Narration

(Prepared by NG)

1) Namita said, ”Lokesh is an idle boy”.

2) Namita said that Lokesh was an idle boy.

In the first sentence, we give the exact words used by the speaker. This is called Direct Speech. In the
first sentence, ’said’ is called the reporting verb and “Lokesh is an idle boy” is called the reported
speech.

In the second sentence we do not give the exact words of the speaker but give only the substance of
what she said. This is called Indirect speech.

In Directed speech

1) The exact words of the speaker are put within inverted commas (“ “).
2) The first word of the reported speech begins with a capital letter.
3) A comma is placed after the reporting verb to separate it from the second part of the sentence.

In Indirected speech

1) The reported words are not placed within inverted commas.

2) No coma is placed after ‘said’.
3) The reported speech is introduced by the conjunction ‘that’.

The rules for changing Direct speech into Indirect speech.

1) To change the sentence from Direct speech to Indirect speech comma should be omitted and
‘that’ should be inserted.

e.g He said, “I want to go”. (Direct speech)

He said that he wanted to go. (Indirect speech)

2) If the reporting verb is in present tense or future, the verb in the reported speech is not
changed at all.

e.g Tom says, “There is no ink in the inkpot”. (Direct speech)

Tom says that there is no ink in the inkpot. (Indirect speech)

e.g The principal says, “Nikhil will fail”.

The Principal says that Nikhil will fail.

3) If the reporting verb is in past tense then the reported speech is changed accordingly.

The following rules will help to work out the above said rule smoothly.

a) The simple present tense becomes the simple past.

 e.g John said, “Neha swims daily”.
John said that Neha swam daily.
NOTE: If the reported speech states a universal truth or a habitual fact, the tense of the verb is
not changed at all.
e.g The teacher said, “Honesty is the best policy”.
The teacher said that honest is the best policy.
He said, “The Earth moves round the Sun”.
He said that the Earth moves round the Sun.
b) The preset continuous becomes the past continuous.
e.g He said, “Anand is working hard”.
He said that Anand was working hard.
c) The present perfect becomes the past perfect.
e.g Raju said, “Sumit has done his work”.
Raju said that Sumit had done his work.
d) May is changed into might; can is changed into could; shall is hanged into should; will is
changed into would.
e.g I said, “I can do the sum”.
I said that I could do the sum.
The teacher said. “Rohan will pass”.
The teacher said that Rohan would pass.
e) The simple past becomes the past perfect.
e.g Pooja said, “Kanak returned at noon”.
Pooja said that Kanak had returned at noon.
f) The past continuous becomes the past perfect continuous tense.
e.g Monu said, “All the boys were singing”.
Monu said that all the boys had been singing.

Changes in Pronouns and possessive adjectives

4) Pronouns of the first person in Direct speech are changed in Indirect speech to the same
person as the subject of the introductory verb.
E.g John said, “I am busy”.
John said that he was busy.
I said, “The teacher likes me”.
I said that the teacher liked me.
5) Pronouns of the second person in Direct speech are changed into the same person as the noun
and pronoun which comes after the introductory verb.
e.g Amit said to me, “You are wrong”.
Amit told me that I was wrong.
Swarup said to Vipul, “You are a good boy”.
Swarup told to Vipul that he was a good boy.
*In the above example the verb ‘said’ in Direct speech becomes ‘told’ in Indirect speech and
the preposition ‘to’ is also omitted.

6) Pronouns of the third person in Direct speech remains the same in the Indirect speech.
e.g Toton said to me, “He is ill”.
 Toton told me that he was ill.
NOTE: But no change of person is made when the speech is reported to the person to whom it
was first addressed.
e.g Toton said to you, “you are wrong”.
Toton told you that you were wrong.
*In the above example the verb ‘said’ in Direct speech becomes ‘told’ in Indirect speech and the
preposition ‘to’ is also omitted.

7) When turning a sentence from Direct to Indirect speech, words showing nearness are changed
into words showing distance. Like :
Now become then
This becomes that
These becomes those
Here becomes there
Ago becomes before
Today becomes that day
Tomorrow becomes the next day
Yesterday becomes the day before / the previous day
Last night becomes the night before / the previous night
e.g Binu said, “I have seen this girl”.
Binu said that he had seen that girl.
Ujjwal said, “These mangoes are sweet”.
Ujjwal said that those mangoes were sweet.
8) In exclamatory sentences in reporting verb ‘exclaim’, ‘pray’, ‘wish’, ‘cry’, bless’ etc is used.
e.g “Well done”, they cried.
They applauded him for he had done well.
He said, “May you live long”.
He wished that he might live long.
They said, “Hurrah! We have won the match”.
They exclaimed with joy that they had won the match.
She said, “Alas! I am undone”.
She exclaimed with sorrow that she was undone.
He said to her, “May God bless you”.
He prayed that God might bless her.
He said, “Bravo! You have played well”.
He applauded him saying that he had played well.
9) In an interrogative sentence reporting verb is changed into ‘ask’ or ‘inquire’ and then ‘if’ or
‘whether’ is added provided the sentence doesn’t begin with W.H questions.
e.g He said to me, “Do you know Deepak?” I Said, No”.
He asked me whether I knew Deepak. I replied in negative/ I replied that I did not.
(If the answer is YES or NO then while changing the complete sentences are to be given.)
The teacher said to me, “What is your name?”
The teacher asked me what my name was.
He said to me, “How old are you?”
He asked me how old I was.
 John said to me, “Do you play football?”
John asked me whether I played football.
10) If the sentence is in Imperative (Expressing a Command) then in reporting verb ‘tell’,’ request’,
‘command’, ‘beg’, ‘entreat’, ‘advice’, ‘beseech’, ‘order’, ‘ask’ is used and ‘that’ is also not used.
e.g I said to him, “Please lend me some rupees”.
I requested him to lend me some rupees.
He said, “Be quite and listen to me”.
He urged them to be quite and listen to him.
The General said to his men, ”March forward and face the enemy bravely”.
The General commanded his men to march forward and face the enemy bravely.
11) When ‘Let’ in the Direct speech expresses a proposal or suggestion then ‘should’ is used for
‘let’ and ‘propose’ or ‘suggest’ is used in the reporting verb.
e.g He said to me , “Let us go now”.
He suggested to me that we should go home.
*But when ‘Let’ doesn’t express a proposal then it should be changed into ‘might’ and ‘wished’
is used.
e.g He said to me, “Let me take tea”.
He wished that he might take tea.
12) When sentences of different kinds of are joined, different reporting verbs appropriate to the
different sentences have to be used in the indirect form.
e.g He said to me, “Why are you absent? The headmaster is angry. Go to him at once.
He asked me why I had been absent. The headmaster was angry; so he told to me to go
to him at once.

Note : Ignore the errors of punctuation and typos, if any.