Change in the Mode of Narration, or, Narration Change
Hello Friends...
Sure, we all are doing well... Be careful, we must stay fit and shouldn't fall ill getting our studies affected. We shall eat and drink healthy, exercise regularly, and won't avoid our domestic and social responsibilities. And whatever time we get for ourselves at the end of the day, we must study hard for most of the time, so that we learn to think... and learn. We simply cannot afford to stop thinking, for we are learners, and we are the chosen ones who got the scope to learn...
Let's learn to think first...
Narration-change
Yes, today we are again going to dive deep into another whirlpool of grammar. Here we are going to discuss how to change the mode of narration. And certainly, as I do still remember it very clear how we used to feel in our classrooms with the teacher teaching 'narration-change' during our childhood days, I am in no way going to ask you about your own feelings.
I do see your frowned faces. Yes, your unasked question is quite predictable. But I can assure you that it is not just another classroom discussion being held here. Rather I intend this to be a session where I raise (and discuss) those questions which we ought to have raised in our classrooms long long ago.
Narration
Don't you feel that it's very crucial to know what 'narration' is before we learn how to change the mode of narration? What is your idea of 'narration' by the way? Would you please care to narrate?Yes, 'narration' refers to the act of telling,- telling something, or anything. You might also use the term 'describing'.
Change of Narration
What then we are supposed to do in the grammar classes meant for narration change? Should we alter the tale itself?
Not really. Actually we are asked to change the mode of narration, and not the narration itself. So, the tale, or the story remains intact. We just change the stance, or position of the speaker, or the narrator. Nothing else…
The Speakers,- Original And the Reporters
'Stance', or 'position' of the speaker… Does it sound too confusing? Well, we need to understand this, and a good understanding of this will help us to get out of the whirlpool we are diving deep into.
Let's suppose we are in a grammar classroom. Context is very important for understanding the meaning of grammar, and I do hope all of you will agree to this. Our teacher (A) asked me (B) a question and I failed to satisfy our teacher, and hence A warned me:
1. "You are not studying enough." [Quite a common experience for us all, huh?]
Now, as usual, at the end of the day, I returned home and mom, noticing my embarrassed face, asked me about it.
2. A warned me that I was not studying enough.- I replied to my mom and retired on the couch.
As you returned home, you got too eager to tell the incident to your mom: [She, sadly though, thinks me to be a better student than you… How am I to be blamed for this??!!! ]
3. A warned B that he was not studying enough.- You shouted to your mom as soon as you stepped on the stairs.
As A returned home, his/her mom noticed his upset look and inquired. [It's not as imaginary or as far-fetched as you think it to be.]
4. I warned B that he was not studying enough. -A sighed, and sat down on the chair...
Studying the Different Versions
So, now you have four versions of the same incident. Why don't you study the ways the same incident got presented each time? Would you like to make a list of the similarities and the differences? Do count the factors like the speaker, the listener, the nouns and pronouns used to refer to different people, the space, and of course, the time/tense.
A Comparison-table
You may draw a comparison-table if you think it might help:
Do you agree with the observation? Let me know, if you disagree at some point, or if you would like to add some more…
What about discussing our observations now?
Our Observations
Have you noted how the same story is being represented in different versions by different speakers? Each speaker represents a unique stance or position. It may very well happen in your life that you have to speak as A, or as me, apart from your own position, or stance. Nobody knows when you will be playing a different role other than yours… Situations keep changing all the time.
Direct Speech
Sometimes, you may be the original speaker narrating your own observations, or stories. Then your speech/narration is the ‘direct’ mode of speech/narration.
Indirect Speech
Sometimes, you retell the stories/observations/words of others in order to share them with others. [That’s what we do and enjoy mostly at a gossip table…] And we say that your mode of narration/speech is the ‘indirect’ mode.
The Speakers As Parties Involved, Or Somebody Else
When we use the direct mode of narration, we are the speakers among the parties [the speaker(s) and the listener(s)] involved. However, when we use indirect mode of narration/speech, we may be the listeners among the parties involved, or may be a complete third party altogether.
Did you ask the obvious questions? Why do we need to consider the listeners? We are the speakers, anyway... And what is meant by ‘third party’ here?
I can hear your questions ringing loud…
Let’s get back to our ‘stance’/ ‘position’ again…
The Stance of the Speaker And the Listener
When A was pointing out that I [B] was not studying enough, A and I were interacting together, or in other words, we were the parties involved in the incident/conversation. A was talking to me only, I mean A’s words were specifically meant for me, and me only. You heard A as you were there in the spot [classroom], but were not involved in the conversation/communication in any way. A was therefore the speaker, me the listener, and you were the third party in this case.
When I was talking to my mom, I was interacting with her only, though somebody present at the spot could have overheard me. Hence, even if somebody were there, they were certainly not included in the party. So, I was the speaker, mom the listener, and anybody present on the spot would have been the third party.
1’. "You are not studying enough"- These were the exact words of A, the original speaker, meant for me. The speech was his ‘direct’ speech.
2’. I, the reporter-speaker retold the words of A on my own, from my stance/position while replying to mom:
A warned me that I was not studying enough.
Please note I did not tamper the truth, I rather just rephrased A’s message as suitable to my position of being the listener in the incident I was referring to my mom. This is an ‘indirect’ speech.
3’. A warned B that he was not studying enough.-
Here you, another reporter-speaker, also rephrased the original words of A. And you were truthful as well. So, yours was also an indirect speech. But did your way of retelling the story resemble mine?
No? Why not?
How can the two ways of retelling be the same, by the way? They were told by different reporter-speakers with different positions. When I retold/reported the words of A, I reported as a party involved [being the direct listener], whereas you retold the same words as an uninvolved third party to the incident. Would you like to compare our ways of retelling/reporting the fact:
3’. A warned B that he was not studying enough.
Have you noted that when I used ‘me’, you used ‘B’ [my name], and when I used ‘I’, you used ‘he’ to refer to the same person, that is me. That’s how our positions [of being a party involved, or an uninvolved third party to the incident/fact we are talking about] determine our ways of reporting even when we both are using indirect speech.
Let’s now study the last version of the same story:
4’. I warned B that he was not studying enough.
Isn’t it interesting how A, a reporter-speaker now, reported his own words while speaking to his mom? While we [me and you] used ‘A’ in our speech, A used ‘I’ suiting his position as the speaker involved in the incident he was referring to. The rest of the nouns and pronouns are as you used in your indirect speech.
The Three Possible Versions of Reported Speeches
So, would you now agree if I say that indirect/reported speech may have three versions,- one of the speaker[s] involved in the original incident, one of the direct listener[s] involved in the original incident, and one of an uninvolved third party to the original incident who just happened to witness the incident?
The Variables
How do these versions vary? Just in the use of nouns and pronouns, and nothing else. You are to find out whether you are the speaker involved, or the listener involved, or just a third party uninvolved while reporting somebody else's speech. Then you decide the appropriate nouns and pronouns you need to use. You may stop for a little while here to get back to the table of comparison and study the use of nouns and pronouns by the speaker involved, listener involved, and third party uninvolved for a ready reference.
The Original [Direct] And the Reported [Indirect] Speech
Now, as you have paused for a while, and gone back to revise what you’ve studied this while, you’re very likely to come up with your next question: Why do we say that my speech, your speech, and A’s second speech are all ‘indirect’ when we all are actually speaking ‘directly' to some listeners? But do you forget that here, all of the speakers are just referring back to some 'original' speech of some other speaker? None of them are speaking on their own. Hence their speeches are 'indirect' though they are speaking [actually reporting] to some direct listeners.
The Quotation Marks
Whatever speech comes within quotation marks when written is ‘direct’ from the mouth of the speaker. When others rephrase/report the original speaker’s words suiting their positions [as we have already discussed], those are the ‘indirect’ modes of speech/narration, and go without any quotation mark. Why don’t you scroll up again to see which sentences/utterances/speeches from the set above [1’-4’] are quoted and which are not?
Reporting the Essence
Please do remember, that often we just refer to the essence of the speech instead of reporting every bit of it:
"Please come to my party. Don't miss by any means. You must come."
S/he earnestly invited me to her/his party.
Identifying a Speech in Real Life Situation
Is there another question ringing in your mind? How do we identify a speech as ‘direct’/'indirect’ while actually speaking out in the real world, beyond our grammar classes? Obviously, we don’t pronounce quotation marks…
You needn’t worry. It’s easier to identify from the context of your communication then. When you speak on your own, you use ‘direct’ speech, as you just did while asking the question. When you refer to things that others have said earlier, you use ‘indirect’ speech, like as you’ll be referring to what I have said here now to your friends. Is it really difficult?
Sometimes, you must have noted that even when we refer to what others have said earlier, we use the speakers’ exact words [direct speech], if we have a strong memory. Don’t you repeat the exact dialogues uttered by your favourite actor/actresses while telling your friends the story of the movie you’ve recently seen in such a manner? Do you find your friends getting confused whether those dialogues are your own words? Never, isn’t it? I told you, it’s always easy to identify direct/indirect speech from the context of communication.
Context of Speech
Would you like me to discuss this ‘context’ of speech, by the way? It’s nothing but the combination of space and time we studied in the table of comparison earlier.
Space
Space is important. Suppose your friend from some other bench called you:
Come here.
As you were leaving your seat, the one sitting next to you looked at you with inquisitive eyes. S/he was engaged with some task and didn’t notice that somebody else had called you. You choose to explain the reason:
S/he asked me to go there.
Do you notice the change in space? Your friend called you to his/her place [‘here’ for him/her]. For you, the same spot is ‘there’ till you reach there. The moment you reach the spot, it turns ‘here’ for you as well. Just imagine your teacher moving in when you are with your friend who had called you, and asking you the reason for not being at your own place. How would you explain then?
S/he asked me to come here.
Do you get the difference? Now, I would like you to identify these three above utterances as ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ based upon the context just to verify whether you’ve understood the differences or not.
And I’m pretty sure that you’ll also note how it is possible for the action/verb to get changed depending upon the space factor. Please knock me in the comment box below if you need some elaboration on this.
Time
Now, it’s time to discuss ‘time’. Would you please tell me what have you already noted in this regard from the given examples?Whenever we are the original speakers, we may speak about the past, present, or future. Isn’t it?-
5. You studied this discussion (up to this). [assertive sentence/statement, past]
6. Think about the discussion. [imperative sentence, present]
7. You shall have no problem with narration change again. [assertive sentence, future]
But, when we refer to others’ sayings, we actually refer to the past, because we can refer to others’ sayings only after the original speaker said them, and right? Let me just change the mode of narration of the three above sentences to show you how it works:
5’. I told you that you had studied this discussion (up to that sentence above).
6’. I advised you to think about the discussion.
7’. I told you that you should have no problem with narration change again.
Reporting Verbs
The Tense
The verbs of the main clauses in these sentences [known as the reporting verbs] are already underlined and italicised for your convenience of study. Have you noted that all of them are marked with past tense? This is because I am now referring to what I said before.
The Mood of the Original-Speaker
Now, we also need to remember that we as reporters, choose the reporting verbs to suit the mood of the speaker which otherwise may not be perceptible for the new listeners. Depending upon the tone of the original speaker, a reporter may very well choose to use ‘commanded’, or ‘instructed’ instead of ‘advised’ to report the second example [6] from the above set. Shall we say then, that it is the context that determines the suitability of the reporting verb in the reported speech as well?
How the Tense Is Marked in the Subordinate Clause of Indirect Speech
And what about the tense marked by the verb in the subordinate clauses in these ‘indirect’ speeches [that are actually the main clauses in the ‘direct’ speeches]? These verbs are converted to their corresponding past form for the same reason that the original [direct] speeches are already past. So, if we have 'past perfect', or ‘simple past’, or ‘present perfect’ in the direct speech, you use the verb in the subordinate clause in the indirect speech in ‘past perfect’ form. Hence ‘studied’ becomes ‘had studied’ in the above set of examples. Similarly, we use ‘past perfect continuous’ in the subordinate clause in the indirect speech for 'past perfect continuous', or ‘past continuous’ or ‘present perfect continuous’ in the direct speech; and ‘simple past’ in the subordinate clause in the indirect speech for ‘simple present/future’ in the direct speech, and ‘past continuous’ in the subordinate clause in the indirect speech for ‘present/future continuous’ in the direct speech. Why don’t you note this down in tabular form if you feel this may be a bit hard to remember?
Or, you may visit the site to study it in further details before you make your own table/chart:
However, if you ask me, you don't need any table to remember this. Just try to remember that we are to use the corresponding past form of the verb phrase in the direct speech in the subordinate clause in the indirect speech, and you’ll be able to do your exercises.
The Exception
But, there’s a catch again. If the original speaker refers to some universal fact independent of time, we don’t change the tense while reporting:
Narration change is not very difficult to master. [Direct]
Your peer said that narration change is not very difficult to master. [Indirect]
Linkers
Are we now ready to discuss the linkers that connect the main clauses and the subordinate clauses in the indirect speeches?
These linkers are determined by the types of the utterances [sentences] we are reporting. Apart from the linkers, types of the utterances in the direct speeches also seem to influence our choice of the reporting verbs as well. That’s obvious, for the types of sentences often reflect the moods of the speakers, isn’t it?
'That' to Report Assertive Sentences
You must have noted that in most of the sentences we have used ‘that’ as the linker. While reporting statements/assertive sentences [the reporting verbs mostly used are ‘said’, ‘told’ etc.], we mostly use the linker ‘that’ to connect the main and the subordinate clauses.
'That' to Report Exclamatory Sentences
Same way, ‘that’ is also used while reporting exclamations [the most common reporting verb being ‘exclaimed’] apart from the ‘wh-linkers’.
'Wh-linkers', 'If', or 'Whether' to Report Questions
While reporting interrogative statements [the most common reporting verb being ‘asked’], we use the ‘wh-words’ as the linkers in case the question is a wh-question.
Else, we use ‘if’/‘whether’ when the question is not a wh-question.
'To', or 'For' to Report Imperative Sentences
Did you miss how we reported the imperative sentence earlier? Yes, we use ‘to’ to link the main and the subordinate clauses in cases of requests, instructions, commands. We also use ‘for’ while reporting prayers, and requests as well. [Would you like to guess the most common reporting verbs used for reporting imperative sentences from this very paragraph itself?]
Hands on
Now, you have to open your grammar books, and try the exercises. I do hope that you won’t find the exercises as horrifying as they seemed to be before. If you face any difficulty, you are always free to knock me in the comment box down there, and I’ll try my best to respond within 48 hours.
There are some links below in case you want to attempt some more exercises, or if you don’t find any grammar book on your racks:
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