AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE
Direct Narration: They said, “We breathe in oxygen”. (i) said remains said or can change into explained /
Indirect Narration: They said that we breathe in oxy- remarked, etc.
gen. said to remains said to
In this sentence, ‘we’ is not changed because, the said to can also change into told
usage of ‘we’ is made to refer to Universal Truth. Remember that –
(c) If any magazine, newspaper, periodical, etc. uses (A) ‘Told’ is never used without an Object because
we / our / us, etc. to represent them, then in Indirect ‘tell’ is a Transitive Verb. Problems are generally created
Narration they are changed to ‘it’ or ‘its’. by using ‘told’ without an Object.
Example:
Example:
Direct Narration: The Times of India says, “We are the
She told that she was depressed.
leader in print media”.
Indirect Narration: The Times of India says that it is The usage of ‘told’ in the sentence is wrong, because
leader in print media. there is no Object after it. Instead of ‘told’, ‘said’ should be
In this sentence, ‘we’ and ‘our’ are gradually changed used to make the sentence correct.
into ‘it’ and ‘its’. (B) After ‘said’, the usage of Object without ‘to’ is strictly
(d) If there is no use of Object in the Reporting Verb, restricted. In context to this, problems are created by
but there is the usage of ‘you’ in the Reported Speech, straightway using Object after ‘said’.
then this ‘you’ is changed to Third Person or First Person Example:
as per requirement. She said me that she liked that designer suit.
Examples: In this sentence, ‘to’ should be used after ‘said’. That
Direct Narration: He said, “You are culprit.” is, instead of ‘said me’ you should say ‘said to me’ or just
Indirect Narration: He said that he was guilty. you can use ‘told’ instead of ‘said’.
Direct Narration: She said, “You all are culprit.” (ii) Inverted Commas (“ ”) are removed and ‘that’ is
Indirect Narration: She said that they all were culprit. used after the Reported Speech.
Direct Narration: He said, “You are culprit”. Example:
Indirect Narration: He said that I was culprit. Direct Narration: Shoma said, “I am going to Kolkata”.
Direct Narration: She said, “You all are culprit”. Indirect Narration: Shoma said that she was going
Indirect Narration: She said that we all are culprit. ̄
5. When Present Tense is changed into Past Tense in
that
the Reported Speech in Indirect Narration, there are
changes in a few words, the list of which is given below. to Kolkata.
Now changes into then (iii) The Tense of the Verb of the Reported Speech is
Come changes into go (but not always) changed as per requirement in the sentence.
This changes into that Example:
Today changes into that day (but not always) Direct Narration: Anurag said to Reha, “Juhi is punc-
These changes into those tual”.
Tonight changes into that night (but not always) Indirect Narration: Anurag said to Reha that Juhi was
Here changes into there punctual.
Tomorrow changes into the next day Or,
Hence changes into thence Indirect Narration: Anurag told Reha that Juhi was
Next day changes into the following day punctual.
Thus changes into so. (iv) Full Stop (.) is used at the end of the sentence.
Last night changes into the previous night Example:
Ago changes into before Direct Narration: Narayan said to Priya, “I will go and
Note that, if this / here / now / today / come, etc. are take Roma back”.
used with those things / places / destination, etc. which ̄
were there with the Speaker when he was talking to, no Full Stop
changes take place. Indirect Narration: Narayan said to Priya that he will
go and take Roma back.
INDIRECT NARRATION OF ASSERTIVE SENTENCES
̄
Let us look at a few problems based on this topic.
Full Stop
The lady said tat she should be away from home to-
morrow as Mita’s friend would come to visit Mumbai. DIRECT NARRATION OF INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES
In this sentence, instead of ‘tomorrow’ it should be
either ‘the next day’ or ‘on the morrow.’ Look at the following sentences.
Again look at these two examples. She said to me, “Are you coming with me?”
Manisha said, “I am responsible for it”. He said to me, “Do you go to school?”
Anurag said to Juhi, “You are punctual”. You said to me, “What are you planning to do?”
Rules Ranu said to Bhanu, “Why were you late?”
SEE–71