Narration Direct & Indirect Speech

 

NARRATION

DIRECT & INDIRECT SPEECH

There are two ways of narrating events or story telling- direct speech and indirect speech.

In Direct speech the exact remarks or the speech of the narrator is presented by using the exact words

or expression of the narrator.

 

In Indirect speech the exact meaning of the remark or the speech is presented without using the

narrator’s exact words.

FOR EXAMPLE:

 He said, “ I am playing cricket .”       (Direct Speech)

He said that he was playing cricket.  ( Indirect Speech)

 

Rules for changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech.

a.  Change of Pronouns.

RULE # O1.   First person pronouns ( I, me, my , mine , myself, we, us , our, ourselves)  in Reporting speech are changed according to the subject of the Reported verb.

DIRECT SPEECH:        He said to me, “ I  am busy.”

INDIRECT SPEECH:    He said to me that he was busy.

DIRECT SPEECH :      She said, “ I do not read books.”

INDIRECT SPEECH:   She said that she did not read books.

DIRECT SPEECH :     They said. “ we are dancing .”

INDIRECT SPEECH:   They said that they were dancing.

DIRECT SPEECH :      You said to him, “ I don’t like music.”

INDIRECT SPEECH:     RULE You said to him that you didn’t like music.

Rule #02 .   Second person Pronouns ( you, your, ) in Reported Speech are changed in accordance with the object of the Reporting Verb.

DIRECT SPEECH:      She said to me, “ you are very lazy.”

INDIRECT SPEECH:   She said to me that I was very lazy.

DIRECT SPEECH:      He said to me , “ it was your birthday.”

INDIRECT SPEECH:  She told me that it was my birthday.

Rule# 03. Third Person Pronouns( he, him , his,  himself, she, her, herself) in Reported Speech remains unchanged.

DIRECT SPEECH :  They said, “ he will come,”

Indirect Speech: They said  that he would come.

B. CHANGE OF TENSES

NOTE: Change in tenses occur only when the Reported verb is in Past  Tense.

DIRECT SPEECH	INDIRECT SPEECH
PRESENT TENSE
PRESENT SIMPLE changes into PAST SIMPLE
He said, “I write a letter” She said, “he goes to school daily” They said, “we love our country” He said, “he does not like computer”	He said that he wrote a letter. He said that she went to school daily. They said that they loved their country He said that he did not like computer.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS changes into PAST CONTINUOUS
He said, “he is listening to the music” She said, “I am washing my clothes” They said, “we are enjoying the weather” I said, “it is raining” She said, “I am not laughing”	He said that he was listening to the music. She said that she was washing her clothes. They said that they were not enjoying the weather. She said that she was not laughing.
PRESENT PERFECT changes into PAST PERFECT
She said, “he has finished his work” He said, “I have started a job” I said, “she have eaten the meal” They said, “we have not gone to New York.	She said that he had finished his work. He said that he had started a job. I said that she had eaten the meal. They said that they had not gone to New York.
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS changes into PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
He said, “I have been studying since 3 O’clock” She said, “It has been raining for three days.” I said, “She has been working in this office since 2007”	He said that he had been studying since 3 O’clock. She said that it been raining for three days. I said that she had been working in this office since 2007.
PAST TENSE
PAST SIMPLE changes into PAST PERFECT
He said to me, “you answered correctly” John said, “they went to cinema”  He said, “I made a table” She said, “I didn’t buy a car”	He said to me that I had answered correctly. John said that they had gone to cinema. He said that he had made a table. She said that she had not bought a car.
PAST CONTINUOUS changes into PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
They said, “we were enjoying the weather” He said to me, “ I was waiting for you” I said, “It was raining” She said, “I was not laughing”	They said that they had been enjoying. He said to me that he had been waiting for me. I said that it had been raining. She said that she not been laughing.
PAST PERFECT changes into PAST PERFECT (tense does not change)
She said, “She had visited a doctor” He said, “I had started a business” I said, “she had eaten the meal” They said, “we had not gone to New York.	She said that she had visited a doctor. He said that he had started a business. I said that she had eaten the meal. They said they had not gone to New York.
FUTURE TENSE
FUTURE SIMPLE TENSE WILL changes into WOULD
He said, “I will study the book” She said, “I will buy a computer” They said to me, “we will send you gifts” I said, “I will not take the exam”	He said that he would study the book. She said that she would buy a computer. They said to me that they would send you gifts. I said that I would not take the exam.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE WILL BE changes into WOULD BE
I said to him, “ I will be waiting for him” She said,” I will be shifting to new home” He said, “I will be working hard” He said, “he will not be flying kite”	I said to him that I would be waiting for him. She said that she would be shifting to a new home. He said that he would be working hard. She said that he would not be flying kites.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE WILL HAVE changes into WOULD HAVE
He said, “I will have finished the work” She said, “they will have passed the examination” He said, “I will have gone”	He said that he would have finished the work. She said that they would have passed the examination. He said that he would have gone.

 

C. OTHER CHANGES

This	That	He says, “He wants to buy this book.”	He says that he wants to buy that book.
These	Those	He says, “He wants to buy these books.”	He says that he wants to buy those books.
Here	There	She says, “Everybody was here.”	She says that everybody was there.
Now	Then	They say, “It’s ten o’clock now.”	They say that it’s ten o’clock then.
Sir	Respectfully	They said, “Sir, the time is over.”	They said respectfully that the time was over.
Madam	Respecfully	They said, "Madam, the time is over."	They said respectfully that the time was over.
Today	That Day	She said, “I am going to London today.”	She said that she was going to London that day.
Yesterday	The Previous Day	She said, “I visited Oxford University yesterday.”	She said that she had visited Oxford University the previous day.
Tomorrow	Following Day or Next Day	She said, “I am going to London tomorrow.”	She said that she was going to London the next day.
Tonight	That Night	She said, “I am going to see him tonight.”	She said that she was going to see him that night.
Good Morning, Good Evening, Good Day	Greeted	She said, “Good morning, Sir David.”	She greeted Sir David.

THE IMPERATIVE SENTENCES

A sentence which expresses command, request, advice or suggestion is called imperative sentence. For example,

•Open the door.

•Please help me.

•Learn your lesson.

 

To change such sentences into indirect speech, the word “ordered” or “requested” or “advised” or “suggested” or “forbade” or “not to do” is added to reporting verb depending upon nature of imperative sentence in reported speech.

No conjunction(THAT) is to be used.

Change the verb of the reported speech into an infinitive by placing before it the preposition to.

Examples

 

DIRECT SPEECH                          INDIRECT SPEECH

Father said to son, "Bring me your result card"	Father ordered his son to bring him his result card.
The policemen said,"Do not walk here alone"	The policemen suggested not to walk alone there.
She said to her friend, "Shut up, don't say more"	She ordered her friend to shut up and not to say more.
He said, "Open your book quickly"	He ordered to open the book quickly.
Teacher said to students, "Do not take this exam lightly"	Teacher advised students not to take that exam lightly.
Old lady said, "Please help me"	Old lady requested to help her.
He said to his watchman, "Do not stand here doing nothing"	He ordered his watchman not to stand there doing nothing.
She said to waiter, "bring me menu quickly"	She ordered waiter to bring her menu quickly.
He said to servant, "Clean my room first"	He ordered his servant to clean his room.
She said, "Please, help the poor lady"	She requested that the poor lady be helped.
Teacher said, "Do not talk during the class"	Teacher forbade from talking during the class

 

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

1.      When a question begins with a question word such as what, who, whom, when, where, why, how etc., the same word is used to introduce the question in the indirect speech.

 

2.      Interrogative sentences beginning with an auxiliary verb are changed into the indirect speech by using the connective if or whether.

 

3.      The reporting verb said (or any other word used as the reporting verb) changes to asked, queried, questioned, demanded of or enquired of in the indirect speech. Note that of is used after enquired and demanded only when the reporting verb has an object.

 

Examples:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
I said to her, “When do you do your homework?”	I asked her when she did her homework.
We said to him, “Are you ill?”	We asked him if he was ill.
You said to me, “Have you read the article?”	You asked me if I had read the article.
He said to her, “Will you go to the Peshawar Radio Station?”	He asked her if she would go to the Peshawar Radio Station.
She says, “Who is he?”	She says who he was.
Rashid said to me, “Why are you late?”	Rashid asked me why I was late.

Exclamatory Sentences

Those sentences, which express our feelings and emotions, are called exclamatory sentences. Mark of exclamation is used at the end of an exclamatory sentence. For example:

• Hurray! We have won the match.
• Alas! He failed in the test.
• How beautiful that dog is!
• What a marvelous personality you are!

To change exclamatory sentences into indirect speech, follow the following rules along with the above-mentioned rules:

• In case, there is an interjection, i.e., alas, aha, hurray, etc. in the reported speech, then they are omitted along with sign of exclamation.
• Reporting verb, i.e., said is always replaced with exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with sorrow, exclaimed joyfully, exclaimed sorrowfully or exclaimed with great wonder or sorrow.
• In case, there is what or how at the beginning of the reported speech, then they are replaced with very or very great.
• In an indirect sentence, the exclamatory sentence becomes an assertive sentence.

Examples

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
He said, “Hurray! I have won the match.”	He exclaimed with great joy that he had won the match.
She said, “Alas! My brother failed in the test.”	She exclaimed with great sorrow that her brother had failed in the test.
They said, “What a beautiful house this is!”	They exclaimed that that house was very beautiful.
I said, “How lucky I am!”	I said in great wonder that I was very lucky.
You said to him, “What a beautiful drama you writing!	You said to him in great wonder that he was writing a beautiful drama.

Optative Sentences

Those sentences, which express hope, prayer, or wish, are called optative sentences. Usually, there is a mark of exclamation at the end of optative sentence. For example:

• May you succeed in the test!
• May you get well soon!
• Would that I were rich!

To change optative sentences into indirect speech, follow the following rules along with the above-mentioned rules:

• In case, the reported speech starts with the word may, then the reporting verb said is replaced with the word prayed.
• In case, the reported speech starts with the word would, then the reporting verb said is replaced with the word wished.
• May is changed in might.
• Mark of exclamation is omitted.
• In indirect speech, the optative sentences become assertive sentences.

Examples

Direct Speech		Indirect Speech
He said to me, “May you live long!”		He prayed that I might live long.
My mother said to me, “May you succeed in the test!”		My mother prayed that I might succeed in the test.
She said, “Would that I were rich!”		She wished she had been rich.
I said to him, “Would that you were here on Sunday!”		I wished he had been there on Sunday.
You prayed that I might find my lost camera.