Change the Narration – Direct Narration and Indirect Speech (Basic Level)

What is narration?

Narration is to give a description of an incident or event.

If I say –
1. He said, “I am a student.” And
2. He said that he was a student.
    

– In both the ways I am giving descriptions of a person, i.e. I am narrating something about a person.

In the first speech, there is a quotation – “I am a student.” As it is quoted directly from someone’s speech, the whole statement is called Direct Narration.

Structure – Subject + reporting verb (+ object) , + “reported speech”.

On the other hand, in the second speech, “He said that he was a student.” is reported indirectly by some other person after making necessary changes. This speech is called indirect speech.

In the exams we are asked to change the narration from direct to indirect.

Rules to Change the Narration from Direct to Indirect:

 A General Rule: 

Direct – Subject + reporting verb + , + “ Subject + verb + object”.
Indirect – Subject + reporting verb + that + Subject + verb + object.


In the indirect speech, the subject after ‘that’ changes according to the subject of the reporting verb of the direct speech.
The tense of the indirect speech after ‘that’ will change according to the tense of the reporting verb of the direct speech.

 Rule 1: 

(i) 

Direct – First person said, “subject  (1st person) + be verb (am/is/are) + object.”
Indirect – First person said that subject (1st person) + was/were + object.

E.g. –
Direct – I said “I am a student.”
Indirect – I said that I was a student.

Direct – We said, “We are students.”
Indirect – We said that we were students.



When both the subjects in the direct speech are first person, we have to understand that both denote the same person/persons.


(ii) 

Direct – First person said, “subject (2nd person) + be verb (am/is/are) + object.”
Indirect – First person said + that + subject (2nd person)+ was/were + object.

Direct – I said “You are a student.”
Indirect – I said that you were a student.



(iii) 

Direct – First person said, “subject (3rd person) + be verb (am/is/are) + object.”
Indirect – First person said + that + subject (3rd person) + was/were + object.

E.g. –
Direct – I said “He is a student.”
Indirect – I said that he was a student.

Rule 1 suggests that if the subject of the reporting verb (of the direct narration) is a first person (I or We), then the subject after the ‘that’ is the same as the subject of the reported speech.



 Rule 2: 

Direct – Second person said, “subject (1st person) + be verb (am/is/are) + object.”
Indirect – First person said + that + subject (2nd person) + was/were + object.

E.g. –
Direct – You said “I am a student.”
Indirect – You said that you are a student.



Direct – Second person said, “subject (2nd person) + be verb (am/is/are) + object.”
Indirect – Second person said + that + subject (1st / 2nd person) + was/were + object.

E.g. –
Direct – You said, “You are a student.”
Indirect – You said that I/he was a student.




Direct – Second person said, “subject (3rd person) + be verb (am/is/are) + object.”
Indirect – Second person said + that + subject (3rd person) + was/were + object.

E.g. –
Direct – You said, “He is a student.”
Indirect – You said that he was a student.

Rule 3:

Direct – Third person said, “subject (1st person) + be verb (am/is/are) + object.”
Indirect – Third person said + that + subject (3rd person) + was/were + object.

E.g. –
Direct – He said, “I am a student.”
Indirect – He said that he was a student.



Direct – Third person said, “subject (2nd person) + be verb (am/is/are) + object.”
Indirect – Third person said + that + subject (1st / 2nd / 3rd person) + was/were + object.

E.g. –
Direct – He said, “You are a student.” [This ‘you’ doesn’t explicitly denote who the man is.]
Indirect – He said that I was / you were a student.



Direct – Third person said, “subject (3rd person) + be verb (am/is/are) + object.”
Indirect – Third person said + that + subject (3rd person) + was/were + object.

E.g. –
Direct – He said, “He is a student.”
Indirect – He said that he was a student. (Here Both the hes in this sentence are not the same human being. The second he is totally another person.)

E.g. –
Direct – She said, “He is a student.”
Indirect – She said that he was a student.

---

When the reporting verb has an object.

Direct – He said to me, “You are my friend.”

Rewrite the statement in an indirect speech.

Remember:

The 'said to' is replaced with 'told'.

The first persons in the reported speech denote the subject of the reporting verb.

Direct – He said to me, “You are my friend.”
‘my’ in the reported speech is a 1st person and denotes the subject ‘He’. So, when we will narrate it indirectly, the my will be replaced by ‘his’.
Indirect – He told me that ____ was his friend.

The second persons in the reported speech denote the object of the reporting verb.
Direct – He said to me, “You are my friend.”

In the reported speech, 'you' is a second person and it denotes the object of the reporting verb that is 'me'.
So, in indirect speech, the 'you' will be replaced by 'me'.

Indirect – He told me that me was his friend.
But, after the that, there is a complete sentence - me was his friend.
We know that me, us, him, her, them all these are used as objects while I, we, he, she, they are used as subjects.

Therefore, the indirect speech is-

Indirect – He told me that I was his friend.


The third person in the reported speech denotes a third person, not anyone from the reporting verb portion.

Here are some important rules and types of this sort:

 Rule 1: 

Type I

Direct – Subject (1st person) said to object (2nd person), “Subject (2nd person) + verb + object.”
Indirect – Subject (1st person) told object + that + Subject (2nd person) + verb (past form) + object.

 
E.g. –
Direct – I said to you, “You are a student.”
Indirect – I told you that you were a student.

Direct – Subject (1st person) said to object (2nd person), “Subject (3rd person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (1st person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – I said to you, “He is a student.”
Indirect – I told you that he was a student.

Type II

Direct – Subject (1st person) said to object (3rd person), “Subject (1st person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (1st person) told object + that + Subject (1st person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – I said to him, “I am a student.”
Indirect – I told him that I was a student.

Direct – Subject (1st person) said to object (2nd person), “Subject (2nd  person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (1st person) told object + that + Subject (2nd person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – I said to him, “You are a student.”
Indirect – I told him that he was a student.

Direct – Subject (1st person) said to object (2nd person), “Subject (3rd person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (1st person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.

 
E.g. –
Direct – I said to him, “He is a student.”
Indirect – I told him that he was a student.

 Rule 2: 

Type I

Direct – Subject (2nd person) said to object (1st person), “Subject (1st person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (2nd person) told object + that + Subject (2nd person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – You said to me, “I am a student.”
Indirect – You told me that you were a student.

Direct – Subject (2nd person) said to object (1st person), “Subject (2nd person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (2nd person) told object + that + Subject (1st person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – You said to me, “You are a student.”
Indirect – You told me that I was a student.

Direct – Subject (2nd person) said to object (1st person), “Subject (3rd person) + verb + object.”
Indirect – Subject (1st person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – You said to me, “He is a student.”
Indirect – You told me that he was a student.

Direct – You said to me, “He loves you.”
Indirect – You told me that he loves me.

Type II

Direct – Subject (2nd person) said to object (3rd person), “Subject (1st person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (2nd person) told object + that + Subject (2nd person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – You said to him, “I am a student.”
Indirect – You told him that you were a student.

Direct – Subject (2nd person) said to object (3rd person), “Subject (2nd person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (2nd person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.

 
E.g. –
Direct – You said to her, “You are a student.”
Indirect – You told her that she was a student.

Direct – Subject (2nd person) said to object (3rd person), “Subject (3rd person) + verb + object.”
Indirect – Subject (1st person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – You said to them, “He is a student.”
Indirect – You told them that he was a student.

Direct – You said to them, “He cheats you.”
Indirect – You told them that he cheated them.

 Rule 3:

Type I

Direct – Subject (3rd person) said to object (1st person), “Subject (1st person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (3rd person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.
E.g. –
Direct – She said to me, “I am a student.”
Indirect – She told me that she was a student.

Direct – Subject (3rd person) said to object (1st person), “Subject (2nd person) + verb + object.”
Indirect – Subject (3rd person) told object + that + Subject (1st person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – She said to me, “You are a student.”
Indirect – She told me that I was a student.

Direct – Subject (3rd person) said to object (1st person), “Subject (3rd person) + verb + object.”
Indirect – Subject (1st person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.
E.g. –
Direct – He said to me, “He is a student.”
Indirect – He told me that he was a student.

Direct – Palak said to me, “He loves you.”
Indirect – Palak told me that he loves me.

Type II

Direct – Subject (3rd person) said to object (2nd person), “Subject (1st person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (3rd person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – She said to you, “I am a student.”
Indirect – She told you that she was a student.

Direct – Subject (3rd person) said to object (2nd person), “Subject (2nd person) + verb + object.”
Indirect – Subject (3rd person) told object + that + Subject (2nd person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – She said to you, “You are a student.”
Indirect – She told you that you were a student.

Direct – Subject (3rd person) said to object (2nd person), “Subject (3rd person) + verb + object.”
Indirect – Subject (1st person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.
E.g. –
Direct – He said to you, “He is a student.”
Indirect – He told you that he was a student.

Direct – Dave said to you, “He loves you.”
Indirect – Dave told you that he loves you.

Type III

Direct – Subject (3rd person) said to object (3rd person), “Subject (1st person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (3rd person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – He said to him, “I am a student.”
Indirect – He told him that he was a student.

Direct – Subject (3rd person) said to object (3rd person), “Subject (2nd person) + verb + object”
Indirect – Subject (2nd person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. -
Direct – He said to her, “You are a student.”
Indirect – He told her that she was a student.

Direct – Subject (3rd person) said to object (3rd person), “Subject (3rd person) + verb + object.”
Indirect – Subject (3rd person) told object + that + Subject (3rd person) + verb (past form) + object.

E.g. –
Direct – She said to them, “He is a student.”
Indirect – She told them that he was a student.

Direct – Kamal said to them, “He cheats you.”
Indirect – Kamal told them that he cheated them.

Okay,

Now let's see the words that change as the Narration changes:

Direct	Indirect	Direct	Indirect
Today	That day	Next day	The following day.
Tomorrow	The next day	Next night	The following night.
Yesterday / last day	The previous day	Next Sunday	The following Sunday.
Tonight	That night	Next year	The following year.
Last night	The previous night.	A year ago	A year before.
Last Sunday	The previous Sunday	Thus	So.
Last year	The previous year.	Here	There.
Now	Then	Hence	Thence.
This	That	It	It (doesn’t change)
These	Those	-	-

Thank you...