This is 2nd lesson of the Narration and its Changing Theory in which, I am going to discuss over the changing theory of all kinds of sentences from direct speech to indirect speech. You will be certainly able to transform speeches from direct to indirect after studying this lesson.
We know that there are basically 5 kinds of sentences in English
grammar such as assertive, interrogative, imperative, optative, and exclamatory sentences. My today’s lesson is on the easiest theory of all kinds of sentences successfully.
In previous lesson on Narration and its ChangingTheory (Part-01), I have discussed over the direct speech, indirect speech, reporting verb, reported speeches, and the master theory of changing narration. Now, in this second part of that lesson, you are going to learn on the various sentence categories and the different theories of transforming from direct to indirect.
So, let’s start our discussion….
At first, I want to show you a table chart on the changing theory. It will help you to remember each theory easily during transformation.
Chart of
Transformation Structures of Narration
Sentence category | Structures of Reporting verb | Connecting words | Structures of Reported speeches |
Assertive sentence | Say/said to… Tel/told…. | ‘that’ | (Subject+ verb+ object+ extra) |
Interrogative sentence | Ask/asked…. Enquire/enquired of… | ‘If/whether’ (verbal question) ‘Same Wh-Question’ (Wh questions) | (Subject+ verb+ object+ extra) |
Imperative sentence | Order/ordered… Request/requested… Advise/advised… Command/commanded… Forbid/forbade… | ‘to…’ (Positive) ‘not to…’ (Negative) | (verb+ extra) |
Optative sentence | Pray/prayed for… Wish/wished for… | That | (Subject+ might+ verb+ object+ extra) |
Exclamatory sentence | Exclaim/exclaimed with Joy/sorrow/wonder… | That | (Subject+ verb+ very/a very/a great+ adjective+ extra) |
Imperative (Use of ‘Let’) (let us=proposal) (let me/him/her/them=order) | Propose/proposed to… (In case of proposal) Tell/told…. (In case of order) | That | (Subject+ should+ verb+ extra) (In case of proposal) (Subject+ might+ verb+ extra) (In case of order) |
Use of ‘Must’ | Tell/told…. | That | (Subject+ must+ verb+ object+ extra) (In case of obligation) (Subject+ had to+ verb+ object+ extra) (In case of general expression) (Subject+ would have to+ verb+ object+ extra) (In case of obligation in future) |
Now, I would like to discuss this chart elaborately. In each kind of sentence, I will show you the transformation process through examples. Do not ignore those examples because without studying those examples, you cannot learn the process of transformation from direct to indirect in narration.
Changing Theory of ‘Assertive Sentence’
Assertive sentence means the sentence that we use to express the general activities or events of our daily life. This may be affirmative or negative.
Indirect Structure:
subject+ (say/said to)+ object+ that+ (subject+ verb+ object+ extra)
Here, in ‘reporting verb’ you will use ‘say/said to’ in the place of ‘verb’. Next, you have to just change the forms of persons, tense of verbs, and adverbials in ‘reported speech’. And the ‘reporting verb’ and ‘reported speech’ will be connected by the word ‘that’.
See the examples:
Direct:He said to me,“you are taking preparation for your final exam”
Indirect:He said to me that I was taking preparation for my final exam.
Direct:You said to him,“I have completed my course this year finally”
Indirect: You told him that you had completed your course that year finally.
Changing Theory of ‘Interrogative Sentence’
Interrogative sentence means the sentence that we use to ask to know about somebody or something. This may be affirmative or negative. And remember, there are two types of questions such as verbal questions and wh-questions. Indirect Structure:
subject+(ask/asked/enquired of)+object+(if/wh.q)+(subject+verb+ object+extra)
Here, in ‘reporting verb’ you will use ‘ask/asked/enquired of’ in the place of ‘verb’. Next, you have to just change the forms of persons, tense of verbs, and adverbials in ‘reported speech’. Besides, you will put the sentence structure in ‘reported speech’ like an affirmative structure(subject+ aux. verb+ p. verb+ object+ extra).
And the ‘reporting verb’ and ‘reported speech’ will be connected by the word ‘if/wh-questions(who/which/what/when/why/where/how)’. If the ‘reported speech’ starts with a verb word such as ‘do/does/am/is/are/was/were’, you will use ‘if’. But if it starts with a wh-question words, you will use the same question word in the place of ‘if’.
See the examples:
Direct: He said to me, “ Do you like music?”
Indirect: He asked me if I liked music.
Direct: I said to him, “Why are you making a noise in the classroom?”
Indirect: I asked/inquired of him why he was making a noise in the classroom.
Changing Theory of ‘Imperative Sentence’
Imperative sentence means the sentence that we use to express any order, advice, request, or command in our speeches.
Indirect Structure:
subject+ (ordered/requested/advised/commanded)+ object+ to+ (verb+ extra)
Here, in ‘reporting verb’ you will use ‘ordered/requested/advised/commanded’ in the place of ‘verb’. Next, you have to just change the forms of persons and adverbials in ‘reported speech’. The ‘verb’ in ‘reported speech’ will be always in base form. And the ‘reporting verb’ and ‘reported speech’ will be connected by the word ‘to’ in positive expression and by the word ‘not to’ in negative expression. So, here the most interesting point is that the ‘subject’ in ‘reported speech’ will be vanished and also the auxiliary verb.
See the examples:
Direct: He said to me, “Finish the job in time”
Indirect: He ordered me to finish the job in time.
(In case of the order, you will get the verb in the beginning)
Direct: He said to me, “You should study your lesson regularly”
Indirect: He advised me to study my lesson regularly.
(In case of the advice, you will get the verb- ‘should/ought to’ in the sentence)
Direct: He said to me, “Please save the poor people”
Indirect: He requested me to save the poor people.
(In case of the request, you will get the verb- ‘should/ought to’ in the sentence)
Direct: He said to me, “Do not stay here anymore”.
Indirect: He ordered me not to stay there anymore.
(In case of negative sentence, you have to use ‘not to’)
Direct: He said to me, “Do not play here in the sun.”
Indirect: He forbade me to play there in the sun.
Changing Theory of ‘Optative Sentence’
Optative sentence means the sentence that we use to express our wish or prayer someone.
Indirect Structure:
subject+ (prayed/wished for)+ object+ that+ (subject+ might+ verb+ object+ extra)
Here, in ‘reporting verb’ you will use ‘prayed/wished for’ in the place of ‘verb’. Next, you have to just change the forms of persons, tense of verbs, and adverbials in ‘reported speech’. Besides, you will add ‘might’ before the principal verb. And the ‘reporting verb’ and ‘reported speech’ will be connected by the word ‘that’.
See the examples:
Direct: He said to me, “May you live long”
Indirect: He wished for me that I might live long.
Direct: He said to me, “May God save you from the danger”
Indirect: He prayed for me that God might save me from the danger.
Changing Theory of ‘Exclamatory Sentence’
Exclamatory sentence means the sentence that we use to express our emotion of joy, sorrow, and wonder.
Indirect Structure:
subject+ (exclaimed with joy/sorrow/wonder)+ that+ (Subject+ verb+ very/a very/a great+ adjective+ extra)
Here, in ‘reporting verb’ you will use ‘exclaimed with joy/sorrow/wonder’ in the place of ‘verb’. Next, you have to just change the forms of persons, tense of verbs, and adverbials in ‘reported speech’. And the ‘reporting verb’ and ‘reported speech’ will be connected by the word ‘that’. Besides, if the starting word of the ‘reported speech’ is ‘what a’, the adjective ‘a very or a great’ will be used but if it starts with ‘how’, you will use only ‘very’.
See the examples:
Direct: He said, “What a nice bird it is!”
Indirect: He exclaimed with wonder that it was a very nice bird.
Direct: He said, “How interesting the story was!”
Indirect: He exclaimed with wonder that the story was very nice.
Direct: He said, “Alas! His father has died today”
Indirect: He exclaimed with sorrow that his father had died that day.
Changing Theory of ‘Imperative
(Use of ‘Let’) Sentence’
Imperative (Use of ‘Let’) sentence means the sentence that we use to express any proposal or requesting permission. If the sentence starts with ‘let us’, it expresses proposal of anything. But if the sentence starts with ‘let me/him/her/them’, it expresses request for permission.
Indirect Structure:
subject+ (proposed to /told)+ object+ that+ (subject+ should/might+ verb+ object+ extra)
Here, in ‘reporting verb’ you will use ‘proposed to /told’ in the place of ‘verb’. Next, you have to just change the forms of persons, tense of verbs, and adverbials in ‘reported speech’. And the ‘reporting verb’ and ‘reported speech’ will be connected by the word ‘that’. Besides, if this is proposal the subject in ‘reported speech’ will be ‘we’ but if it is permission, it will be according to the sentence.
See the examples:
(In case of proposal)
Direct: He said to me, “Let’s play cricket now”
Indirect: He proposed me that we should play cricket then.
(In case of permission)
Direct: He said to me, “Let me stay here for him”
Indirect: He told me that he might stay there for him.
Changing Theory of
‘Use of ‘Must’ in Sentence’
We use ‘must’ in a sentence to express obligation of any act.
Indirect Structure:
subject+ (tell/told)+ object+ that+ (subject+ must/had to/would have to+ verb+ object+ extra)
Here, in ‘reporting verb’ you will use ‘tell/told’ in the place of ‘verb’. Next, you have to just change the forms of persons, tense of verbs, and adverbials in ‘reported speech’. And the ‘reporting verb’ and ‘reported speech’ will be connected by the word ‘that’. But, you will put the modal auxiliary verb-(must/had to/ would have to) before the main verb. If the action expresses any obligation, the verb will be same-‘must’. If it expresses general act, the verb will be ‘had to’. But if it expresses any future obligation, you will use the verb ‘would have to’.
See the examples:
Direct: He said to me, “you must obey your parents”
Indirect: He told me that I must obey my parents.
(In case of obligation)
Direct: He said to me, “You must water in the garden”
Indirect: He told me that I had to water in the garden.
(In case of general expression)
Direct: He said to me, “You must leave the position if they want that.”
Indirect: He told me that I would have to leave the position if they wanted.
(In case of obligation in future)
Well, this is the time to close our discussion, as I have explained all the terms given in the chart. But this is not complete lesson on narration and its changing theory. There are some other facts on this to be discussed. I hope, I will discuss those as soon as possible on the next lesson of Narration and its changing theory.
So, prepare your lesson and apply the methods you have learned. I believe that you will be able to transform the speeches from direct to indirect successfully following these structures.
Thank you very much.
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