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| Direct Narration and Indirect Narration (Direct and Indirect Speech) rules |
Direct Narration and Indirect Narration (Direct and Indirect Speech) rules
DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH
1.Ram said, “I am ill”- Direct speech
2.Ram said that he was ill. – Indirect speech.
Definition-
Direct Speech- When a speech is quoted in the
actual words used by the speaker, it is called Direct speech or Narration.
in the examples given above, number 1 is the example of direct speech, where
the actual words of Ram are quoted.
Indirect speech- When words are used by the speaker,
without quoting his actual words it is called Indirect speech or
Narration. Number 2
is an example of indirect speech.
Reported speech and Reporting verb-
In the sentence number “I am ill” is called reported
speech and the verb ‘said’ is called Reporting verb.
HOW TO TURN
DIRECT SPEECH INTO AN INDIRECT SPEECH
GENARAL RULES
ASSERTIVE SENTENCE
Generally, we have to make four
kinds of changes-
Changes in the Pronoun Forms.
Changes in
the Tenses.
Changes in
the Time Expressions.
Changes in
the Place Expressions.
N.B- We have to use ‘that’ as a conjunction in
converting direct speech into indirect speech.
Changes in the Pronoun Forms.
|
Direct |
Indirect |
|
I |
HE/SHE |
|
ME |
HIM/HER |
|
MY |
HIIS/HER |
|
WE |
THEY |
|
US |
THEM |
|
OUR |
THEIR |
|
THIS |
THAT |
|
THESE |
THOSE |
HOW TO CHANGE THE PERSON OF PRONOUN OF DIRECT SPEECH
If there is first person (I, we, us, etc) in the reported speech
it is changed into the person of the speaker.
If there is a second person in the reported speech it is
changed according to the person to whom the speech is addressed.
Changes in
the Tenses.
If the
Reporting verb is in Present Tense or Future Tense there will be no change of
the tense after converting it into an indirect speech. Let’s see some examples-
Ram
says,” I am ill”
Ram
says that he is ill.
We
can see in both direct and indirect speech the tense remained the same.
If the
Reporting verb is in Past Tense then the tense of the Reported speech changes
in the following way: -
I.
Simple Present becomes Simple Past.
II.
Present Continuous becomes Past Continuous.
III.
Present Perfect
Tense becomes Past Perfect
tense.
IV.
Simple Past Tense becomes Past Perfect Tense
V.
Past Continuous becomes Past Perfect Continuous.
VI.
“Shall” of future
Tense becomes should or would.
VII.
“Will” of Future
Tense becomes should or would.
If Reported Speech is a universal truth or
habitual action then even if the Reporting verb is
in past tense then there will be no change of the tense in indirect speech
Changes in the Time Expressions.
|
DIRECT |
INDIRECT |
|
NOW |
THEN |
|
TODAY |
THAT
DAY |
|
TOMORROW |
THE
NEXT DAY |
|
YESTERDAY |
THE
PREVIOUS DAY OR THE DAY BEFORE |
|
LAST
NIGHT |
THE
NIGHT BEFORE OR THE PREVIOUS NIGHT |
Changes in
the Place Expressions.
|
DIRECT |
INDIRECT |
|
THIS |
THAT |
|
THESE |
THOSE |
|
COME |
GO |
|
THUS |
SO OR IN THAT MANNER |
The basic steps you need to follow to convert a direct speech
with an interrogative sentence as Reported Speech are as follows: -
1. Change the
Reporting verb into Ask or Enquire.
2. If the
question can be answered either by ‘yes’ or ‘no’ we should use
if or whether instead of that, as a conjunction.
3. Change the
question into an assertive sentence.
Now let us understand these rules with an example.
Example: - He said to me, “Are you ill?”
As we can see in the example a question is asked and
it can be answered in either yes or no. so we will try to implement the
above-mentioned rules here.
He asked me if I was ill. (Indirect speech)
So, we can see
we have used asked instead of the reported
verb ‘said’. Then we have used if, instead
of that as a conjunction, and finally, we have transformed the question into an assertive sentence.
·
We should not use
if or whether if the question starts with an interrogative pronoun (what, where,
who, which, when, how, etc.) in this case the interrogative word will itself
work as a conjunction.
For example- He said to me, “What are you doing?”
He asked me what
I was doing.
Whether vs if
In the yes/no
type of question, we can use both whether and if. But if a choice has to make,
we should use whether followed by or.
Imperative Sentence
If the
Reported Speech is Imperative Sentence, then in Indirect Speech we have to
change reporting verb (says, said etc.) into order, request, advise, tell, command, ask, beg, request,
pray, forbit. We also have to use
‘to’ before the verb of
the reported speech.
Example-
Direct
Speech- He said to his servant,” come here”
Indirect
Speech- He ordered his servant to come here.
When Reported Speech starts with Let
1. When let
expresses a request or proposal or suggestion, we have to use Should for let and change the
let verb into propose or suggest.
Example-
He said to me, “Let us go home”
He
suggested me that we should go home.
2. When let
doesn’t express proposal, it should be changed into might or might be
allowed, or into some other form according to the sense.
Example-
He said, “let him do whatever he likes”
He
said that he (the third person) might do whatever he likes.
He
said, “let me come in”
He
requested that he might be allowed to come in.
Optative Sentence
If
the Reported Speech is in Optative sentence-
1. Change the
Reporting Verb into a wish or pray.
2. The optative sentence should be changed into a
statement.
Example- He said to me, “May you be
happy”
He prayed
that I might be happy.
Exclamatory Sentences
1. If the
Reported speech is in an Exclamatory sentence, then we have to change the
reporting verb to exclaim, shout cry out, confess, wish, praise, etc.
2. Then we
have to change the exclamatory Sentences to an assertive sentences according to
the tense.
Some examples-
He said, “Alas! I am undone”
He exclaimed with sorrow that he
was undone.
