Direct to Indirect Speech

★Speech/ Narration: Speech is the process of describing a story to an audience. Direct to Indirect speech happens when we report narrated speech to someone in our own words.

Speeches are narrated in two ways:

1- Direct Speech: When someone narrates a commentary using the exact words of the speaker.

ex: Sayed said, "I'm teaching English online."

2- Indirect Speech: When someone narrates a commentary of the speaker in his own words.

ex: Sayed said to her that he was teaching English online.

In the above example of Direct Speech, the narrator said what Sayed exactly said but in the example of Indirect Speech the narrator said Sayed's commentary in his own words.

★Basic structures of direct speech:

To change direct speech into indirect, one must have a clear sense of the basic structures of direct speech. Here, I'm trying to show some basic structure of direct speech.

(ⅰ)- Reporting Speech(,) + "Reported Speech"

ex: Saif said to me, "Where do you live?"

(ⅱ)- "Reported Speech" + Reporting Speech.

ex: "Do you say your prayer?" Alif said.

Structures of Reporting Speech:

(ⅰ)- sub(Speaker) + Reporting verb(say, said, replied, etc)

ex: Alex said

(ⅱ)- sub(Speaker) + Reporting verb + to + obj(Listener) 

ex: Halena said to John

(ⅲ)- Reporting verb + Obj(Speaker)

ex: Said Halena

note: Reported speeches are always placed in Inverted Comma.

★The basic structure of Indirect Speech:

To make changes direct to indirect speech, one needs to know the basic structure of indirect speech in every step.

(ⅰ)- Sub(speaker) + Rep. verb + obj(listener) + conjunction + sub + verb + obj (.)

ex: Pitter asked me if  I was ill.

note: This structure may not be used as the same in all respects.

★Basic rules of Direct Speech to Indirect Speech:

I'll change the form of speech by following five steps:

Indirect structure: sub + R.v + obj + conj + sub + verb + obj (.)

step-1: Subject and Object

step-2: Reporting verb and Conjunction

step-3: Subject

step-4: verb

step-5: object

Step-1: We have to analyze the direct speech and try to find out the speaker and listener of the Reported Speech. Then the subject will follow the speaker and the object will follow the listener.

Step-2: Read the reported speech and make it clear what sentence has been used there. Then Reporting verb and Conjunction will be used according to the sentence of the reported speech.

★Direct Narration to Indirect Narration (Sentences)

 Step-3: At first, we've to analyze the subject used in the reported speech.

-If the subject is 1st person, we'll use the subject according to the speaker, 

-If the subject is 2nd person, we'll use the subject according to the listener,

-If the subject is 3rd person, there will be no change.

note: Subject in the indirect speech will be used in pronoun form.

Step-4: Read the reported speech and try to understand what tense is used in the direct speech. Then tense will be used in the indirect speech according to some narration changing rules.

★Direct to Indirect Speech (Tenses)

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Present Indefinite	Past Indefinite
Present Continuous	Past Continuous
Present Perfect	Past Perfect
Present P. Continuous	Past P. Continuous
Past Indefinite	Past Perfect
Past Continuous	Past P. Continuous
Past Perfect	Past Perfect
Past P. Continuous	Past P. Continuous
Future tense	Future in Past
Shall/will/can/may	Should/would/could/might
Should/would/could/might	Should/would/could/might

Step-5: At last, we have to find out whether there have any pronouns or changeable words in the reported speech. If there have, we have to change them according to some narration changing rules. Otherwise, there has been no change.

★Forms of Personal Pronoun:

Subjective	Possessive Adjective	Objective	Possessive Pronoun
I	My	Me	Mine
We	Our	Us	Ours
You	Your	You	Yours
He	His	Him	His
She	Her	Her	Hers
They	Their	Them	Theirs
It	its	it	its

★Changeable Words:

Direct Narration	Indirect Narration
This	That
These	Those
Here	There
Come	Go
Ago	Before
Now	Then
Today	That day
Tonight	That night
Tomorrow	The following day
Next week	The following week
Next year	The following Year
Yesterday	The Previous day
Last night	The previous night
Last week	The previous week
Last month	The previous month

Exercise: (Practice yourself then match with the following answer)

1. Rajon says, "I am sick."
2. " The earth moves around the Sun, "The scientist said,
3. " I will do my best," Kamal said.
4. Sabbir said to me,  "I met with you yesterday."
5. " I did not explain the matter," John said to me.
6. Mitu said, "That is mine."
7. Saed said to me, "Are you busy now?"
8. Nipa said to Rahul, "Where are you going?"
9. He asked, "What happened last night?"
10. Tarannum said to her, "Did you come to our house yesterday?"
11. Fahim said to her, "Have you had your breakfast?"
12. Munni said to me, "you look sick, don't you?"
13. "Don't make a laugh loudly," the teacher said.
14. The mother said to the son, "Go home at once."
15. Pitter said to me, "Follow the instructions as I tell you"
16. Mamun said. "Please don't talk with me."
17. He said to me, "Let's go a long drive"
18. Rafi said, "Let him do the work"
19. "Either play well or lose the match," my uncle said to me.
20. The bagger said to me, "May Allah be your side."
21. They said, "Long live our Prime Minister."
22. Konka said, "How beautiful the baby is!
23. "What an interesting man Nazrul is!" Said the man.
24. Tanvir said, "Alas! he is no more,"
25. Tuhin said, "What a good idea!"

Exercise (Advanced):

1. Shima said, "Yes, sir, I have completed my assignment."
2. The receptionist said to the client, "Sir, Thank you."
3. Tanim said to me, "Good morning."
4. Mamun said, "Goodbye, Priya."
5. He said, "I'm very lucky today, friends."
6. She said to me, "By my mother, I'll never hurt you again."

Direct to Indirect Speech (Answer):

1. Rajon Says that he is sick.
2. The scientist said that the earth moves around the Sun.
   
3. Kamal said that he would do his best.
4. Sabbir told me that he had met with me the previous day.
5. John told me that he had not explained the matter. 
6. Mitu said that it was her,
7. Saed asked me if I was busy then,
8. Nipa asked Rahul where he was going.
9. He asked what had happened the previous night.
10. Tarannum asked her if she(h) had gone to their house the previous day.
11. Fahim asked her if she had had her breakfast.
12. Munni asked me if I looked sick and hoped that I did.
13. The teacher ordered not to make a laugh loudly.
14. The mother ordered the son to go home at once.
15. Pitter ordered me to follow the instructions as he told me.
16. Mamun requested not to talk with him.
17. He proposed to me that we should go a long drive.
18. Rafi said that he might do the work.
19. My uncle advised me either to play well or to lose the match.
20. The bagger prayed that Allah might be my side.
21. They wished that their Prime Minister might long live.
22. Konka Exclaimed with joy that the baby was very beautiful.
23. The man wondered that Nazrul was a very interesting man.
24. Tanvir exclaimed with sorrow that he was no more.
25. Tuhin exclaimed with joy that it was a very good idea.

Answer (Advanced):

1. Shima politely replied in the affirmative and said that she had completed her assignment.
2. The receptionist politely thanked the client.
3. Tanim wished me good morning.
4. Mamun bade Priya goodbye.
5. Addressing as friends, he said that he was very lucky that day.
6. Swearing by her mother, she told me that she would never hurt me again.

note: Actually, changing narration is a big part of English grammar. Here we have to apply grammatical rules in almost every word. So, to learn the process of direct to indirect speech, we've to practice it as much as possible. In this post, I have just tried to focus on the essential rules of changing narration that will make narration easier for you. 

Sentence Structure in English

We express our feelings through different kinds of Sentences. To make better communication one has to know basic sentence structure in English.

Sentence: A sentence is a set of words that stands one after one by following grammatical rules and then makes a meaningful sense, usually contains at least a subject and a verb,

Types of Sentences (as meaning or functioning)

There are five types of sentences in English according to the meaning.

1. Assertive/Declarative sentence
2. Interrogative/Question sentence
3. Imperative/Directive sentence
4. Optative/Wishes sentence
5. Exclamatory/Exclamatives sentence

Basic Sentence Structure in English:

Subject + verb + complement/modifier/extension/object(.)

✯ Assertive Sentence:

 A sentence that makes a regular or general statement is called an Assertive Sentence.

Sentence Structure:

Affirmative Structure:
(ⅰ) Subject + verb +Object/compliment(.)
Ex: Sabrina is writing a letter.

note: Here subject may take one or more words and the verb look like a.v+m,v/a.v/m,v, and the object may also take one or more words.

Negative Structure: 
(ⅰ)-  subject + to be verb + not + object/extension (.)
 ex: I am not a liar.

(ⅱ)- subject + to have verb + no/not +object/extension (.)

 ex-1: I have no money.

 ex-2: He had not any cultivable land. 

(ⅲ)-subject + to do verb + not + m.v(base form) + object/ extension (.)
ex: Sabrina doesn't make this fault.

(ⅳ)-subject+ modal A.V + not + m.v(base form) + object/extension (.)
 ex: We should not tell a lie. 

✯ Interrogative Sentence:

A sentence by which one's asks questions about anything is called Interrogative Sentence.

Sentence Structure:

Affirmative Structure(basic):
(ⅰ)- A.v + sub + extension (?)
 ex: Is he a brilliant student? 

(ⅱ)-Wh-words + A,v + sub + extension (?)
 ex: What are you doing now?

Wh-words/question words (What, Who, whom, when, where, how, why, which, whose)

Affirmative Structure(advance):
(ⅰ)- a.v +subject + verb....? (yes/no questions)
 ex: Have you seen this movie before?

(ⅱ)-who/what + verb + compliment + modifier...? (Information questions)
 ex: What happened last night?

(ⅲ)-whom/what + a,v + sub + verb + modifier....? (Information questions)

ex: What did John buy at the shop?

(ⅳ)-when/where/how/why + a.v + sub + verb....? (Information question)

 ex: Where has Henry gone?

(ⅴ)-statement(affir.).....(,) + A.v+not(short) + subject(pronoun)..? (tag questions)

ex: Maria should stay in bed, shouldn't she?

ⅵ)-statement(neg)......(,) + a.v + subject(pronoun)...? (tag questions)

ex: The girls don't have meeting tomorrow, do they?

Exceptional structure:
(ⅰ)- sub + verb + question word + subject +verb + obj...(Embedded question)
 ex: The authorities cannot figure out why the plane landed at the airport. 

(ⅱ)- A.v + subject + verb + question word + sub + verb...? (Embedded question)
 ex: Do you know where he went?

Negative Structure:
(ⅰ)- A.v + subject + not +.......(?)
ex: Am I not responsible for this?

(ⅱ)- A,v + not(short) + subject +....(?)
ex: Ain't I responsible for this?

✯ Imperative Sentence:

A sentence that expresses order, advice, request, proposal, forbidden, etc. is called an Imperative sentence.

Sentence Structure:

Affirmative Structure:
(ⅰ)- Verb(base) + extension . (in case of subject 2nd person)
ex: Call in a doctor.

(ⅱ)- Please/kindly/never/always + verb(base) + extension (.)
ex: Never tell a lie.

note: Here "you" remain silent.

(ⅲ)- Let + sub('pronoun' objective form) + verb + object. (in case of sub. 1st & 3rd person)

ex: Let me help you.

(iv)- Let + noun + verb + object(.)

ex: Let John play the music.

Negative Structure:

(ⅳ)- Don't + verb(base) + extension (.)
ex: Don't smoke in a public place.

(ⅴ)- let + subject(pronoun) + not + verb + object (.)
ex: Let them not smoke in public place.

(vi)- let + not + subject(noun) + verb +object (.)
ex: Let not John misbehave with others.

✯ Optative Sentence:

A sentence that expresses the speaker's wish, prayer, or blessing is called an Optative Sentence.

Sentence Structure:

(i)- may + sub + verb + extension (.)

ex: May Allah fulfil your desire.

✯ Exclamatory Sentence:

A sentence that expresses the speaker's sudden emotion, surprise, pleasure, delight, sorrow, pain, etc. is called Exclamatory Sentence.

Sentence Structure:

(ⅰ)- How + adjective/adverb + sub + verb (!)
ex: How high the mountain is!

(ⅱ)- What + a/an(as article) + adj + noun + subject + verb (!)
ex: What a great scholar it is!
ex-ii: What an excellent idea it was!

(ⅲ)- Interjection (!) + subject + verb + extension (.)
ex: Fie! He wastes his time idly.

Interjection: (bravo, alas, hurrah, oh, oh no, fie, lol, omg, haha, hey, ouch, )

(ⅳ)- If/had/were/would that/could + sub + verb(v2) +extension (!)
ex: Would that I could be a scientist like Einstein's!
ex-ii: If I were(sub. singular or plural) a child again!

Sentence Structure in English

Types of Sentences (as structure)

There are three kinds of Sentences in English according to the structure.

1. Simple Sentence
2. Compound Sentence
3. Complex Sentence

Additional types of sentences as structure:

1. Compound-complex Sentence
2. Fragment Sentence

Note: To Understand Sentences as structure clearly one must have basic knowledge of the Clause.

✯ Simple Sentence:

The sentence having only one subject and one finite verb is called a Simple Sentence. And there have also been non-finite verbs more than one.

Sentence Structure:

(ⅰ)- Sub + verb + Complement.

ex: I read the book.

(ⅱ)-sub + verb + complement + non-finite verb

ex: The question is easy enough for anybody to answer.

✯Compound Sentence:

A Compound Sentence is composed of at least two simple sentences that have at least two Co-ordinate clauses(independent) joined with Co-ordinating Conjunction. Here, every clause is independent and has one subject and one fInite verb.

Sentence Structure:

(ⅰ)- Co-ordinate clause + Coordinating Conjunction + Co-ordinate clause

ex: The girl is very innocent and she believes anyone.

Coordinating Conjunction (and, or, but, as well as, either...or, neither...nor, both...and, etc) 

✯Complex Sentence:

A Complex Sentence is composed of at least two simple sentences that have at least two clauses,  one is the Principal clause(independent) other is a Subordinate clause(dependent). Here, Subordinate clauses depend on the Principal clause to express clear meaning. Both clauses have one subject and one finite verb and they are joined with Subordinating Conjunction.

Sentence Structure:

(I)- Principal clause + Subordinating Conjunction + Subordinate Clause.
ex: People respect him as he is honest.

(ⅱ)- Subordinating Conjunction + Subordinate Clause(,) + Principal Clause
ex: As he is honest(,) people respect him.

Subordinating Conjunction (who, what, when, where, why, how, whom, while, except, though, although, as, since, if, before, after, as soon as, as long as, unless, so that, etc)

✯Compound-complex Sentence:

A sentence comprising of minimum's one subordinate(dependent) clause and more than one Principal(independent) clause is called a Compound-complex sentence.

Ex: The fox lived in the forest, but the cat, who was clever, lived inside the house.

✯Fragment Sentence:

A group of words with no independent clause is called a Sentence Fragment.

ex: What a fool!

List of Basic English Grammars.

Tense Structure in English

The idea of tense structure in English is a technique that we use to indicate time-present, past, or future. The proper knowledge of the tense structure in English helps one to make a meaningful and grammatically accurate sentence.

Normal sentence pattern in English:

  ★Subject+Verb+Object/Compliment

The main and compulsory part of a sentence is the verb. And Verbs are used by maintaining the rules of tense. In a sentence structure, we find verbs in various forms and formats which mainly depend on tense. Like,

      ✶ Auxiliary verb + main verb (I am reading a book)

      ✶Main verb (I read regularly)

      ✶A.v/m.v ( I have a book)

  ✦Tense Structure in English (Active voice)

	Indefinite	Continuous
Present	Subject+v1(present)	Sub+am/is/are+v(ing)
Past	Sub+v2 (Past)	Sub+was/were+v(ing)
Future	Sub+shall/will+v1	Sub+shall be/will be(ing)

note: Alternative name

    Present Indefinite/Simple Present

    Present Continuous/Present Progressive

 ✦Tense structure in English (active voice)

	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Present	Sub+have/has+v3(past participle)	Sub+have been/has been+(ing)
Past	Sub+had+v3	Sub+had been+v(ing)
Future	Sub+shall have/will have+v3	Sub+shall have been+will have been+v(ing)

Note: Present Indefinite tense+ subject 3rd person and singular = verb(s/es)

 ✦Tense Structure in English (passive voice)

	Indefinite	Continuous	Perfect
Present	am/is/are+v3	am being/is being/are being+v3	have been/has been+v3
Past	was/were+v3	was being/were being+v3	had been+v3
Future	shall be/will be+v3	shall be being/will be being+v3	shall have been+will have been+v3

Reading method:

 (1)  Present Indefinite tense- sub+v1 

       Past Indefinite Tense- sub+v2

       future Indefinite tense- Sub+shall/will +v1

( 2)  sub+v1 - Present Indefinite

       sub+v2-   Past Indefinite

       sub+shall/will - Future Indefinite

Note; Select one column and then memorize the above-mentioned method.

Here are some Auxiliary verbs that indicate the same tense and same meaning. Then how can we use them? Basically, we know the uses of verbs are influenced by the Number and Person of the subject. Well, let's see.

✶am, is, are:

- I+am  ex, I am

 - subject(singular)+is   ex, He is,she is

 - subject(plural)+are    ex. You are, they are

✶was/ were:

-subject(singular)+was   ex. I was. he was

- subject(plural)+were    ex. They were

✶shall, will:

- I+shall ex. I shall, I will(emphasize on the subject)

- subject(others)+will   ex. we will. you will

✶have, has:-

-Subject(1st person+2nd person+3rd person plural)+have

 ex. I have, we have, you have, they have

- subject (3rd person singular)+has  

 ex. He has, it has

✦Practical use of tense structures in English:

Tense	Situation	Example
Present Indefinite	1- a present state of affairs	1- My brother lives in New York.
	2-things in general	2-  sun rises in the east.
	3-habituated action	3- I recite Quran in the morning.
	4-for native verbs	4- Your cough sounds bad.
Present Continuous	1-the specific action that is             occurring	1-John is watching TV.
	2-to indicate future time	2- Himel is leaving for India tomorrow.
Present Perfect	1-an action that has recently          occurred	1- He’s just gone to sleep.
	2-an action that starts in the         past and continues up to the       present	2-I’ve been here since Saturday.
	3-an action that happened before now.	3-I’ve failed my driver’s test twice.
Present P. continuous	1-an action that starts in the past and continues presently	1- Sabrina has been studying for two years.
	2- an action repeated over a period of time in the past and continue in the present	2-  Shojib has been playing the guitar since he was 13.
Past Indefinite	1- an action or a state that began and ended at a        specified time in the past.	1-I was very shy in high school.
	2- an action that happened over a period of time but was performed in the past	2- I worked in advertising for 10 years.
	3-an activity that happened usually in the past	3-we walked every morning before class.
Past Continuous	1-a continuous state or repeated action in the past	1-I was meeting lots of people at that time.
Past Perfect	1-a past act that occurred before another past act	1-Tom went home after he had gone to the store.
	2-an action that continued for a time in the past but ended before now.	2-Masud had lived in Chittagong for ten years before he moved to Dhaka.
Past Per. Continuous	1- a continuous action that occurred before another action	1- We had been playing Cricket before the storm broke.
	2 - a continuous action that was expected to occur in the past	2-I had been supposing his change in trip dates.
Future Indefinite	1- prediction an event that is likely to happen in the future	1- You will pass the exam.
	2- indicating a willingness to do  something	2- I’ll go to the doctor.
Future Continuous	1- an action that will be ongoing at a fixed time in the future	1- At noon tomorrow, I’ll be taking the children to their English class.
	2- future operations that have already been selected	2- I’ll be participating in law college for the next five years.
Future perfect	1- An act that will be  performed before a fixed     time in the future	1- By next June, my parents will have been married for 40 years.
Future P. Continuous	1- An action highlighting the period of time that has happened before a particular time in the future	1- By December, my father will have been working at the same job for 20 years.

 Words that indicate a fixed tense structure. 

★Present Indefinite- (always, everyday, normally, sometimes, often, frequently, occasionally, regularly, daily, generally, etc,)

 ex: I say my prayer regularly. 

 ★Present Continuous- (at this moment, at this time, day by day, currently, gradually, right now, at present) 

 ex; He is improving his spoken English gradually.

★Present Perfect- (already, ever, just, just now, recently, yet, lately, so far, often) 

ex: Abir has already been addicted to smoking.

★Past Indefinite- (yesterday, ago, last day, last night, last year, last month, last, etc) 

ex: I gave you ten lac taka last year.

★past continuous- (at that time, at that moment, at that period)

ex: I was writing a poem at that moment.

Additional Rules of Tenses:

• Sub + am/is/are/have/has + object/complement-- Present Indefinite

ex: I have dream to be a writer. 

• Sub + was/were/had + object/complement-- Past Indefinite

ex:  I had a wonderful proffesion. 

List of Basic English Grammars.