What is Narration?

The act of reporting the words of a speaker is called Narration. There are two types to report what a person has said:

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Speech

Direct

Indirect

Direct Speech

• It is a report of the exact words used by the speaker. Inverted commas are used to indicate them.
• For example:

Arun said,” I shall go to market today”.

Indirect Speech

• It is a report on what someone else said or wrote without using that person’s exact words.
• For example:

Arun said that he would go to market that day.

Rules:

When direct speech is converted to indirect speech

certain types of changes take place:

1. Change of Pronouns
2. 1^st person of the reporting speech changes according to the subject of the reporting verb.

For Example:

Ram said “I buy a football.”

Ram said that he bought a football.

Rules (Cont.):

3. 3^rd person of the reporting speech changes according to the subject of the reporting verb.

For Example:

I said to Neelam “You will win the match.”

I told Neelam that she would win the

match.

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Rules (Cont.):

3. 3^rd form of the reporting speech remains the same.

For Example:

Ritu said to Harsh “The little girl is a very good

singer.”

Ritu told Harsh that the little girl was a very

good singer.

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CHANGES OF TENSES

• Simple Present >>> Simple Past

Direct: He said, “ I love to play badminton.”

Indirect: he said that he loved to play badminton.

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• Present Continuous >>> Past Continuous

Direct : Geeta said, “ I am running.”

Indirect: Geeta said that she was running.

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CHANGES OF TENSES (Cont.)

• Present Perfect >>> Past Perfect

Direct: Rahul said, “ I have done my work.”

Indirect: Rahul said that he had done his work.

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• Present Perfect Continuous >>> Past Perfect Continuous

Direct: The boy said, “ I have been doing painting since afternoon.”

Indirect: The boy said that he had been doing painting since afternoon.

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CHANGES OF TENSES (Cont.)

• Simple Past >>> Past Perfect

Direct: Anita said, “ Swati sang a song.”

Indirect: Anita said that Swati had sang a song.

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• Past Continuous >>> Past Perfect Continuous

Direct: The doctor said to the mother , “ your child was suffering from fever.”

Indirect: The doctor said to the mother that her child had been suffering from fever.

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IMPORTANT POINTS:

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• Past perfect tense and past perfect Continuous remains unchanged.

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• If the reporting verb is in the Simple Present or Simple Future tense, the tense of the reporting speech is not changed at all.

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• If some habitual fact ,Historical fact or Universal truth is mentioned in the reporting Speech then there is no change in the tense.

EXAMPLES:

Direct: The Teacher said, “ The earth revolves around

the sun.”

Indirect: The Teacher said that The earth revolves

around the sun.

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Direct: The Teacher said, “ India got independence in

1947.”

InDirect: The teacher said that India got independence

in 1947.

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EXAMPLES:

Direct: Arvind said to me, “I play football everyday.”

Indirect: Arvind told me he plays football everyday.

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• When two actions are happening simultaneously there is no change in the tense.

Direct: The girl said, “She was singing and she was

dancing.”

InDirect: The girl said that she was singing and she

was dancing.

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Changes in Adverbial phrases and Adjectives:

Changes in auxilary verb: