Narration Change Rules Examples Exercise
◇ What is Narration Change
There are two ways of reporting the speech spoken by a person. We can reproduce the speech exactly spoken or we can express the speech in our own words what the speaker said. The first method is called Direct Speech or Direct Narration and the second method is called Indirect Speech or Indirect Narration.
Narration Change Example:-
Direct:- He said to his father, ” I need a bi-cycle”
Indirect:- He told his father that he needed a bi-cycle.
In the example given above “said” is called Reporting Verb and “I need a bi-cycle” is called Direct Speech or Reported Speech.
Rules of Narration Change of Assertive Sentence
●i) The Direct Speech is always enclosed within inverted commas (” …”) and it always begins with a capital letter.
●ii) The Tense of the Reporting Verb is never changed.
●iii) A conjunction ( that, if ,whether) if necessary is used after the Reporting Verb.
●iv) Tenses, personal pronouns like I, we, you, he etc. possessive adjectives like my, your, our etc and words denoting time like today, now, ago etc and position like here, this etc undergo certain changes in the Indirect Speech.
●v) If the Reporting Verb ‘said’ is followed by an object, it is changed into ‘told’ in the Indirect Speech.
●vi) If the Reporting Verb is in Present Form (say) or will say, has said, the Tense of the Reported Speech does not undergo any changes.
●vii) If the Reporting Verb is in Past Form (said), the Tense of the Indirect Speech undergoes the following changes:—
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
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 —> Past Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous—> Past Perfect Continuous
Changing Words Denoting Time and Position
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
This/ these —> that/ those
Here —> there
Now —> then
Ago —> before
Today/tonight —> that day/that night
Yesterday —> the previous day
Tomorrow —> the next day
May —> might
Can —> could
Shall/will —> should/ would
Examples of Narration Change of Assertive Sentence:
(1) Direct:- She says, “Some of my friends are very careful.”
Indirect:- She says that some of her friends are very careful.
(2) Direct:- He said, “I am very Ill today. “
Indirect:- He said that he was very Ill that day.
(3) Direct:- My mother said to me, “I am going to market now. “
Indirect:- My mother told me that she was going to market then.
(4) Direct:- My friend said to me, “I have seen the Taj Mahal. “
Indirect:- My friend told me that he had seen the Taj Mahal.
(5) Direct:- I said to him, “It was very hot in the morning. “
Indirect:- I told him that it had been very hot in the morning.
(6) Direct:- He said, “They were catching fishes in the pond. “
Indirect:- He said that they had been catching fishes in the pond.
Exceptions
●i) If the Reported Speech expresses universal truth, a scientific, mathematical or geographical fact or habitual fact, its Tense remains unchanged in the Indirect Speech.
Example:-
(1) Direct:- The teacher said to me, “The sun rises in the east. “
Indirect:- The teacher told me that the sun rises in the east.
(2) Direct:- My father said, “Honesty is the best policy. “
Indirect:- My father said that honesty is the best policy.
(3) Direct:- The teacher said, “Two and two makes four. “
Indirect:- The teacher said that two and two makes four.
●ii) If the Reported Speech describes a state of affairs which still exists when the speech is reported, its Tense normally remains unchanged.
Example:-
(1) Direct:- He said, “The farmer is contented while his wife is still ambitious. “
Indirect:- He said that the farmer is contented while his wife is still ambitious.
(2) Direct:- I said to my friend, “Whatever I do displeases my parents. “
Indirect:- I told my friend that whatever I do displeases my parents.
Exercise of Narration Change of Assertive Sentence:
(1) The teacher said to me, “You have forgotten the lesson. “
(2) He said, “Mohan comes to the college daily.”
(3) The manager said, “The employee should obey the order of the authority. “
(4) The man says, “I have lost my way.”
(5) He said to me, “I didn’t believe you.”
(6) He said to me, “I have told you many times not to play with fire.”
(7) The teacher said, “The earth revolves round the sun.”
(8) My friend said, “Nita kept playing ludo till her mother rebuked her.”
(9) They said, “We must keep our school clean. “
(10) The fairy said to the princess, “I led you dance in the banquet.