NARRATION

Direct Speech: Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes called quoted
speech). Here what a person says appears within quotation marks (“…”) and should be word for word
(exactly as it was originally said).

For example: 1.She said, “Today’s lesson is on presentations.”Or

“Today’s lesson is on presentations,” she said.

Indirect speech: Indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech or Narration), doesn’t use quotation
marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn’t have to be word for word.

For example: He said, “I’m going to the cinema”. (Direct)

He said that he was going to the cinema. (Indirect)

Direct and Indirect Speech Rules

Rule No.1. We will use ‘that’ before the reported speech and the reported verb will be ‘told’ (followed by
an object) or ‘said’ (will not be followed by an object).
Example:
o Direct: Edward said, “I like the book.”
Indirect: Edward said that he liked the book.
o Direct: She said to me, “I took the breakfast in the morning”.
Indirect: She told me that she had taken the breakfast in the morning

Rule No.2 .If reporting verb is given in Present or Future tense then there will be no change in the verb or
tense of Reported speech
1. Direct: The teacher says, “Gayatri performs on the stage”
Indirect: The teacher says that Gayatri performs on the stage.
2. Direct: The teacher is saying, “Gayatri performs on the stage”
Indirect: The teacher is saying that Gayatri performs on the stage.
3. Direct: The teacher will say, “Gayatri is performing on the stage” Indirect: The teacher will say
that Gayatri is performing on the stage.

Rule No.3: If reporting verb is given in Past tense then the tense of the verb of Reported Speech will
change into corresponding Past tense.

1. Direct: The teacher said, “I am suffering from fever.”

Indirect: The teacher said that she was suffering from fever.
2. Direct: She said to me, “I took the breakfast in the morning”.
Indirect: She told me that she had taken the breakfast in the morning

Rule No.4. We will use ‘to’ as joining clause before the reported command or request, and the reported
verb will be changed according to the moods of the sentence (e.g., ordered, requested, urged, advised,
forbade or begged)
Example:
o Direct: The man said, “Please, bring me a chair.”
 Indirect: The man requested to bring him a chair.
o Direct: The officer said, “Fall back!”
Indirect: The officer ordered to fall back.
Rule No.5.To change direct exclamatory speeches to the indirect one we need to replace interjection
(hurrah, wow, alas, oh, etc.) with joining clause ‘that’ and the exclamatory wh-words (what, how) will be
replaced by ‘very’ before the adjective in the reported clause.
Examples:
o Direct: Clare said, “Hurrah! Barcelona won the match!”
Indirect: Clare exclaimed with joy that Barcelona had won the match.
o Direct: I said, “Alas! My pet died.”
Indirect: I exclaimed with grief that my pet had died.

Direct and Indirect speech RULES for Tense

1. Simple Present to Simple Past

Direct: He said, “The boy goes home.”

Indirect: He said that the boy went home.
Direct: He said, “I’m a teacher”
Indirect:He said that he was a teacher

2. Present Continuous to Past Continuous

Direct: Ram said, “I am reading a book.”

Indirect: Ram said that he was reading a book.
Direct: He said, “I’m having lunch with my parents”
Indirect: He said he was having lunch with his parents.

3. Present Perfect to Past Perfect

Direct: The girl said, “I have lost my pen.”

Indirect: The girl said that she had lost her pen.
Direct: He said, “I’ve been to France three times”
Indirect: He said he had been to France three times.

4. Present Perfect Continuous to Past Perfect Continuous

Direct: He said, “Ram has been going.”

Indirect: He said that Ram had been going.
Direct: He said, “I’ve been working very hard”
 Indirect: He said he had been working very hard.

5. Simple past/Past Indefinite to Past Perfect

Direct: Mother said, “I bought a watch for you.”

Indirect: Mother said that she had bought a watch for him.
Direct: He said, “I bought a new car”
Indirect: He said he had bought a new car.

6. Past Continuous to Past Perfect Continuous

Direct: Raju said, “I was repairing a car.”

Indirect: Raju said that he had been repairing a car.
Direct: He said, “It was raining earlier”
Indirect: He said that it had been raining earlier.

7. Past Perfect Tense: No Change

Direct: She said, “I had gone to Bhagalpur.”

Indirect: She said that she had gone to Bhagalpur.
Direct: She said, “The play had started when I arrived”
Indirect: She said that the play had started when she arrived

8. Past Perfect ContinuousTense: No Change

Direct: She said, “I had already been living in London for five years”
Indirect: She said that she had already been living in London for five years.

9. Future Tense (shall/will) to future in the Past (should/would)

Direct: Eli said, “I will buy the book tomorrow”

Indirect: Eli said that she would buy the book tomorrow.
Direct: The teacher said, “I shall give you notes.”
Indirect: The teacher said that he would give them notes.

10. Conditional to Perfect Conditional Direct:

Direct: He said, “If I had the money I could buy the car.”
Indirect: She said that if he had the money he could have bought the car.
 Auxiliary verb forms also sometimes change

will would

“I will come and see you soon” He said that he would come and see me soon.

Can could

“I can swim under water” He said that he could swim under water .

Must had to

“All tickets must be bought in advance” He said that all tickets had to be bought in advance.

shall should

“What shall we do about it?” He asked what we should do about it.

May might

“May I smoke?” He asked if he might smoke.

ought to No change

“You ought to come at 7 pm” He told that me I ought to come at 7 pm

Should No change

“I should have helped you” He said that he should have helped me

Would No change

“I would walk the dog at night” She said that she would walk the dog at night

Could No change

“You couldn’t do it” He told me that I couldn’t do it

Might No change

“I might arrive late” He said that he might arrive late

SOME GENERAL RULE

Changes of Interrogative Sentences The reporting verb said/said to is changed in asked, demanded,
ordered, enquired as per the nature of the sentence.

For Example:
1. Direct: Toni said, “What is Luna doing?”
Indirect: Toni asked me what Luna was doing.
1. If there is a yes-no question in the direct speech, then the reported speech will start with whether/if and
the reported clause form will be (subject+verb)..

For Example:
1.Direct: Luna said, “Will she come for lunch?”
Indirect: Luna asked if she would come for lunch.
2. Direct: Peter said, “Are you from Australia?”
Indirect: Peter asked if I was from Australia.
3.Direct: Tom asked, “Do you want to sit here?”
Indirect: Tom asked whether I wanted to sit there.

2.In case the sentence starts from “Wh” question word, then no extra conjunction is used.

Example:
1.Direct: The boy asked, “Where do you stay?”
Indirect: The boy inquired/asked where I stayed.

RULES FOR IMPERATIVES SENTENCE

1. positive imperative (tell + infinitive)

direct: He said, “Shut up!”

Indirect: He told me to shut up.

2.negative imperative (tell + not + infinitive)

direct: He said, “Don’t do that again!”

Indirect: He told me not to do it again.

3.imperatives as requests (ask + infinitive)

direct: He said, “Please give me some money”

indirect: He asked me to give him some money.

Time and place references often have to change

now then

today that day

here there

this that

this week that week

tomorrow the following day, the next day, the day after
 next week the following week, the next week, the week after

yesterday the previous day, the day before

last week the previous week, the week before

ago previously, before

2 weeks ago 2 weeks previously, 2 weeks before

tonight that night

Examples:

He said, “I went to the theatre last night.”

He said that he had gone to the theatre the night before.

He said, “I’m having a party next weekend.”

He said that he was having a party the next weekend.

He said, “I’m staying here until next week.”

He said that he was staying there until the following week.

He said, “I came over from London 3 years ago.”

He said that he had come over from London 3 years before.

Rules for Universal Truth, Habitual Facts, etc.

(i) If the Reported Speech states some General, Universal or Habitual Truth, Proverb, Historical event in
the past, Improbable future condition, the Present Tense used there is not changed into the corresponding
past form.

Example:

1. Direct: My friend said, “I am an early riser.”

Indirect: My friend said that he is an early riser.
2. Direct: Father said, “Man is the only animal that cooks his food.”
Indirect: Father said that man is the only animal that cooks his food.
3. Direct: The teacher said, “Honesty is the best policy.”
Indirect: The teacher said that honesty is the best policy.
4. Direct: The teacher said, “The earth moves around the sun.”
Indirect: The teacher said that the earth moves around the sun.
(ii) The Past Indefinite Tense or the Past Continuous Tense is not changed if the Reported Speech states
two actions which took place at the same time.

Example:

1. Direct: Sarla said, “When Ram was reading Sham was writing.”
Indirect: Sarla said that when Ram was reading Sham was writing.

(iii) The Simple Past is not changed if the Reported Speech states a past historical event or fact.

Example:

1. Direct: The teacher said, “Akbar died in 1605 AD.”

2. Indirect: The teacher said that Akbar died in 1605 AD.

Rules for the Change of Pronouns

1.First person: the first person in reported speech changes according to the subject of reporting speech.
Example: Soni said, “I am a good girl.”

Soni said that she was a good girl.

2.Second person: in reported speech change of the second person depends on the object of reporting
speech.

Example: I told them, “You have finished your work.”

I told them that they had finished their work.

3.Third person: the third person remains unchanged.

Example: He said, “She is in Delhi.”

He said that she was in Delhi.

Table for the changes in pronoun

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

I He/she

You He/she/they

We They

They They

He He

She She
It It

Us Them

Our Their

His His

Her Her

Examples:

Direct: He said, “I can cross this river.”

Indirect: He said that he could cross that river.

Direct: You said. “I can cross this river.”

Indirect: You said that you could cross that river.

Direct: I said, “I can cross this river.”

Indirect: I said that I could cross that river

Rules of change of Pronouns

Nominativ Possessiv
Reflexive
e e

I My Myself

We Our Ourselves

You Yours Yourself

He His Himself

She Her Herself

Themselve
They Their
s