- Direct Narration
- Indirect Narration
Direct Narration
In Direct Narration, the words of the speaker is exactly said in his words what someone says. What a speaker says, his words are mentioned within the quotation marks (‘…..’ or “…..”). The speaker’s words should be unaltered. Eg:- She said, “Today lesson is on presentations”.
- I said to her, ‘You are wise and great’.
Indirect Narration
In Indirect Narration, the words of the speaker is not exactly said in his words. What a speaker says, his words are not mentioned within the quotation marks. The speaker’s words will be altered slightly. Eg:- She said that today’s lesson was on presentation.
- I said to her that she was wise and great.
Change ‘is’ into ‘was’.
Reporter/Reporting verb/Reported Speech
Reporter: The speaker or narrator is called the reporter.Reporting verb: The verb used by the reporter is called reporting verb.
Reported Speech: Sentence enclosed within inverted commas is called reported speech. It always begins with a capital letter.
Eg: She said to me, “I am learning computer”.
In this sentence, Reporter is She; Reporting verb is said and Reported Speech is I am learning computer.
While we change a narration from direct to indirect, inverted commas are removed.
Some important rules
Rule 1.
- First of all ascertain the tense of the Reporting Verb.
- If the reporting verb is in Present or Future Tense, the tense of Reported speech remains unchanged.
| Reporting Verb in Direct Speech | Reporting Verb in Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
| Say | Say |
| Says | Says |
| Say to | Tell |
| Says to | Tells |
| Will say | Will say |
| Will say to | Will tell |
| Said | Said |
| Said to | Told/asked |
Rule 2.
If the reporting verb is in Past, the tense of the reported speech changes as the following :Tense of Reported Speech
| S. No | Direct Narration | Indirect Narration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Present Indefinite | Past Indefinite |
| 2 | Present Continuous | Past Continuous |
| 3 | Present Perfect | Past Perfect |
| 4 | Present Perfect Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous |
| 5 | Past Indefinite | Past Perfect |
| 6 | Past Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous |
| 7 | Past Perfect | No change of tense |
| 8 | Past Perfect Continuous | No change of tense |
| Change in Future Tenses (Reported Speech) | ||
| 1 | Will/shall | Would/should |
| 2 | Can | Could |
| 3 | May | Might |
| 4 | Could/should/would/might | No change |
Rule 3.
When the Reporting Verb is in Past, words denoting time or place in reported speech change as following:| S. No | Direct Narration | Indirect Narration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | This | That |
| 2 | These | Those |
| 3 | Here | There |
| 4 | Hence | Thence |
| 5 | Hither | Thither |
| 6 | Now | Then |
| 7 | Ago | Before |
| 8 | Thus | So |
| 9 | Today | That day |
| 10 | Tomorrow | The next day/the following day |
| 11 | Yesterday | The previous day |
| 12 | Last week/month/year | The previous week/month/year |
| 13 | The last fortnight | The previous fortnight |
| 14 | The day before yesterday | The day before the previous day. |
Rule 4.
If the Reported Speech contains universal truth, proverb, mathematical fact, historical fact, habitual act, an expression of morality or an unchanged fact, the tense of the reported speech remains unchanged. Eg:- Direct: He said, “The sun rises in the East”.
- Indirect: He said that the sun rises in the East.
- Direct: The teacher said, “God helps those who helps themselves”.
- Indirect: The said that God helps those who helps themselves.
