective word ‘that’.
Now, in order to bring about these changes while converting from Direct into Indirect or vice-versa, there are several important but simple rules that need to be observed. They are:
1. Changes in Tense and Verb: While changing from Direct to Indirect we have to make different changes regarding tenses, verbs or helping verb, as:
Direct ……. Indirect
Present Indefinite ……. Past Indefinite
Present Continuous ……. Past Continuous
Present Perfect ……. Past Perfect
Present Perfect Continuous ……. Past Perfect Continuous
Past Indefinite ……. Past Perfect
Past Continuous ……. Past Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect ……. No change
Past Perfect Continuous ……. No change
(a) If the Reporting Verb, i.e. the Main Verb in the first part of the sentence before the comma is in the Present or the Future tense then the tense of the verb in the reported speech will not change. Examples
Direct: Father says, “I shall write a letter.”
Indirect: Father says that he will write a letter.
(b) If the Reporting verb is in the Past tense, the tense of the verb in the reported speech will be changed into its corresponding Past tense. Examples:
Direct: The student said to his friend. “I write everyday.” (Present Indefinite)
Indirect: The student said to his friend that he wrote everyday. (Past Indefinite)
Direct: The student said to his mother, “I am going there.” (Present Continuous)
Indirect: The boy said to his mother that he was going there. (Past Continuous)
(c) If the Reporting Verb is in the past tense (the Simple Past) and the Reported clause is in the Past Indefinite tense then in the Indirect speech it changes into Past Perfect tense. Examples
Direct: He said, “The dog died.” (Simple Past)
Indirect: He said that the dog had died. (Past Perfect)
Direct: He said, “The boy came at seven.” (Simple Past)
Indirect: He said that the boy had come at seven. (Past Perfect)
(d) If the Reporting Verb is in the past tense and the Reported speech is in the Past Continuous Tense then in the Indirect speech it changes into Past Perfect Continuous Tense. Examples:
Direct: He said, “The beggar was coming.” (Past Continuous)
Indirect: He said that the beggar had been coming. (Past Perfect Continuous)
Direct: He said, “Rain was falling yesterday.” (Past Continuous)
Indirect: He said that rain had been falling the previous day. (Past Perfect Continuous)
2. Change of Person: The persons undergo the following changes while converting from Direct to Indirect:
(a) First Person pronouns in the Direct speech change according to the subject of the reporting verb:
Direct ……. Indirect
We ……. They
My ……. His, her
Direct: He says, “I am going to Delhi.
Indirect: He says that he is going to Delhi.
Direct: Mummy says, “I will have to go.”‘
Indirect: Mummy says that she will have to go.
(b) Second-person pronouns change according to the noun or pronoun coming after the reporting verbs. The second person changes to third, if there is no mention of the second person in the Reporting verb:
Direct ……. Indirect
You ……. He
Your ……. His/HerYou (plural ‘they’)
Your ……. (Plural) Their
You ……. (Object) Him/Her
You ……. (Object) Them
Yours ……. (Object) Theirs
But if there is mention of ‘you’ (second person) in the Direct speech, then ‘you’ in the indirect speech remains unchanged.
Direct: Ram said to you, “You are a good boy.”
Indirect: Ram said to you that you were a good boy.
Direct: I said to Masrur, “You will have to read.”
Indirect: I said to Masrur that he would have to read.
Direct: Ram said to you, “You are wrong.”
Indirect: Ram said to you that you were wrong.
(c) Third-person pronouns of the Direct speech remain unchanged when converted to indirect. Examples:
Direct: Sita said to me, “She will be rewarded.”
Indirect: Sita said to me that she would be rewarded.
Direct: She said, “He has come.”
Indirect: She said that he had come,
4. Said to: If the Reporting verb ‘said to’ is followed by an object, it is changed into ‘told’ while converting it into Indirect speech. Examples
Direct: She said to her mother, “I have done my work.”
Indirect: She told her mother that she had done her work.
Direct: He said to me, “There is no more water.”
Indirect: He told me that there was no more water.
Note: If there is mention of the first person in the reporting clause, then the second person in the Direct speech changes to the first person, as:
Direct ……. Indirect
You ……. (Singular) I
You ……. (Plural) We
Your ……. (Singular) My
Your ……. (Plural) Our
You ……. (Object, Singular) Me
You ……. (Object, Plural) Usk
Direct: Ram said to me, “You are a good boy.”
Indirect: Ram told me that I was a good boy.
5. If the Reported speech has two actions which are both in the past continuous tense, its tense will not change while converting into Indirect speech. Example,
Direct: She said, “The cat was running and the dog was chasing it.”
Indirect: She said that the cat was running and the dog was chasing that.
Similarly, if the reported speech is in the past tense and indicates time or period, its tense will not change. Example
Direct: She said, “I worked in Delhi for two years.”
Indirect: She said that she worked in Delhi for two years.
6. In case the sentence in the Direct Narration tells about some Universal Truth, habitual action or thing of wonder, the tense of the Reported Verb does not change in the Indirect Narration. It remains in the same tense as in Direct Narration. For example,
Direct: The teacher said, “The earth is round.”
Indirect: The teacher said that the earth is round.
Direct: Galileo said, “The moon is a satellite.”
Indirect: Galileo said that the moon is a satellite.
Direct: She said, “Honey tastes sweet.”
Indirect: She said that honey tastes sweet.
Direct: Charles said, “It is very cold in winter.”
Indirect: Charles said that it is very cold in winter.
Direct: The teacher said, ‘’The Red Fort is an achievement of wonder.”
Indirect: The teacher said that the Red Fort is an achievement of wonder.
7. In Indirect Narration the Past Tense of ‘shall’ is not generally used but ‘would’ is used as the past tense form of both ‘shall’ and ‘will’. Examples,
Direct: She said, ‘’I will do this.”
Indirect: She said that she would do that.
Direct: They said, “We will play badminton tomorrow.”
Indirect: They said that they would play badminton the following day.
8. Adjectives, Adverbs and Verbs of nearness in the Direct Narration should be changed into Adjectives, Adverbs and Verbs of distance in the Indirect Narration as shown below:
Direct ……. Indirect
Here ……. there
Now ……. then
This ……. that
These ……. those
Today ……. this day/that day
Yesterday ……. the day before/the previous day
Tomorrow ……. the day after/ the following day
To-night ……. that night
Come ……. go
Last night ……. the previous night
Ago ……. before
Examples:
Direct: Seema said, “I shall go to the library now.”
Indirect: Seema said that she would go to the library then.
Direct: Rina said, ‘’This is the village and my uncle lives here.”
Indirect: Rina said that that was the village and her uncle lived there.
Direct: Raja said, ‘These are the boys with whom I play.
Indirect: Raja said that those were the boys with whom he played.
Direct: The Postmaster General said, “I signed the letter yesterday.
Indirect: The Postmaster General said that he had signed the letter the day before.
9. ‘Must’ and ‘need not’:
(a) In some cases, ‘must’ and ‘need not’ are used in place of ‘have to’. Examples
Direct: He said, “I must go now.”
Indirect: He said that he had to go then.
Direct: He said, “I need not go.”
Indirect: He said that he would not have to go.
(b) ‘Must’ is used in place of ‘shall have to’ when it expresses necessity or compulsion. Examples
Direct: He said, “I must finish this book on Monday.”
Indirect: He said that he would have to finish that book on Monday.
Direct: He said, “I need not write this essay.”
Indirect: He said that he would not have to write that essay.
(b) ‘Must’ sometimes indicates an order or a command. But in some sentences when ‘must’ indicates some kind of advice or suggestion and compulsion; in
such sentences ‘must’ remains ‘must’. Example
Direct: The policeman said to us, “You must not cross the road against the red light.”
Indirect: The policeman told us that we must not cross the road against the red light.
Narration | Reported Speech
Change of Narration of Interrogative Sentence
In case of changing an Interrogative sentence from Direct to Indirect Narration most of the rules applicable to Assertive sentences as mentioned above apply with the following exceptions:
1. The Reporting verb ‘Said’ in Direct Narration is changed into asked, enquired of, wanted to know etc. in Indirect Narration.
2. If the Question in the Reported speech begins with a helping verb, i.e. is, am, are, was, were, do, does, did, may, might, can, could, will, would, must, etc. the inverted commas are replaced by ‘if’ or ‘whether’.
3. If the Question in Direct Narration starts with who, whose, when, where, what, which, why, how etc. no conjunction is used.
4. While changing the Direct Narration into Indirect Narration the Interrogative sentence becomes an Assertive sentence.
Now mind the following examples:
Direct: Nina said to the boy, “Where do you live?”
Indirect: Nina asked the boy where he lived.
or
Nina inquired of the boy where he lived.
Direct: She said to me, “How can you manage the shop?”
Indirect: She asked me how I could manage the shop.
Direct: Hira said to me, “Do you know my sister?”
Indirect: Hira wanted to know if I knew her sister.
Direct: He said to me, “Where are you going?”
Indirect: He asked me where I was going.
Direct: He said to me, “What are you doing?”
Indirect: He asked me what I was doing.
Direct: The poor man said, ‘’Will no one help me?”
Indirect: The poor man enquired whether no one would help him.
Direct: Ram said to Kamal, “Will you go to school?”
Indirect: Ram asked Kamal if (whether) he would go to School.
Direct: I said to Ajmal, “Is your sister at school?”
Indirect: I asked (enquired of) Ajmal if (whether) his sister was at school.
Direct: Abrahim said to me, “Are you doing work?”
Indirect: Abrahim enquired of me if I was doing work.
Direct: Radhika said to me, “Do you eat guava?”
Indirect: Radhika asked me if I ate guava.
Direct: They say, “Does Ram go to market?”
Indirect: They ask whether (if) Ram goes to market.
Direct: Ramcharan said, “Did you go to school?”
Indirect: Ramcharan asked if (whether) he had gone to school.
Direct: Manab said to Manik, “Do you smoke tobacco?”
Indirect: Manab asked Manik if (whether) he smoked tobacco.
Direct: He said to my brother, “What is your name?”
Indirect: He asked my brother what his name was.
Direct: I asked Raman, “What are you reading?”
Indirect: I enquired of Raman what he was reading.
Direct: My father said to me, “Which is my book?”
Indirect: My father asked me which my book was.
Direct: Suman said, “How Ram does the work.
Indirect: Suman asked how Ram did the work.
Direct: I said to him, “When will Renuka return?”
Indirect: I enquired of him when Renuka would return.
Direct: I said to him, “How long will you stay?”
Indirect: I inquired of him how long he would stay.
Narration | Reported Speech
Change of Narration of Imperative Sentence
The following rules are observed while changing Imperative sentences from Direct Narration to Indirect Narration:
1. In the Imperative sentence, the sense of order, command, advice, request, entreaty, warning, etc. are conveyed. So, the Reporting verb ‘said’ is changed into ordered, requested, advised, commanded, warned, forbade etc. depending on the nature of the sentence.s/online-cou2. Inverted commas (“— “) are replaced by ‘to’.
3. In the sentences negative-imperative, ‘don’t’ or ‘do not’ is substituted by ‘not to’.
4. If the Imperative sentence starts with ‘let’ verb and expresses some proposal or suggestion, ‘said to’ should be changed into ‘proposed to’, or ‘suggested to’.
Now mind the following examples:
Direct: The master said to the servant, “Post the letter at once.”
Indirect: The master ordered the servant to post the letter at once.
Direct: I said to my son, “Work hard for a better tomorrow.”
Indirect: I advised my son to work hard for a better tomorrow.
5. Some more rules:
(i) ‘Said to’ is changed into ‘wished’. (In the case of Good morning, Good noon, Good afternoon, Good evening, etc.)
(ii) ‘Said to’ is changed into ‘bade’. (In case of Good night, Goodbye, Farewell etc.)
(iii) If the sentence expresses some desire (i.e. starts with would that, that if, etc.), ‘said to’ is changed into ‘wished’.
(iv) If the sentence expresses some wish or prayer (i.e. starts with ‘May – -! or May God —!), ‘said to’ is changed into ‘wished’ or ‘prayed’.
(v) If an exclamatory sentence expresses sorrow, grief or pain, ‘said to’ is changed to ‘exclaimed with sorrow that’ or ‘exclaimed with grief that’ etc.
(vi) ‘Said to’ is changed to ‘exclaimed with joy that’ or ‘exclaimed joyfully that’ etc., if an exclamatory sentence expresses joy.
(vii) ‘Said to’ is changed to ‘applauded saying/telling, calling out that’ etc. (In case of exclamatory sentences expressing approval.
Now mind the following examples:
Direct: He said to me, “Good morning.”
Indirect: He wished me good morning.
Direct: The boy said, “If I could win this game.”
Indirect: The boy wished that he could win that game.
Direct: She said to him, “May God grant you success in the examination.”
Indirect: She prayed that God might grant him success in the examination.
Direct: I said to my mate, “Please give me your pen.”
Indirect: I requested my mate to give me his pen.
Direct: Father said to his son, “Adopt morality.”
Indirect: Father advised his son to adopt morality.
Direct: The student said to the teacher, “Please excuse me, sir.
Indirect: The student prayed to the teacher to excuse him.
Direct: Rahim said, “Ramu, come here.”
Indirect: Rahim told Ramu to go there.
Direct: My mother said to me, “Don’t run in the sun.”
Indirect: My mother forbade me to run in the sun.
Direct: Sabina said to Masrur, “Please send a letter.”
Indirect: Sabina requested Masrur to send a letter.
Direct: He said, “Let us play”.
Indirect: He proposed that we should play.
Direct: She said, “Let me have a pen.”
Indirect: She wished that she might be allowed to have a pen.
Direct: He said, “Let me go there now.”
Indirect: He wished that he might be allowed to go there then.
Direct: Mahim said, “Let me have a book.”
Indirect: Mahim wished that he might be allowed to have a book.
Direct: My father said, “Let them go.”
Indirect: My father wished that they might be allowed to go.
Narration | Reported Speech
Change of Narration of Optative Sentence
The following rules are observed while changing an Optative Sentence from Direct Narration to Indirect Narration:
1. The Reporting verb is changed into ‘wish’ or ‘pray’ according to the sense of the sentence.
2. The inverted comma is replaced by the conjunction ‘that’.
3. The Optative Sentence is changed into a Statement (Assertive sentence).
Now mind the following examples:
Direct: Father said, ‘’May you live long.”
Indirect: Father wished that I might live long.
Direct: The teacher said to the students, “May you prosper in life.”
Indirect: The teacher wished that the students might prosper in life.
Direct: He said, “If I were dead.”
Indirect: He wished if he had been dead.
Direct: Mother said to me, “May God bless you.”
Indirect: Mother prayed that God might bless me.
Direct: The old lady said to me, “May you live long.”
Indirect: The old lady wished that I might live long.
Direct: Reba said, “May David be happy.”
Indirect: Reba wished that David might be happy.
Direct: Anjali said, “May God bless Sukanta.”
Indirect: Anjali prayed that God might bless Sukanta.
Direct: The Ministers said, “Long live our Prime Minister.”
Indirect: The ministers wished that their Prime Minister might long live.
Direct: Ramu says to me, “May you be prosperous”.
Indirect: Ramu wishes me that I may be prosperous.
Narration | Reported Speech
Change of Narration of Exclamatory Sentence
The following rules are observed when changing an Exclamatory Sentence from Direct Narration to Indirect Narration:
1. The Reporting verb is changed into ‘cry out’, ‘exclaim’ etc. according to sense.
2. The inverted comma is replaced by ‘that’
3. The exclamatory sentence is turned into an Assertive sentence or Statement. The Interjection or Interjectional phrase, if any, is omitted.
Now mind the following examples:
Direct: She said, “Alas! I am undone.”
Indirect: She cried out in sorrow that he was undone.
Direct: The players shouted, “Hurrah! we have won the match.”
Indirect: The players shouted with joy that they had won the match.
Direct: The old man said, “Ah! I am done for.”
Indirect: The old man exclaimed with sorrow that he was done for.
Direct: The captain said to the natives, “What a lonely island this is.”
Indirect: The captain exclaimed to the natives that that was a lonely island.
Direct: Tapan said, “What a fool I am.”
Indirect: He cried out in sorrow that he was a great fool.
Direct: The warrior said, ‘’Adieu, my countrymen.”
Indirect: The warrior bade adieu to his countrymen.
Direct: He said, “Good morning, Mr Sen.”
Indirect: He wished Mr Sen good morning.
Direct: He said, “By God, what a piece of good news!”
Indirect: He swore by God that it was a piece of very good news.
Direct: Ram said, “Bravo, well done.”
Indirect: Ram applauded saying that that was well done.
Direct: She said, “What a lovely flower!”
Indirect: She cried out in joy that it was a very lovely flower.
Direct: Ramu said, “How cruel I had been to Shila!”
Indirect: Ramu confessed with regret that he had been very cruel to Shila. 0 0 0.
Narration | Reported Speech
1. Change the form of narration of the following:
(i) John said, “My brother is a good student.”
(ii) Rewa said to me, “I was writing a letter to my mother.”
(iii)The boy said, “ I slept well last night.”
(iv) Tapan said, “I was here.”
(v) Ramu said, “I must go.”
(vi)They said, “We are discussing an important matter.”
(vii) Nabin said, “I attended the Farewell meeting.”
(viii) Rina said, “ I was singing yesterday.”
(ix) Ratan says, “I am glad.”
(x) The teacher said, “The earth moves round the sun.”
2. Change the form of narration of the following:
(i) Socrates said, “What is this strange outcry?”
(ii) He said to me, ‘‘What are you doing here?”
(iii) My friend said, “Did you see the Tajmahal?”
(iv) Raju said to me, “Are you hungry?”
(v) Rekha said to me, “Will you lend me your book?”
(vi) Junu said, “I am guilty.”
(vii) He said to me, “Who are you?”
(viii) He said to Reba, “How are you?”
(ix) She said, “Who taught you English grammar?”
(x) He said to me, “Where did you go yesterday?”
3. Change the form narration of the following sentences:
(i) The old man said to me, “Sit down.”
(ii)The master said to the servant, “ “Get out from here.”
(iii) The General said to the soldiers, “March forward.”
(iv) Mother said, “Don’t shout.”
(v) The boy said to me, “Please sit down.”
(vi) The boy said to the teacher, “Pardon me, sir.”
(vii) The old man said to us, “Don’t tell a lie.”
(viii) He said, “Let me do this.”
(ix) The teacher said to us, “Go as you like.”
(x) The boy said, ‘’Let me go home.”
4. Turn the following sentences into Indirect form:
(i) Grandfather said to me, “May God bless you.”
(ii)The old lady said to me, “May you live long.”
(iii) I said to him, “May God grant you a long life.”
(iii) They said, ‘’Long live Mahatmaji.”
(iv) He said to me, “May you prosper in life.”
(v) He said to me, “May you recover from illness.”
(vi) The boy said, “May your team win the match.”
(vii) She said, “Alas! I am undone.”
(viii) He said, “What a lovely flower!”
(ix) Shakespeare said, “What a piece of work man is!”
(x) Alaka said, “Good morning Rekha.”
5. Change the narration of the following:
(a) I said to him, “You are wrong.”
(b) He said to Hari, “ Can you cook?”
(c) She said, “Let us go for a walk.”
(d) Nina said to me. “I like to read storybooks.”
(e) Mamon said to Tapan, “Where did you go yesterday?”
(f) He said, “By God! what a capital punishment!”
(g) The saint said that God governs everything.
(h) I requested him to pardon me.
(i) The girl said, “Two and Three make five.”
(j) I said, “What is your profession?”
(k) Rahim said to me, “I shall buy a new car.”
(l) John said to me, “Is your mother still in service?”
(m) The Prime Minister told the people that he would do everything for the welfare of his countrymen.
(n)The President told the people to work for the progress of the nation.
(o) The old lady said to the baby, “May there be peace with you.”
(p)Joseph said to Mary, “Where can we stay for the night?”
(q) Macbeth asked the guests, “Which of you have done this?”
(r) Mother said to me, “Honesty is the best policy.”
(s) The boys shout, “Hurrah we have won the match.” 0 0 0.
Narration | Reported Speech
N.B. The article ‘Narration | Reported Speech’ originally belongs to the book ‘School English Grammar Part- I‘ by Menonim Menonimus.
Books of Composition by M. Menonimus:
- Advertisement Writing
- Amplification Writing
- Note Making
- Paragraph Writing
- Notice Writing
- Passage Comprehension
- The Art of Poster Writing
- The Art of Letter Writing
- Report Writing
- Story Writing
- Substance Writing
- School Essays Part-I
- School Essays Part-II
- School English Grammar Part-I
- School English Grammar Part-II..
Books on Linguistics by M. Menonimus:
- A Brief History of the English Language
- Essays on Linguistics
- My Imageries
- Felicitous Expression: Some Examples
- Learners’ English Dictionary
Related Search:
- Home English Grammar
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- Basic English Grammar Lessons
- A Beginner’s Guide to Basic English Grammar …
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- Narration-Direct and Indirect Speech
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