Narration : What's It is, Why, Where, When and How to Understand Perfectly? Build Your Wisdom for Better Application !

Abstract:

Direct speech is when someone's exact words are repeated, while indirect speech is when someone's words are conveyed in your own words. Here are some differences between direct and indirect speech: 

 

Quotation marks

Direct speech is written in quotation marks, while indirect speech is not. 

 

Capitalization

The first letter of the sentence is capitalized in indirect speech, but not in direct speech. 

 

Reporting commands

Commands or requests in direct speech are reported as infinitives in indirect speech. For example, "Close the door," she said becomes "She told me to close the door". 

 

Future changes

To convert direct speech to indirect speech, future changes to the present conditional are changed as follows: "She said, 'I will be in Scotland tomorrow'" becomes "She said that she would be in Scotland the next day". 

 

Usage

Direct speech can help readers better understand and communicate with texts and stories. 

 

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is a grammatical technique that conveys what someone else has said without using their exact words. It's a way to tell someone what another person said by paraphrasing or summarizing the original statement, often using noun clauses and without quotation marks. The reader doesn't assume that the words are the speaker's exact words, and the transformation often involves changes in pronouns, tenses, and time expressions to fit the context. 

 

For example, "I work in a bank," said Daniel could be reported as "Daniel said that he worked in a bank". In this example, the tense is "further back" in the past (worked) than the original tense (work), which is called "backshift". 

 

Here are some other examples of reported speech: 

 

Simple present: "I cook pasta" becomes "She said that she cooked pasta" 

 

Present continuous: "I am cooking pasta" becomes "She said that she was cooking pasta" 

 

Present perfect: "I have cooked pasta" becomes "She said that she had cooked pasta" 

 

Past perfect continuous: "I was cooking pasta" becomes "She said that she had been cooking pasta" 

 

Practicing reported speech can help you relay information accurately and fluently in both spoken and written English. One way to practice is to take direct speech from a book or newspaper quote and try putting it into reported speech. 

 

Keywords:

Direct Speech, Indirect Speech, Narration, 

Learning Outcomes :

After undergoing this article you will be able to understand the following

1. What's Narration?

2. What's Reported Speech?

3. How many Reported speech are there?

4. What's Direct Narration?

5. What's Indirect Narration?

6. What's the rules of transformation of direct speech to Indirect speech or vice versa?

7. What's the differences between Direct Speech and Indirect Speech?

8. How Narration is important w.r.t. academic application?

9. Conclusions

10 FAQs

References 

1. What is Narration?

Narration as the name suggests is a way of narrating or telling something one heard to someone else. The narration chart or ways of speaking differs in the way the speaker phrases the sentences. It can be spoken directly as is called direct speech or in an indirect manner or indirect speech which is also called reported speech. The narration rules and direct and indirect speech rules are a great way to understand this part of English grammar.

2. What is Reported Speech?Reported speech is narration or indirect speech. Direct speech is a statement that is written exactly as it is spoken. To show exactly what is said, we always use quotation marks in such a sentence whereas in reported speech different words or parts of speech like conjunction ‘that’ or preposition ’if’ are used to convey the same meaning. Let us take a look at direct and indirect speech examplesDirect speech: Anika said, “I am going to buy a dress”.

3. How many Reported speech are there?

There are two types of reported speech are there. They are 

Direct Speech

Indirect Speech 

Conversation Rules for Narration: Direct narration to indirect Narration 

Here are some rules for narration: 

Reporting verbs: Choose a reporting verb and tense that matches the time frame of the speech. For example, use the present tense for recent, repeated, or current events, and the past tense for less recent speeches. Some verbs that can be used include "said", "told", "ordered", "stated", "reported", "asked", "requested", "enquired", "inferred", "complained", "exclaimed", and "screamed". 

Sentence structure: When reporting a declarative sentence, use the reporting verb followed by "that" and end the sentence with a period. When reporting an interrogative sentence, use the reporting verb and remove the question mark. 

Changing perspective: Change the point of view or perspective of the speech. 

Including "that" or "if": Choose whether to include "that" or "if" in the speech. 

Backshifting tense: When converting indirect speech to direct speech, change the reporting verb from past tense to present tense. Depending on the situation, you might also need to change the past perfect tense to present perfect or past tense. 

Other changes: When converting indirect speech to direct speech, you might also need to add a comma before the statement, capitalize the first letter of the statement, and add punctuation marks based on the sentence's mood. You can also remove conjunctions like "that", "to", "if", or "whether" where necessary. 

Here are some rules for narration, or changing direct speech into indirect speech: 

Tense: If the reporting verb is in the past tense, change the present tense of the direct speech to past tense. For example, "I am playing the guitar" becomes "She explained that she was playing the guitar". 

Verb: Change the verb to past participle form. 

Quotation marks: Remove the quotation marks. 

Point of view: Change the point of view. 

Reporting verb: Choose a reporting verb and tense. 

"If" or "that": Decide whether to use "if" or "that". 

Here are some other examples of direct and indirect speech: 

Direct: "I have been to Boston", she told me. Indirect She told me that she had been to Boston. 

Direct: "He said, “She has finished her homework“. Indirect He said that she had finished her homework. 

Direct: "She says, “I am ill.” . Indirect She says that she is ill. 

Direct: "I will study”, Mary said. Indirect "I will study”, said Mary. 

Direct: "She said; “The exam is difficult." Indirect She said the test was difficult. 

4. What's Direct Narration?

Direct narration is a way of writing that repeats someone's exact words, using quotation marks to indicate what was said. For example, "Anika said, 'I am going to buy a dress'" is direct narration. 

 

Here are some rules for using direct narration: 

 

Quotation marks: Use quotation marks to indicate what was said. 

 

Capitalization: Capitalize the first letter of the first word in the quotation. 

 

Punctuation: Use a period, question mark, or exclamation mark after the quotation, and close the quotation marks after the punctuation mark. 

 

Quotes within quotes: Use single quotation marks for any quotes within the direct speech. For example, "He said, 'I will be there on time,' but I was not convinced". 

5. What's Indirect Narration?

Indirect narration, also known as indirect speech or reported speech, is a way of reporting what someone said without using their exact words. It focuses on the content of what was said, rather than the exact words used. 

 

Here are some characteristics of indirect speech: 

 

Tense: Indirect speech is usually used to talk about the past, so the tense of the words spoken is often changed. 

 

Reporting verbs: Verbs like "say", "tell", or "ask" are used to report what was said. 

 

"That": The word "that" may be used to introduce the reported words. 

 

Inverted commas: Inverted commas are not used. 

 

Structure: The structure of the reported clause depends on whether the speaker is reporting a statement, question, or command. 

 

6. What's the rules of transformation of direct speech to Indirect speech or vice versa?

When changing direct speech to indirect speech, you can follow these rules: 

 

Remove quotation marks

Remove any quotation marks that are around the direct speech. 

 

Change tense

If the direct speech is in the present tense, change it to the past tense. If the direct speech is in the simple past tense, change the verb to past perfect. If the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, the tense doesn't change. 

 

Use pronouns

Use an appropriate pronoun for the subject and object. For example, "He will say to his friends, 'I have started learning arts'" becomes "He will tell his friends that he has started learning arts". 

 

Add "asked me"

If the direct speech is a question or request, add "asked me" to indicate that you are reporting it. 

 

Keep the question word

When changing a direct question to indirect speech, keep the question word. 

 

Use reporting verbs

Use reporting verbs like "say", "tell", and "ask". 

 

Use a suitable verb

If the direct speech is a request or order, change the reporting verb to a suitable verb like "ordered", "requested", or "advised". 

 

Change to an infinitive

If the direct speech is a request or order, change the reporting verb to an infinitive. 

 

7. What's the differences between Direct Speech and Indirect Speech?

The main difference between direct speech and indirect speech is that direct speech repeats the exact words spoken, while indirect speech does not: 

 

Direct speech

Repeats the exact words spoken by someone, often using quotation marks to indicate the speaker's words. For example, "John said, 'it is snowing outside'". 

 

Indirect speech

Reports what someone said without using their exact words, often with changes in tense, pronouns, and word order. For example, "She said that she had seen him". 

 

Direct speech is used to report something that's being said now, or to tell someone later about a previous conversation. Indirect speech is usually used to talk about the past. 

8. How reported speech is important w.r.t. academic application?

Reported speech is a common technique in academic writing that helps maintain the focus of a scene and is important for a few reasons: 

 

Paraphrasing

Reported speech is often a paraphrase of what someone said, rather than the exact words. 

 

Brevity

Reported speech helps keep a scene brief and focused. 

 

Tense

In formal academic writing, reported speech often uses a reporting verb in the present simple tense. 

 

Rules for reporting questions

When reporting a question, you need to change it into a statement. For example, "Do you have a lighter?" becomes "They asked me if I had a lighter". 

 

Here are some examples of reported speech: 

 

"The author of this book suggests that the real reason for the wildfires was human carelessness". 

 

"Nilu said she hadn't realized it was midnight". 

 

"The postman said that it would arrive that day". 

 

"Ram said that he had been upset the day before". 

 

"Rohan promised that he would tell me the next day". 

 

"The Tapan said that it had happened long before". 

9. Conclusions

Here are some things to consider when using reported speech in conclusions: 

 

Tense: In conclusions, different tenses are often used to distinguish between the proceedings and the conclusions. For example, the proceedings are often summarized in the past tense, while the conclusions are written in the present tense. 

 

Separation: To clearly distinguish between the proceedings and the conclusions, use a heading or subheading. 

 

Paraphrasing: Reported speech is a way of paraphrasing or summarizing what someone else said, rather than quoting their exact words. 

 

Backshift: In reported speech, the tense is often "further back" in the past than the original tense. This is called "backshift". 

 

Pronouns: Pronouns may need to be changed in reported speech. 

 

Noun clauses: Noun clauses are often used in reported speech. 

 

Requests: Requests for objects are reported using the pattern "asked for" + object. 

 

10 FAQs

References