NARRATION --- CHANGE OF INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES FROM DIRECT FORM TO INDIRECT FORM - EXPLANATION WITH EXAMPLES

NARRATION

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

In Direct form of Narration, words spoken by the speaker are expressed in the same way as these are said and are written within inverted commas but in Indirect form of speech these are expressed in simpler and changed form and inverted commas are not used for this. Different types of sentences are treated for change of direct to indirect form of speech or vice versa in different ways. These are detailed here under. 

Sentences in English language are generally of following types :

 Simple or Assertive Sentences: These sentences are in Present, Past or Future tenses and end with a sign of full-stop. These are used for conveying positive (or negative also)  information e.g. He is my neighbour. I shall not go to the market today. You did not make any mistake. etc.

Exclamatory Sentences: These sentences express feelings of happiness,sadness,surprise or a wish etc. e.g. Hurrah ! I have won the match. Alas! we lost the game. What a pretty child! etc.

Interrogative sentences : These sentences pose an enquiry about a thing or a subject etc. and end with a question mark sign. These sentences start with a helping verb like Do, Did, Does, Has Have Had, Will, Shall, Would, Should Can or Could etc.  &  Words like What, Why, Where, Who, Whose, Whom or Which etc.  

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

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.  

For a ready reference

First Person is   I   My Me   ....... Singular

                            We  Our Us  ....... Plural

Second Person   You Your You  ....  Singular and Plural

 Third Person    He  His  Him   ......... Singular (Male)    

                           She  Her  Her   ......... Singular (Female)  

                          They Their Them ......  Plural (Male & Female) 

The following simple sentence elucidates this point.
He said to me , " I gave you her purse."

In the reporting speech 'He' is third person singular, 'me' is first person singular and said is the past tense of verb 'say'. 

In the reported speech 'I' is first person singular, 'you' is second person singular, 'her' is third person singular and gave is the past tense of verb 'give'.

'I' will change according to the subject 'He' , 'You' will change according to object 'me' and 'her' will not change. ' Gave' will be 'had given'.The sentence in its indirect form will be:

He told me that he had given me her purse. 

Further  if the reporting speech is in present or future tenses the tense in the reported speech will not change e.g. He says, " I am innocent."

He is third person and I is first person. First person in reported speech will change according to subject 'He' and there will be 'that' in place of "  ". But as says in reporting speech is in present tense there will be no change in tense in reported speech. So.... He says that he is innocent. 

Similarly if reporting is in future tense, it will be;

He will say," I am innocent."    He will say that he is innocent.

But if the reporting speech is in past tense, tense in reported speech in indirect form will be as under:

First form of verb will be Second form of verb e.g. goes=went

Second form of verb will be Had + third form of verb e.g. went = had gone

    

For example :

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

'You' is second person. It will change according to object 'me'. 

'My' is First person It will change according to Subject 'He'. 

'Her' is third person It will not change.

 He asked me if I would convey his message to her.

Interrogative sentences are of two types.

A. First 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?" 

In such sentences, the sentence is changed to 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 ’. 

For example:

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 into 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. 

Now a 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.

Some more examples are :

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 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 '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 us. 

Yesterday = the previous day. So it 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.

B. The second  type of interrogative sentences are which start with words like – What,Which,Why,Who,Whose,Where,When,how and whom etc.

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.

The sentence written above will be in its assertive form as

"Where are you going?"=  where you are going. 

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

 'You' being second person will be changed according to object 'me' =I

I will be followed by 'was' in place of 'are'.

So the aforesaid sentence will be:

He asked me where I was going.

Here are a few similar sentences duly solved.

My mother said to her, “How do you feel now?”

My mother asked her how she felt then.

He said to me, " How old is your brother?" 

He asked  me how old my brother was.

She said to him, " How can I help your brother?"

She asked him how she could  help his brother.

She said to the stranger, “Who are you?”

She asked the stranger who he was.

I said, “How long will you stay with us, Mathew?”

I asked  Mathew how long  he would stay with us.

She said to him, “Which is the book that my brother gave you?”

She asked him which  the  book was that her brother had given him.

He said  to me, “Where do you plan to go with your boss next week?”

He asked me where I planned to go with my boss next week.

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.

The policeman said to the thief, “What are you doing here?”

The police asked the thief what he was doing there.

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.

Note Also view chapter of subsequent posts to have better understanding of the topic.

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