NARRATION --- INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES -- CHANGE FROM DIRECT TO INDIRECT SPEECH

Sunday, 8 December 2013

NARRATION --- INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES -- CHANGE FROM DIRECT TO INDIRECT SPEECH

NARRATION

Change of Different types of sentences from Direct speech into Indirect speech.

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

Interrogative sentences are of two types.

TYPE A

Sentences starting with helping verbs like is, am, are, were, was, had, have, shall, will or would etc.

For example :
He said to her, "Are you going home?"
She said to me, "Will you help me?"

While changing from direct to indirect form, in such sentences :

- In place of 'said to' asked is used.

- the sentence is changed from interrogative form to assertive sentence.

- The helping verb is shifted to its normal place as per assertive sentence and is further changed as required.

- Subject and object in the reported speech are changed according to rules.

- The sign of interrogation is removed and it is substituted by full stop.

Comma and Inverted commas are replaced by the word ‘if ’.

She said to me, " Will you go to your office today?"

She said to me
(Reporting Speech)

In the reporting speech

Subject............ She
Verb................ said
Object.............. me

,"(Comma, Inverted Commas start)

Will you go to your office today?
(Reported Speech)

"(Inverted Commas Close)

The basic rule of Narration is :

---First Person in reported speech changes according to Subject in reporting speech.

---Second Person in reported speech changes according to object in reporting speech.

---Third Person in reported speech does not change.

- In place of said to 'asked' will be used.

- In place of inverted commas 'if or whether' will be used.

The sentence will be

She asked me if I would go to my office that day.

More examples explained :

He said to her,"Do you know me?"

"Do you know me?" will change into "You know me."

'Said to' in the reporting speech will change into 'asked'.

Comma between reporting speech and reported speech will be removed. Inverted commas will change into 'if' or 'whether'.

All the other rules of simple sentences will be followed.

You (Second Person) in the reported speech will change according to object (her). It will change into 'She'.

Me (First Person) in the reported speech will change according to Subject (He). It will be 'him'.

Verb 'know' (first form ) will change into its second form 'knew'.

So the sentence written above will be-

He asked her if she knew him.

He said to me," Will you convey my message to her? "

'He' in Reporting speech is Subject. 'Me' in Reporting speech is Object.

'You' in reported speech is second person. It will change according to object in Reported speech 'me'.

'My' is First person It will change according to Subject 'He'.'Her' is third person It will not change.

The sentence in its Indirect form will be:
He asked me if I would convey his message to her.

A SENTENCE WITHOUT OBJECT

He said, “Are you well now?”

The sentence will change as:

Interrogative will change into assertive.
Interrogation mark (?) will change into (.) Full stop.

He said, “You are well now.”
Further , “” will change into if.

You is second person. It will change according to object of reporting speech.

There is no object in reporting speech. So it will not change.

Are will change into were and now will change into then.

The sentence in its indirect for will be :

He said if you were well then.

He said, “ Am I not well now?”
He asked if he was not well then.

Sentence with an object in reporting speech.

He said to me."Are you well now?"

'you' is a second person. It will change according to object i.e. 'me'.

Accordingly 'are' will change into 'was'.

He asked me if I was well then.

I said to him,"Are you well now?"

You is second person it will change according to object 'him'. Are will change into was (according to he).

I asked him if he was well then.

MORE SENTENCES IN DIFFERENT FORMS

She said to him. “Will you lend me your book?”

'Said to' will change into 'asked' " " =if Past tense of 'will' = 'would'.
'You' and 'your' are second person and will change according to object 'him'.
''Me' is first person and will change according to Subject in reporting speech 'She'.

So it will be : She asked him if he would lend her his book.

The doctor said to her, “Do you take any medicine?”

Here 'Do take ' in interrogative sentence = 'Take' in assertive sentence.Past tense of 'take' = 'took'.

'You' is second person and will change according to object in reporting speech 'her'.

The doctor asked her if she took any medicine.

The lady said to us, “ Did you attend the party yesterday?

'Did attend' in interrogative sentence = 'attended' in assertive sentence.
'Attended' will change into Had + Third form or 'Had attended'.
'You', Second person will change according to object in reporting speech 'us'.Yesterday = the previous day. So the sentence will be :

The lady asked us if we had attended the party the previous day.

Boys said to the teacher, “Are you not going to teach us today?”
Boys asked the teacher if he was not going to teach them that day.

The lady said to us, “ Will you attend the party today?"
The lady asked us if we would attend the party that day.

She said to me, “Is he an honest man?”
She asked me if he was an honest man.

The boy said to the shopkeeper, “Do you sell sweets?”
The boy asked the shopkeeper if he sold sweets.

The fox said to the crow. “Are the grapes sour?”
The fox asked the crow if the grapes were sour.

The father said to his son, “Do you hear a noise?”
The father asked his son if he heard a noise.

John said to his friend, “Did you not go to your office today?”
John asked his friend if he had not gone to his office that day.

He said to the passerby, “Do you need my help?”
He asked the passerby if he needed his help.

She said to me, “Has he invited you to dinner?”
She asked me if he had invited me to dinner.

You said to her, “Will you come to my house today?”
You asked her if she would come to your house that day.

The student said to the teacher, “Sir, May I go home?”
The student asked the teacher respectfully if he might go home.

She said to her, “Can you solve my problem?”
She asked her if she could solve her problem.

He said to you, “Is it not a surprise for me?”
He asked you if it was not a surprise for him.

She said to the boys, “Did you play a match yesterday?”
She asked the boys if they had played a match the previous day.

My mother said to him, “Will you help me in this matter?
My mother asked him if he would help her in that matter.

I said to her, “Will you keep quiet for some time?”
I asked her if she would keep quiet for some time.

NOTE : If the reporting speech does not have an object, "said" is not changed it remains as "said".

For example -

He said ," Can I stay here for sometime?"
He said if he could stay there for sometime.

TYPE B

The second type of interrogative sentences are which start with words like –

What,Which,Why,Who,Whose,Where,When,how and whom etc.

These are also called 'Wh' Interrogative sentences.

FOR EXAMPLE :

He said to me, “Where are you going?”

In such sentences, ‘said to’ is changed to ‘asked’.

The sentence is changed according to assertive sentences.

The interrogative sentence is changed into an assertive sentence and the sign of interrogation is removed and are substituted by full stop.

Comma and Inverted commas are removed without using any word in their place.

For example:

The aforesaid sentence will be:

He asked me where I was going.

NOTE : If the reporting speech does not have an object, "said" is not changed it remains as "said".

For example -
He said ," Where will I stay today?"
He said where he would stay that day.

My mother said to her, “How do you feel now?”
My mother asked her how she felt then.

She said to the stranger, “Who are you?”
She asked the stranger who he was.

I said, “How long will you stay with us, Mary?”
I asked Mary how long she would stay with us.

She said to him, “Which is your book?”
She asked him which his book was.

MORE DETAILS AND EXERCISES ON TOPIC IN NEXT POST.

He said to me, “Where do you want to go?”
He asked me where I wanted to go.

The father said to the child, “Why don’t you speak the truth?”
The father asked the child why he did not speak the truth.

She said to me, “Who are you? Where do you come from?”
She asked me who I was and where I came from.

He said to me, "Who paid the bill yesterday?"
He asked me who had paid the bill the last day.

He said to me, "Who has paid the bill?"
He asked me who had paid the bill.

The policeman said to the thief, “What are you doing here?”
The police asked the thief what he was doing there.

The boy said to his friend,"Who broke this window-pane?"
The boy asked his friend who had broken that window-pane.

The mother said to her daughter,"Who has broken this jar?"
The mother asked her daughter who had broken that jar.

She said to her husband, “When will you leave for your office?”
She asked her husband when he would leave for his office.

He said to me," When are you leaving for Delhi? Will you take me along with you?"

He asked me when I was leaving for Delhi and if I would take him along with me.

The official said to the visitor," What do you want ? Do you not know that office is closed today?"

The official asked the visitor what he wanted and if he did not know that office was closed on that day.

His wife said to him," Are you leaving for your office now? When will you return home in the evening today?"

His wife asked him if he was leaving for his office then and when he would return home in the evening that day.

The old man said to the boy,"Why are you beating this child ? Do you not have any sense of shame ?" The old man asked the boy why he was beating that child and if he had not any sense of shame.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

CHANGE THE NARRATION

(Reply in comment Box))

1.She said to her brother, "Why are you wasting your time?"

2. My brother said to her,"Who has spoilt the whole arrangement here?"

Also visit for more on the topic.

https://youtube.com/c/LessonEnglishGrammar

Note Also view http://grammarenglisheasyway.blogspot.in/2015/09/narration-change-of-different-types-of.html &chapter Transformation or Conversion of Sentences for better understanding.It'll help further in understanding the topic.