Narration
Narration refers to a speech. The
word narration comes the Latin word ‘Narrat’
that means relating or telling something to somebody. Narration is of two
types:
a) Direct Narration b) Indirect Narration
a) Direct Narration: In Direct Narration, we just quote the
exact words of a speaker without making any change in it. Here we use comma
quotation for the Reported Speech.
Borney said, “I read the Holy Quran everyday.”
(The
Reported Speech)
Nancy said to
me, “I am beautiful.” (The Reporting Verb)
Jennifer said, “I want a
pen.”
Nancy said to Kona, “I must
leave the place now.” (The Reported Verb)
b) Indirect Narration: But in the Indirect Narration, we modify
the speech of a speaker in our own way in order to report it to other person or
people. Here we leave out the comma quotation (“….”) and use ‘that’ as conjunction and we must
change the persons.
Borney said that she read
the Holy Quran everyday.
Nancy told me that she was beautiful.
Jennifer said that she
wanted a pen.
Nancy told Kona that she had
to leave the place then.
Note: The use of ‘that’ as
conjunction after the Reporting Verb in the Reported Speech is optional.
Necessary Changes in Tenses
Direct
Speech
|
Indirect Speech
|
Present
Indefinite Tense
|
Past Indefinite Tense
|
Present
Continuous Tense
|
Past Continuous
Tense
|
Present Perfect
Tense
|
Past Perfect
Tense
|
Present Perfect
Continuous Tense
|
Past Perfect
Continuous Tense
|
Past Indefinite
Tense
|
Past Perfect
Tense
|
Past Continuous
Tense
|
Past Perfect
Continuous Tense
|
Note: ‘Past
Perfect Tense’ and ‘Past Perfect
Continuous’ Tense in the Reported Speech do not undergo any change with the
exception of persons.
Necessary Changes in Words
Direct
|
Indirect
|
Direct
|
Indirect
|
Can
|
Could
|
Ago
|
Before
|
May
|
Might
|
Thus
|
So/ that way
|
Shall
|
Should / Would
|
Here
|
There
|
Will
|
Would
|
Today
|
That day / Yesterday
|
Come
|
Go
|
Tomorrow
|
The next day
|
Next week/year
|
The following week/year
|
Yesterday
|
The previous day
|
Last week/year
|
The previous week/year
|
Last night
|
The previous night
|
A year ago
|
A year before/ the previous year
|
The day before
yesterday
|
Two days before
|
This
|
That
|
The day after
tomorrow
|
In two days of time
|
These
|
Those
|
Hence
|
Thence
|
Tonight
|
That night
|
Now
|
Then
|
Must
|
Had to / Must (Factual Truth)
|
|
|
He said,
“I went to the theatre last night.”
He said that he had gone
to the theatre the night before.
He said, “I
am having a party next weekend.”
He said that he was having
a party the next weekend.
He said,
“I am staying here until next week.”
He said that he was
staying there until the following week.
Rony said,
“I came over from London
3 years ago.”
Rony said that he had come over from London
3 years before.
The teacher said, “Students must
obey their parents.”
The
teacher said that students must obey
their parents. (The verb is not changed because it is a
factual truth.)
Narration includes these sentences as following:
a) Assertive Sentence b) Interrogative Sentence c) Imperative
Sentence d) Optative Sentence e) Exclamatory Sentence
Assertive
Sentence
Rule 1:
If the Reported Speech is Universal
Truth / Scientific Truth / Natural Truth / Habitual Truth / Factual
Truth, we don’t make any change in the Reported Speech rather we change the
person only.
The
teacher said, “God is one.”
The teacher said that God
is one. (Universal Truth)
He
said, “Fire burns.”
He said that fire burns. (Scientific Truth)
Nancy said, “It is hot in the summer.”
Nancy said that it is hot in the summer. (Natural Truth)
The
teacher said, “Physical exercise is good for health.”
The teacher said that
physical exercise is good for health. (Habitual Truth)
Mamun
said, “Farah is my cousin.”
Mamun said that Farah is
his cousin. (Factual
Truth)
Rule 2:
If the Reporting Verb is in the Present
Tense / the Future Tense / the Present Perfect Tense, they don’t
undergo any change.
Borney says or will say, “I am right.”
Borney says or will say that she is right.
Kona has said to me, “I
have just taken my breakfast.” (First Person)
Kona has told me that she
has just taken her breakfast. (Here we changed the persons only.)
He said
to me, “You are a liar.” (Second Person)
He told me that I was a
liar.
Note: ‘Said to’ is changed into ‘told’ but ‘said’ remains unchanged.
Note: ‘First Person’ in the
Reported Speech indicates the ‘Subject’
of the Reporting Verb and the ‘Second
Person’ in the Reported Speech indicates the ‘Object’ of the Reporting Verb.
Rule 3:
Sometimes, introductory portion of the Reported Speech may remain absent. In
such a situation, we should guess the possible speaker.
“I shall
do my duty.”
He says or will say that
he will do his duty.
He said that he would do
his duty.
Note: ‘Reporting Verb’ is not always
more than one.
Note: Subjective Case converted into Subjective Case,
Possessive Case changed into Possessive One and Objective Case transformed into Objective One.
Rule 4:
Sometimes, the Reporting Verb is mentioned after the Reported Speech and it is
possible.
“I am happy now.” – said Nancy.
Nancy said that she was happy then.
Note: When we change any Direct Speech into Indirect Speech, it becomes an Assertive
Sentence. No matter, whether it is an Assertive Sentence or Optative
Sentence or Imperative Sentence or Exclamatory Sentence or Interrogative
Sentence.
Rule 5: ‘Yes’ – replied in the affirmative, ‘No’- replied in the negative, ‘Please’ - kindly and ‘Sir’ / ‘Madam’ – politely /
respectfully / with respect.
The student
said to me, “I am sorry, Sir.”
The student told me politely that he was sorry.
“Yes, sir,” the student replied. I have done my duty.”
The student respectfully replied in the affirmative
that he had done his duty.
The
students said to the teacher, “Please, explain the matter again, Sir.”
The students requested the
teacher politely to explain the matter again.
Rule 6:
If there are two or more than two Past Tenses in the Direct Speech, they do not
undergo any change but we only change the persons.
George said, “I came home, took bath and ate
my meal.”
George said that he came
home, took bath and ate his meal.
Rule 7: Students often
change ‘it’ into ‘that’ but that is wrong. It
remains unchanged in the Indirect Speech.
He said to me, “I know it well.”
He told me that he knew it well.
Rule 8: Changes in the
tag questions:
He said to me, “You are going to
the play ground, aren’t you?
He asked me whether it was true that I was going to the
playground.
Rule 9: All 3rd Person Pronouns will
remain unchanged.
He said, “She is busy with her
toy”
He said that she was busy with her toy.
Rule 10: ‘So’ = that is why, ‘But’ = with dissatisfaction
He said to me, “I am unwell. So I shall not go to school.”
He told me that he was unwell and that is why he would not go to
school.
The boy said, “I have come to chop
your wood. “But you are
too small to chop wood,” said the woman.
The boy said that he had come to chop her wood. With dissatisfaction, the woman told him that he was
too small to chop the wood.
Rule 11:
Assertive Sentence with question mark: (Use
‘Being surprised’ with the reporting
verb and follow the rules of doing interrogative sentence.)
He said to me “You are angry with
me?”
Being surprised he asked me if I was angry with him.
Rule 12: Well, you see
(if used with in inverted comma)
Omit them and do in general way.
The teacher said, “Well Raven, I shall reward you.”
The teacher told Raven that he would reward him.
Note: ‘Vocative Case’ in the
Reported Speech becomes the ‘Object’
of the Reporting Verb in the Indirect Speech.
Rule 13: If we find any Complex Sentence in
the Direct Speech, we may change one Clause or both the Clauses in the Indirect
Speech.
Mita said to me, “You were my
good friend when you were a student of Saint
Joseph” (Complex Sentence)
Mita told me I had been her good friend when I had been a
student of Saint Joseph.
He said to Ratul, “You were a
mere a boy when I saw you last.” (Complex Sentence)
He told Ratul he had been a mere boy when he had seen him
last.
Rule 14: When we
report something that is still true:
Emma said, “People in Africa are starving.” (The fact is
still true.)
Emma said that people in Africa
are starving.
Unreal Past Tense
Rule 15:
Unreal Past Tense after ‘wish’, ‘would
rather / sooner’, ‘had better’, ‘used to’, ‘ought to’, ‘would’, ‘could’,
‘might’, ‘must not’, ‘need not’ and
‘it is time’ don’t change rather we change
the person in the Indirect Speech.
“We wish we did not have to take
exams”, said the children.
The children said they
wished they did not have to take exams.
“It is time we began planning our
holidays”, he said.
He said that it was
time they began planning their holidays.
They
ought to widen this road”, I said.
I said that they ought to
widen the road.
He
explained, “I know the place well because I used to live here.”
He explained that he knew
the place well because he used to live there.
She
said to her hubby, “You had better take warm water for gurgling.”
She told her bubby that he
had better take warm water for gurgling.
He
said, “You must not tell anyone.”
He said that she must not
tell anyone.
(Alternatively): He told
her not to tell anyone.
He
said, “You needn’t wait.”
He said that I needn’t
wait.
He said
to me, “I used to meet him in the afternoon.”
He told me that he used to meet him in the afternoon. (With that)
He told me he used to meet
him in the afternoon. (Without that)
Rule 16:
The 2nd and the 3rd Conditional Sentences
remain unchanged rather we change the persons.
“If I
had a permit, I could get a job”, he said.
He said that if he had a
permit, he could get a job. (The 2nd Conditional Sentence)
“If she
had loved Wilson”,
he said, “She would not have left him.”
He said that if she had
loved Wilson,
she would not have left him. (The 3rd Conditional Sentence)
Rule 17: When
there is uncertainty as to the particular person to whom the pronoun in the Indirect
Speech refers, the name of the person should be mentioned in the brackets.
He said to the Ram, “You are
wrong.”
He told Ram that he (Ram)
was wrong
Harry sait to Jatin, “You will
pass.”
Harry told Jatin that he (Jatin) would pass.
Interrogative
Sentence (?)
Rule 1:
We use ask(ed) / want(ed) to know / enquire(ed) in the Indirect Speech in the place of ‘said’ / ‘said to’ and we don’t change the Interrogative Pronouns / the
Interrogative Adjectives / the Interrogative Adverbs for transformation.
My
mother said to me, “How are you now?”
My mother asked me how I
was then.
“Where
are you staying next week?”, my friend said to me.
My friend wanted to know
where I was staying the following week.
Note: Who, where, which, when, how,
why, what, whom, whose and the rest are the Interrogative Pronouns / Interrogative
Adjectives / Interrogative Adverbs.
Rule 2:
If any Interrogative Sentence commences with just an Auxiliary Verb rather than
the Interrogative Pronouns / Adjectives / Adverbs, we use if / whether.
My
teacher said to me, “Are you making a noise?”
My teacher asked me if or whether I was making a noise.
The
noble man said to the poor man, “Have you taken anything for lunch?”
The noble man asked the
poor man if he had taken anything for lunch.
Borney
said to me, “Do you want to help me?”
Borney asked me if I
wanted to help her.
Note: ‘Whether’ is more formal than ‘If’. Either
of them can be used but ‘whether’ is
preferable when there is a matter of choice.
Note: ‘Do’,
‘Does’ and ‘Did’ are removed in
the Indirect Speech if they are used as Auxiliary.
Rule 3:
If there is a Present participle phrase with the reporting verb, it will come
in front of the reporting verb in doing the indirect speech. But if it is not
present participle phrase then the position of it will remain unchanged.
“Are you brothers?” asked the
mistress of the house turning to the Dervishes.
Turning to the Dervishes the Mistress of the house asked if
they were brothers.
Note: Here in it, we don’t use that in the Indirect Speech when we
leave out comma quotations.
Imperative
Sentence
We use tell, beg, implore (to
ask sb to do sth in an anxious way because you want or need it very much), entreat (formal) : to
ask sb to do sth in a serious and often emotional way), encourage, forbid, recommend, remind, urge, warn, ask, told and the
rest in the place of ‘said’ or ‘said to’ in the Indirect Speech in the
sentence.
Rule 1:
We use the Infinitive (to + verb present
form)
The
teacher said to his boys, “Do it at once.”
The teacher advised his
boys to do it at once. (The Infinitive)
Khona
said to her teacher, “Grant me my prayer, Sir.”
Khona politely requested
her teacher to grant her prayer.
He
said, “Lie down, Tom.”
He told Tom to lie down.
She
said, “You had better hurry, Bill.”
She advised Bill to hurry.
He said
to his friends, “Please wait for me till I return.”
He requested his friend
kindly to wait for him till he
returned.
Rule 2:
If the Reported Speech starts with ‘Do
not / Never’, we use ‘not to
+ verb’ in the Indirect Speech in the time of leaving out the comma
quotations.
My father said to me, “Do not run
in the sun.”
My father advised me not
to run in the sun.
My father forbade me to run in the sun.
My teacher said, “Never tell a lie.”
My teacher advised me not
to tell a lie.
Rule 3: The Modals must, would and could are not normally changed in the Indirect Speech. You should
also note that some sentences with would
and could are Interrogative in form
but Imperative in nature.
He said
to me, “You must leave the place.”
He told me I must leave
the place. (Assertive
Sentence)
He said
to me, “Would you help me to do the sum?”
He requested me to help
him to do the sum. (Imperative Sentence)
I said to her, “Could you give me a cup of tea?”
I requested her to give me
a cup of tea. (Imperative
Sentence)
Rule 4:
Calling in the name of person (The name will be added as object of reporting verb)
He
said, “Raven, don’t misbehave with anyone.”
He advised Raven not to
misbehave with anyone.
Rule 5:
Calling in the name of relations
The
student said, “Sir, please forgive me.” (Addressing as
brother/sister/friend/sir)
Addressing as sir the
student requested kindly to forgive him.
Rule 6:
By Allah/by God/by Jove/by my love/by my life (Swearing by Allah/God/Jove/Life/Love)
“By
Allah,” she replied, “I will not forget you.”
Swearing by Allah, she
replied that she would not forget me.
Rule 7:
Imperative sentence with tag question
He told
me, “Shut the door, will you?” (Tag question will
be omitted and rules of imperative sentence will be followed.)
He asked/requested me to
shut the door.
Rule 8: When ‘let’ denotes a proposal, the Reporting Verb should be changed in
to ‘propose’ or ‘suggest’ and ‘let’ be
replaced by ‘should’.
Borney
said, “Let’s have a walk.”
Borney proposed that we
should have a walk.
He said
to me, “Let’s go home.”
He suggested to me that we
should go home.
Rule 9:
But when ‘Let’ does not express a
proposal, the Reporting Verb does not change, only ‘let’ is changed into ‘may’
or ‘might’ or ‘might be allowed’ or any other verb as per the relevant meaning.
He
said, “Let me have a glass of milk.”
He wished that he might
have a class of milk.
Rule 10: It
is often safer for the students to use ‘tell’
in the Indirect Speech, when there be any doubt about the proper word to
introduce the Reported Speech.
I said
to him angrily, “Leave me alone.”
I told him angrily to
leave me alone.
Optative
Sentence
We use
‘wish’ or ‘pray’ in the Optative Sentence in the place of ‘said to’ or ‘said’.
My
grandfather said, “May you live long.”
My grandfather wished that
I might live long.
The
teacher said to the boy, “God bless you.” (Optative Sentence without May)
The teacher prayed for the
boy that God might bless him.
He said, “Would that I were here.”
He
wished that he had been there.
They said,” O that! We had won the match.”
They
wished that they had won the match.
Note: “Would
that” and “O that” are removed
in the Indirect Speech.
Exclamatory
Sentence (!)
We use hurrah
- exclaim with joy, alas - exclaim with sorrow, fie - exclaim with shame, wow -
exclaimed with wonder/surprise, cry out, ‘wish’ or ‘pray’ in the place of ‘said’ / ‘said to’
The boy said, “What a piece of
good news it is!”
The boy exclaimed with joy that it was a piece of very good
news.
She said, “Had I the wings of a
bird!”
She strongly wished that she had the wings of a bird.
Farhad said, “Good-bye, my
friends!”
Farhad said good-bye to his friends.
Farhad bade his friends good-bye.
The poor boy cried, “Alas! I am
undone.”
The poor boy exclaimed with sorrow that he was done.
The maidservant
said, “By Allah! I know nothing about the stolen purse.”
The maidservant swore by Allah that she knew nothing about
the stolen purse.
I said to them,” Bravo! You played
very well.”
I applauded them that they had played very well. (Bravo – applauded)
My friend said to me, “Thanks! /
Congratulations!”
My friend thanked/congratulated me.
The girl said, “Help! Help!”- The girl cried out for help.
Note: When you are trying to change any Direct
Speech into an Indirect
One, you must
remember some tips necessary. They are:
First: Try to identify
the Sentence in the Reported Speech.
Secondly: Try to identify the Tense in the Reported Speech and
the Reporting Verb
Thirdly: You must change the Persons in the Reported Speech.
Fourthly: You must change the Time / Place Adverbs in the
Reported Speech.
Passage Narration
“We would like to go on an
excursion. Can we have your permission, Sir?” said the students. “Yes, you can
arrange it after the examination is over. And you should choose a historical
place for that.” replied the headmaster. “Thank you, sir.” - Answer: The students told the headmaster that they
would like to go on an excursion. Then the students asked him politely if they
could have his permission. The headmaster approved it and said that they could
arrange it after the examination was over and also added that they should
choose a historical place for that. Finally, the students thanked him
respectfully.
Note: First,
you should find out the 1st speaker of the passage and the 2nd
speaker because like sentence narration it is not always easy to find out the
speaker and the person spoken to. So in order to find out them, you must read the
whole passage carefully.
2. The teacher said to the boy, “Do
you think that honesty is the best policy?” The boy said, “Yes sir, I think
so.” “Then learn to be honest from your boyhood,” said the teacher. “Thank you
sir,” said the boy. “May Allah grant you a long life,” said the teacher. - Answer: The teacher asked the boy if he thought that honesty is
the best policy. The boy replied in the affirmative with respect that he
thought so. Then the teacher advised him to learn to be honest from his
boyhood. The boy thanked him politely. The teacher prayed for the boy that
Allah might grant him a long life.
Rule 1: If the speaker
frequently uses same type of sentence then the rule is:
For
Assertive Sentence
|
For Interrogative Sentence
|
Said that
And added that
And further added that
And moreover added that
And again added that
|
Asked if
And further asked if
And more asked if
And again asked if
|
Md. Saiful Alam
B. A. Honours and M. A. in English
Lecturer of English
Queen’s College, Dhaka
My affectionate Readers,
Please, never hesitate to comment and any correction or
suggestion regarding my writings will be largely appreciated and valued and you can ask me any grammatical questions regarding English.
I promise I would try my level best to assist you, all. Thank you very much.
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