AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE
     Example:                                                      Example:
     The boy was laughed by most of his friends.                   Rahul says, “I want to visit Mumbai.” – Direct Speech
     In this sentence, Preposition ‘at’ should be used after       Rahul says that he wants to visit Mumbai. – Indirect
‘laughed’; because ‘at’ is the Preposition that is followed   Speech
after ‘laughed’.                                                   Some Important Facts on Narration
     The correct form of the sentence will be –                    1. Look at the following sentence.
     The boy was laughed at by most of his friends.
                                                                   Raju said, “I am happy.”
     Likewise,
                                                                   The first part of the sentence – ‘Raju said’ is called
     Active: He       laughed at          the beggar.
                                                              Reporting speech / Reporting clause / Reporting verb,
                ̄         ̄         ̄           ̄                 etc.
             Subject Verb Preposition Object                       The second part of the sentence – ‘I am happy’ is
     Passive: The beggar was laughed            at            called Reported speech / Reported clause / Reported state-
                     ̄          ̄        ̄          ̄             ment, etc.
                 Subject    To be      Verb3   Preposition         2. Reported speech can be used at the beginning /
         by  him.                                             end / middle of the sentence.
          ̄     ̄                                                    Examples:
        by Agent                                                   The principal said, “The school shall remain
     Let us look at a few Verbs that first take a Preposition      closed for a month.”
and then the Object.                                               “Let’s go for long drive”, he said to his friends.
     look at + Object              look after + Object             “Shakespeare”, said the teacher, “was a
     look down upon + Object       laugh at + Object
                                                                   world-famous dramatist”.
     smile at + Object             ride at + Object
     mock at + Object              fire at + Object                       GENERAL RULES        OF  NARRATION
     travel by + Object            driven by + Object              A. Direct Narration into Indirect Narration
     came on + Object              sing to + Object                In order to convert Direct Narration into Indirect Nar-
     take for + Object             ignorant of + Object       ration, there are certain rules which are applicable for all
     written in + Object                                      kinds of sentences. These rules are called General rules.
                                                                   1. The inverted commas (“ ”) used in Direct Narration
                    NARRATION                                 are removed while changing the sentence into Indirect Nar-
                                                              ration.
     Narration means something that is narrated, an ac-            Example:
count of, detailing an event, etc. The word ‘narration’ is         Direct Narration: She says, “I am late”.
taken from the word ‘narrate’, which means ‘to give an             Indirect Narration: She says that she is late.
account or tell something’.                                        (Here, inverted commas (“ ”) has been removed.)
     The other synonyms of ‘narration’ are – Statement,            2. When the Reporting Verb is in the Present Tense of
Assertion, Declaration, etc.                                  Future Tense, there is no change in the Verb of the Re-
     Direct Narration states the statement of person, ex-     ported Speech.
actly the same, spoken by him or her. This statement is            Examples:
put within inverted commas (“ ”).
                                                                   Direct Narration:      He says, “Ruchi goes early”.
     Example:
                                                                   Indirect Narration: He says that Ruchi goes early.
     Sita said, “I have seen Hanuman.”
                                                                   Direct Narration: Kumar will say, “Prakash is always
     The sentence contains the statement as said by Sita –    angry”.
“I have seen Hanuman”, which in Direct Narration.
                                                                   Indirect Narration: Kumar will say that Prakash is
     Indirect Narration states the statement of a person,     always angry.
which we analyse or interpret in our own words or just             3. When the Reporting Verb is in the Past Tense, a
narrate or summarise the principal motive of the speaker.
                                                              few changes take place in the Tense of the Verb of the
     Example:                                                 Reported Speech.
     Sonia said that she was late for the meeting.                 (a) Present Indefinite changes into Past Indefinite Tense.
     The sentence focuses the statement of Sonia, which            Example:
we expressed in our own words. This sentence is said to
                                                                   Direct Narration: You said, “I never go there”.
be in Indirect Narration.
                                                                   Indirect Narration: You said that you never went there.
     Kinds of Narration
                                                                   (b) Present Imperfect changes into Past Imperfect Tense.
     When a speech is quoted in the actual words used by
                                                                   Example:
the speaker, it is called the Direct Speech or Narration.
But when the speech is reported in the form of a narra-            Direct Narration: Saroj said, “I am willing
tive, giving the substance or meaning or the words used                                        ̄               ̄
by the speaker, without quoting his actual words, it is                                     Past Tense Present Imperfect
called the Indirect Speech or Narration.                           to go there”.
                                                          SEE–69