Narration or The Reported Speech

Narration or The Reported Speech

When we communicate with other, we deliver our speech in our own language or we say directly. These speeches are called Narration or the reported speech. As: Mr. Ahmed says to us ," You are still child."  This is a direct speech because hence we quote the speech of Mr.Ahmed.If we say it our own word it will replace thus , Mr. Ahmed  tells us that we are still child. If we analyse the above sentences, we'll be able to know  that  reporting verb and  person change here. Thus  narration is part and parcel of our life.

Now  we should know the process of speech with other. In English grammar actually there are eleven  rules for changing narration. The rules follow the fundamental five sentences. So to know narration firstly everybody should know the fundamental (primary)  five sentences. These will help you a lot. Next we should follow the use of tense. Especially primary structure  of  tense  will help us a lot.

The Rules of  Changing Narration:

Rules of Assertive  Sentence:

1.In a sentence, if reporting verb uses with present  or future, there the tense of reported speech remain unchanged.

As: a) D= Hena says , "My mother helps me in my work." 

      ID= Hena says that her mother helps her in her work.

 b) D= Kabir says, "I shall help you."   ID = Kabir says that he will help. 

2. If the reporting verb is in the past tense, the  verb of  the reported  speech changes into the corresponding past form.

D= Hasan said to Lima, "I am fine."   ID= Hasan  told Lima that he was fine.
D= He said,  "I am reading a book."   ID= He said that he was reading a book.
D= She said, "I shall do it."   ID= She said that she would do it.
NB. If the reporting  verb follows an object then  reporting verb turns into 'said' to 'told'.

3. If  the  reporting verb contains past tense and  the reported speech remain past indefinite  or  past continuous  then they respectively change into past perfect or past perfect continuous .

D= Panna said , " I went to school." ID= Panna said that she had gone to school.
D= Kabir said to me, "I was writing a book." ID= Kabir told me that he had written a book.

NB: But where reported speech have two or more verbs occurring  at the  same time past  tense of the verbs remain unchanged. D= Mrs Amin said, " Mr. Ant worked hard while  Mr. Grasshopper  slept." ID = Mrs. Amin said that Mr. Ant worked hard while  Mr. Grasshopper slept.

4. If the  reported speech represents  a universal truth, constant fact, habitual fact, geographical fact and  quotations, The verb in the reported speech remain unchanged.
D= The teacher said, " The earth moves round the sun." ID= The teacher said that the earth moves round the sun. D= Keats said, "A thing of beauty is joy for ever." ID= Keats said that  a thing  of beauty is joy for ever.

NB: If the reported speech has two or more verbs occurring at the same time the past tense of the verbs is not changed. D= The teacher said, “Mr. Ant worked hard while Mr. Grasshopper slept.” ID= The teacher said that Mr. Ant worked hard while Mr. Grasshopper slept. On the other hand “ for would or, should” no past perfect/ perfect continuous is used. .  Follow that D=Direct, ID= Indirect.

Words that express nearness are often changed into the words expressing remoteness:

Words in direct  Speech	Words in Indirect Speech
Here	There
This	That
Ago	Before
These	Those
Hence	Thence
Come	Go
Hither	Thither
Thus	So, in that way
Today	That day, the same day
Tomorrow	The next day, the following day
Yesterday	The previous day,  the day before
Last night	The previous  night, the night  before

Rule of Interrogative sentence:

5. If the reported speech of an interrogative sentence begins with auxiliary verb, conjunction “ if or whether”  will use, and reporting verb turns into “ask, inquire of , demand of” At last the sentence turns into assertive.

D= Hasan said to Lubna, “Are you reading now?” ID= Hasan asked Lubna if she was reading then.  D= The boy said to Hafiz, “Will you help me?” ID= The boy asked Hafiz whether he would help him.

6. If the reported speech begins with who, which, what, how, when, where, why etc. then the “wh” words are not changed, it means “if or whether” will not use. And the sentence will turn into an assertive like the previous one.

D= The man said to me, “What is your name?” ID= The man asked me what my name was. D= Karim said to Asif, “When will you return to me?” ID= Karim asked Asif when he would return to him.

Rule of Imperative sentence:

7. In imperative sentence reporting verb turns into tell, order, request, beg, forbid, command etc, “to” is used for conjunction. The sentence becomes assertive.

D= Mrs. Amin said to me, “Do it now.”  ID= Mrs. Amin told me to do it then. D= Mother said to me, “Never go to Cinema.” ID= Mother forbade me  to go to cinema. D= The teacher said to us, “Do not tell a lie.” ID= The teacher advised us not to tell a lie. Or, The teacher forbade us to tell a lie. D= The man said to me, “Please help me.” ID= The man requested me to help him.

NB: Remember that when there is no object after the verb then object will consider according to reported speech. [They said, “Come again.” ID= They told me or someone to go again.] Follow that in the above sentence there is no object, here me or someone uses.

8.  When reported speech begins with “Let us”, it indicates proposal or suggestion. Hence ‘should’ uses after the subject for “let” in the sub-ordinate clause, ‘that’ uses as conjunction and the sentence becomes assertive.

D= Nazu said to me, “Let us do it.”  ID= Nazu proposed or, suggested me that we should do it. D= He said, “Let us do it.” ID= He proposed that they should do it.

9. When reported speech take another ‘Pronoun’ instead of ‘us’ then it does not indicate proposal. In this case reporting verb turns like rule-7‘that’ uses as conjunction and ‘might or might be allowed to ’uses for ‘Let.

D= Mina said, “Let me finish the talk.”  ID= Mina said that she might (might be allowed to) finish the talk.                                     
                              Rule of Optative Sentence:

10. In Optative sentence reporting verb turns into wish or pray, ‘that’ uses as conjunction. The Optative sentence turns into statement or assertive.

D= He said to me, “May you be happy.” ID= He wished that I might be happy. D= Father said to his son, “May Allah bless you.” ID= Father prayed that Allah might bless his son. D= The Children sang, “Long live the country.” ID= The children wished singing that the country might live long. D= He said, “Good morning, my friend.” ID= He wished good morning to his friend. D= The man said, “Farewell my friend.” ID= The man bade farewell to his friend. D= Riya said, “Good bye, friend.” ID= Riya bade her friend good bye.
                             Rule of Exclamatory Sentence:

11. In exclamatory sentence reporting verb changes into exclaim, cry out, shout according to the sense. We have to add some new words or phrases like “with joy, in joy, with sorrow, in sorrow, in wonder etc. to express the meaning of exclamation. If the sense does not clear, we only use exclaim. As a conjunction we use ‘that’ overall we make it statement. D= Moinul said, “Alas! I am undone.” ID= Moinul exclaimed with sorrow that he was undone. D= Lubna said, “Hurrah! We have won the game.” ID= Lubna exclaimed with joy that they had won the game. D= She said to me, “What a funny person you are!” ID= She exclaimed with wonder that I was a very funny person. D= He said, “Had I the wings of a bird!” ID= He wished that he had the wings of a bird.

Right form of Verbs:

Rules of Right Form

1. Action word takes 's', 'es' when its subject is third person singular. As: The girl plays Ludo. Tom likes Jennifer. She goes to school. Rahima sings a sweet song. Lubna loves none. Kazal loves Salimullah. Bulbul asks his mother about her father. Masud reads well. Mina tries to establish a teaching centre.

2. Present Indefinite Tense uses for any kinds of truth. As: Oil floats on water. The sun rises in the east. The earth is round. The earth moves round the sun. Rainbow contains seven colours.

3. The presence of the following word indicates present indefinite. They are "regularly, sometimes, often, generally, daily, everyday, occasionally, usually, normally." As: When does Mr. Rahim take his food normally. A good student prepares his lessons regularly. Sometimes she goes there. He often comes here. She always makes a noise in the class.

4. Do, does, or did must create to make questions or negative in auxiliary verb-less sentence. As: The boy does not work hard. Did Karim come home yesterday.

5. To be verb uses before subject while wh -word "Who, what, when, where, which , whose, why, how" placing beginning of the sentence. As: Why does Mrs. Bill look so happy? What do you want? What would you like to have?

6. Present continuous tense places for progressive (continue) action at present. As: Bristy is singing a song. Ety is watching TV at the moment. I am writing blog now.

7. For 'Have' verb past participle should place in the sentence. As: She has done the dancing. They have made him captain.

8. The following words also follow present perfect tense. They are: just, just now, already, yet, ever, lately, recently. As : I have met her recently. Have you ever been to the zoo? They have gone out just now.
9. With some phrases in sentences , like : yesterday, ago, long since, last night. As: She left the school last year. I went home yesterday. She saw me long ago.
10. Sentence with some phrases like, no sooner had --- than, scarcely had when, hardly had, before etc contain past perfect at first portion of sentence and next part contain past Indefinite. As: No sooner had he seen the police than he ran away.
11. Sentences containing since in the first portion refers present indefinite replaces second portion as past Indefinite. As: It is many years since I came to Dhaka. Thirty three years have passed since my father Abdur Rob died. Seven months have past since my mother Safia Khatun departed the world.
12. Sentences containing since in the first portion if refers past indefinite replaces second portion as past perfect. As: It was many years since they had first met. It was long since I had seen her last.
13. Past perfect tense uses previously 'before' and later on 'after': As: The patient had died  before the doctor came. The doctor died after the patient had come. We left home after the beggar had come.
14. In a sentence, if there are two simple present verb, the second verb turns into either 'continuous' or takes 'infinity to': As: I saw him going or I saw him to go. I don't want to leave this place. or , I do not want leaving this place.
15. The following word like 'had better, had rather, would better, would rather, let, must, need, dare takes present indefinite. As: You had better go home. I shall not let you enter the classroom.
16. The portion 'would that ' takes 'could' after the subject: As: Would that I could go to college.
17. The principal verb of 'to be' and 'having' takes past participle. As: She ran away having  taken the memory. The principal desired the notice to be hung.
18. Preceding the given verbs mind , worth, without, past, cannot help, could not help with a view to, look forward to, would you mind, get used to and preposition uses then 'ing' is added verb. As: I went to the factory with a view to earning there. She never thought of going to cinema.
19. The next verb becomes past indefinite if the sentences contain 'it is high time' 'it is time, ' wish, fancy etc. remains in a sentence. As: It is high time he changed his habit. I wish I sang a song. I fancy I turned pale.
20. To be verb becomes 'were or past indefinite' when we notice 'as though, as if, wish' in the sentence. As: I wish I were a king. He talks as if he were a leader. He speaks as though he knew everything. She proceeded as though I had not spoken.
21. Every, one of , each follows singular verb. As: One of the boys was absent yesterday. Everybody loves flower.
22.Modal auxiliary follows present simple principal verb. As: You may come tomorrow. I can do the the work. One should take care of one's health.
23. Would should placed before main verb when next day,week, month, year etc. take place in the sentence. As: He said that he would go home the next day.
24. Auxiliary verb (am, is , are, was, were) always follows a past or present participles. As: The book was stolen. They were playing.
25. First conditional follows the structure: If + present indefinite + Future indefinite. As: If he works hard, he will shine. If you run in the rain, you will catch cold. I shall go out if it rains.
26. Second conditional follows the structure: If + past indefinite + future in past (would /might /could). As: If he came , I would go. If I had a typewriter I would type. If he wanted , I would help him.
27. Third conditional follows the structure: If + Past perfect + future in past perfect. As: If I had seen him, I might have told him.
28. If the sentence begins with this structure 'Had + Subject + Past Participle' then the rest part begins with perfect conditional. It indicates would have, could have, might have in the rest part of the sentence. As: Had I been a king, I would have helped the landless.
Had I possessed vast property , I would have established a university.
29. Unreal past receives unreal verb and 2nd part contains might/ would /could, or might/ would /could have: As: If I were a bird, I would fly. If I were a bird would have flown. If I were you I would not do this. If I were a king I would help the poor.
30. Action starts ago but still continuing now. In these case present perfect continuous uses. As: I have been reading for three hours. I have been leaving in this house for ten years. It has been raining since morning.
31. Have, has, had, get, got, etc. uses as causative verb follows past participle. As: I got the work done by him. I had my rice cooked.
32. Lest follows should/would after subject in the sentence. As: He ran fast lest he should miss the train.
33. Just, after  follows  present participle (verb +ing)  but while follows continuous tense. As: While walking in the garden, a snake bit him. After walking he went to rest. While he was walking on the bank of the river, he saw the sunset scene.
34. Subject and verbs follows the number. As: The colour of his eye is black. The players in the  field are strong.
35. Unit follows singular number:As: Fifty miles is a long way.
36. The word 'there' receives singular or plural verb  according to the contents.
As: There is a high school in a village. There are two high schools in our village.

** For more details look Tense

Sentence Making System in English Language

The systems are different  according to the sentence: 

1. Assertive sentence: 

Hence  at first  we set subject then verb ( auxiliary / principal  or auxiliary + Principal)  then object or extension. 

 Structure: Subject + verb + object / extension.
 

As: Lubna is an intelligent girl.
      Her mother is not so acute like her.

In the above sentences Lubna and Her mother  are subject.In both sentences 'is' verb. On the other hand the rest of the both sentences are extension. 

NB. Possessive word  must take a noun to become subject that we observe in sentence 2 (Her mother) .

it will continue next.

Phrases and Clauses

 Phrases:

Def:  A Phrase is a group of words that does not  make  a complete  sense nor  does it  contain  a  finite  verb or  a subject . It is however used as a single   part of speech.

Phrases are of seven kinds. They are:

1. Noun Phrase, 2. Adjective phrase, 3. Verbal Phrase, 4. Adverbial Phrase, 5.  Prepositional phrase, 6. Conjunctional phrase and 7. Interjectional PhraseNoun Phrase: A noun Phrase is one that does the work of a noun. It may be used as a subject or an object in a sentence.

Examples: To walk early in the morning is his habit. Bashir does not like to take a risk. I like to play football. The world is not a bed of roses. My father was a man of word.

Adjective Phrase:  An adjective phrase is so called because it does the work of an adjective. It qualifies a noun life an adjectives.

Examples: She give me a ring of gold. Mr. Choudhury is a man of character. My father is all in all in the family. Zeeman is quite at home in Mathematics. At present I am hard up.Verbal Phrase: A verbal Phrase is one that does the work of an adverb.

Example: Those who live fast die early. She looks after the orphan. The thief broke open the safe. Cut short your speech. Smoking tells upon one’s health.

Adverbial Phrase: An adverbial Phrase is one that does the work of an adverb.

Examples: Take this saline every six hours. Khaled ran at great speed. The boy was beaten black and blue. Sahana tried the sum again and again. Rehan worked all day long.

Prepositional Phrase:  A prepositional phrase is one that does the work of a preposition. It governs a noun or a noun equivalent in the objective case like a preposition.

Examples: She could not come because of illness. Rashed tried for the sake of his friend. Mina succeeds by dint of industry. Salma was teaching instead of reading. There is a field in front of our school. We discuss the matter at large.

Conjunctional Phrase: A conjunctional Phrase is one that   does the work like conjunction.  Examples: Seema read hard in order that she may pass creditably. Sebab as well his brother Rafiqul was guilty. I shall go provided that you send the car. No sooner had the bus arrived at the bus stand than the passenger got down. Not only she but also her brother requested me.

Interjectional Phrase: An Interjectional phrase is one that does the work like an interjection. Examples: What a pity! You have failed. Good Heavens! What do I do now? What a sight is this! Fie! Don’t mention it. Oh God what do I do now?

Clauses

Def: Clause is part of a large sentence which has subject, finite verb and predicate.

Feroza has chain which is made of gold.

Kinds of Clause:

Clauses are considered as three classes:

1. Principal clause, 

2. Sub-ordinate clause and

3. Co - ordinate clause.

Principal Clause: The clause that is self depended or independent to mean is known as principal clause.

Feroza has a chain which is made of gold.

Hence ‘Feroza has a chain.’ Is principal clause. It does not depend on others.

Sub-ordinate Clause:  The clause that depends on other clause to express its meaning is known as sub-ordinate clause. 

Feroza has a chain which is made of gold.

Follow that ‘ which is made of gold.’ Is sub-ordinate clause. Here the question arise , what is which?  As a result it indicate its dependence.

Co-ordinate Clause: The clause that is made of two principal clauses with a conjunction (like: and, but, yet, because, otherwise, or either… or, neither….nor, etc.) is known as co-ordinate clause:  The man is rich but dishonest.

NB: But I think it is of two kinds. They are 1. Principal Clause and 2. Sub-ordinate clause.

Sub-ordinate clauses are of Three kinds:

1.  The Noun Clause 2. The adjective clause 3. The Adverb clause.

1. Noun Clause:  The clause that acts like a noun in the sentence is known as noun clause.

I know that she is poor. Hence the red marked word is using as noun clause.

Use of Noun Clause:

1. The object of verb:

 I know that she has passed. He said that he was poor. I know when he will come back. You should tell me why you did this.

NB: Noun clause mostly uses as the object of a verb.

2. Subject of a finite verb: 

That he will get a job is certain. Where he lives is known to me. That he said so was proved.  Whether he did this is doubtful.

3. Object of a preposition:

There is no sense in what you say. It depends on how it is done. There was nothing new except that the day was cloudy.

4. Complement of verb of incomplete prediction:

The fact is that I am tired. This is where  he lives. The question is where he goes there. It appears that you do not understand me.

5. Apposition of a noun:

The fact that he was plain to all. I never doubted the fact that you spoke the truth. The news that he wants to come is not true.

NB: Follow that noun clause begins with conjunction (that) , interrogative  pronoun or adverb (what , where, who, why,  how , whether, when , if.)

6. Sentence becomes meaningful replacing noun phrase instead of noun clause.

He does not know when you will start. He does not know the time of your starting. I heard that he was ill. I heard about his illness.

2. Adjective Clause: The clause that acts like an adjective is known as adjective clause.

I know the man who helped the poor. Hence the red marked words (who helped the poor) indicate adjective clause.

Here we notice that adjective clause begins with adverb or pronoun. But sometimes it varies. 

The book (which) he bought has been lost. Hence the word (which) is invisible. It means sometimes adverb or pronoun does not use.

More Examples: 

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. I know the place where he lived.  Fairly morning is the time when we get up. There is no reason why he refused to play. I know the man who did it. I understand the reason why he said so. Tell me the time when he will come. Please explain the way how you did it.

3. The Adverb Clause
 Def: The adverb clause is that clause which acts like adverb.

According to the use the adverb clauses are 9 types.
1. Adverb clause of time: These are introduce with While, when, whenever, after, before, until, till,  since etc. As: He came when I was there.  Strike while the iron is hot.  Wait until I come back.
2. Adverb clause of Place: These begin with where, wherever etc. As: Stay where you are. You can go wherever you like.
3. Adverb clause of Cause: These begin with Because, as, since, that etc. As: He can not  come because he is ill. As he is ill, he can not come. Since you are ill you need not come. I am glad that you have passed. I am sorry that you said so.
4. Adverb clause of Effect::  These begin with Tat so--- that, such --- that etc. As: I am so weak that I cannot walk.  He is such  a fool that you cannot depend on him.
5.Adverb clause of Purpose: These begin with in order that, so that, lest etc. As: We read that we may learn. He reads in order that he may pass. Write it down lest you should forget it.
 Bring it near so that I may see it better.
6. Adverb clause of condition: These begin with if , unless, whether, in case, on condition, that, provided that that, supposing that etc.
 As: I shall do this if you help me. You will fail unless you read hard. I shall try whether I succeed or not. I shall help on condition that you help me. I shall help you in case you are hard up.

7. Adverb clause of Comparison: These begin with so --- as, such ----- as, as---as,  than etc.
 As: He  is not  so tall as his  rather  is tall. He  is as  wise as  you are.
8. Adverb clause of  Supposition or Concession: These begin with though,  although, even if, even etc. As: Though he is poor he is honest.  Even if  I fail , I shall not give up hope.
9. Adverb clause of  manner: These begin with as.  
 As: You may  do it, as you please. Do to  others  as  you  would  be  done by.

Question Tag

In English grammar we use sentences and  try to confirm its result. In the sentence  what we use as an additional portion is called Question Tag.

Example: The robbers were caught by the police, weren't they?

Here the under lined words are tag and they are using for confirm.                                            Short forms for Tag:

Long forms	Short forms
is not	isn’t
am not	aren’t/ ain’t
are not	aren’t
was not	wasn’t
were not	weren’t
has not	hasn’t
have not	haven’t
had not	hadn’t
can not	can’t
could not	couldn’t
should not	shouldn’t
shall not	shan’t
will not	won’t
would not	wouldn’t
may not	mayn’t
must not	mustn’t
might not	mightn’t
do not	don’t
does not	doesn’t
did not	didn’t
need not	needn’t

There are some rules for Tag Question: They are as follows:

R-1. Tag with auxiliary and modal auxiliary,: auxiliary and modals are used for questions.
They are poor, aren't they?We  should obey our parents, shouldn't we?
R-2.Without auxiliary verb/ with principle /main verb: do/does(a) Kamal plays football, doesn’t he?(b) We read book, don’t we?
R-3. With ‘Let’s’ in an imperative sentence: shall we(a) Let us go out for a walk, shall we?(b)  Let’s have a picnic, shall we?

R-4. With ‘Don’t’ in an imperative sentence:we have to put  will you

(a) Don’t run in the sun, will you?

(b) Don’t waste time, will you?

R-5. Tag with subject “I”:we have to put  aren’t/ ain’t  and Subject I.

(a) I am happy, aren’t I ?

(b) I am not quick at work, am I?

R-6. Sentence with Nothing, Nobody, everybody, somebody: Subject They/ anybody

(a) No body called me, did they/ did anybody?

(b) Everybody does this, don’t they/ doesn’t anybody?

R-7.Tag with negative words: never, no, hardly, scarcely, little, none etc.

(a) No two people think exactly alike, do they?

(b) Nobody help me, do they?

R-8. Subject with “there”: “There’ remains as a subject.

(a)There was a king in Scotland, wasn’t there?

(b) There were many problems, weren’t there?

R-9. Exclamatory sentence with  and without auxiliary verb:

(a) How meritorious the boy is, isn’t he?

(b)How loudly the boys speak, don’t they?

R-10. Imperative sentence: won’t, can, could, can’t, would, will, shall, --you? Places.

(a).Give me a pen, won’t  you?

(b) Open the door, won’t you?

(c) shut up the door, can’t you?

(d) Help me , can’t you?