Ten rules of Passage Narration

10 Rules of Passage Narration

Passage Narration means a short passage of conversation between two persons in the form of direct speeches. There are some different rules of changing passage narration from direct speeches to indirect speeches. This is 3rd lesson on Narration and its Changing Theory in which I will discuss over 10 rules of changing speeches in a passage. 

In our academic exams such as J.S.C, S.S.C, and H.S.C, we are to change a passage narration. So, undoubtedly, we have to give

importance on this lesson in order to do better in those exams. I will show you the complete 10 rules and techniques of changing passage narration in the easiest way here. 

But before that, you must have the basic knowledge on Narration that I have discussed before on my previous lessons on narration. If you have not read those lessons, you should go back there and read those first. On the lesson Narration and its Changing Theory-1, I have discussed on the basic parts of narration and changing structures. Likewise, on the lesson Narration and its Changing Theory-2, I have discussed on the variations of changing patterns following 5 kinds of sentences.

So, now I would like to start my discussion on passage narration. For this, at first I want to give an example of passage narration here. 

“You have lost my new bag today. Why have you gone outside leaving it then?”, asked the Master. “By Allah, I went outside for drinking a glass of water sir”, said the Servant. “you could go after my coming. You could wait for someone else. Now pay for the bag.” “Yes, I am guilty for my carelessness but now I have no money”, cried the servant.

It is a sample of the question patterns of passage narration. It is a little different form the sentence narration. Here, you have to understand the speeches and its speaker individually. Don’t worry, you can do it easily through regular practice. Because, the forms of persons, tenses, adverbials, and sentence structures are similar to the methods of sentence narration. You will just notice some different aspects in passage narrations. 


Now, I will explain 10 rules step by step of changing passage narration with examples and explanation. 

10 Rules of Changing Passage Narration

Rule-01:
Read the passage narration from first to last and try to understand the speakers and their speeches. You have to differentiate each speech and its speaker. You may not get the name of speaker in each speech. But observing the context of speeches, you have to mark that. 

Example and Explanation:

“You have lost my new bag today. Why have you gone outside leaving it then?”, asked the Master. “I went outside for drinking a glass of water sir”, said the Servant. “But you could go after my coming. Now pay for the bag.” “Yes, I am guilty for my carelessness but now I have no money”, replied the servant.

In this passage, notice the sentences “But you could go after my coming. Now pay for the bag.” And you will get that there is no speaker mentioned after the speeches. But because of context, we get that it is the speeches of the master. 

Rule-02:
You have to write the name of speaker and listener of each speech before the speech during changing. In question, you may not get the name with each sentence and you may get the name of speaker at first or last. But during the changing into indirect, you have to put the name of speaker and listener at first. 

Example and Explanation:

Direct: “I have called you today. Were you so much busy?”, he said. “I was busy with some official works”, said I.

Indirect: He said to me that he had called me that day. He asked me if I was so much busy. I replied that I had been busy with some official works. 

So, you have seen that I have mentioned the name of speaker and listener before each sentence and though it is not mentioned before each speech in direct passage. Yes, it is your duty to put the part reporting verb before each speech in the passage. 

Rule-03:  
You will mention the name of both speaker and listener for the first time. Next, you have to address them by pronoun word such as: “he, she, and they,”. If the pronoun of the two persons become same, you will mark the pronoun words with the first alphabet in a bracket after it such as: “He (M)/ He (S)”. but if there is the name mentioned after any speech, you will also mention the name again. 

Example and Explanation:

Direct: “You have lost my new bag today. Why have you gone outside leaving it then?”, asked the Master. “I went outside for drinking a glass of water sir”, said the Servant.

Indirect: The master told the servant that he(S) had lost his (M) new bag that day. He (M) asked him (S) why he(S) had gone outside leaving it then. The Servant respectfully replied that he(S) had gone outside for drinking a glass of water. 

So, you have seen that I have mentioned the name of speaker and listener for the first time. Then, I have mentioned them with pronoun words and marker: He (M) or He(S). Here, I have used the word ‘respectfully’ for the word ‘sir’. 

Rule-04:
In passage, if there are two or more sentences of the same speaker together, you have to use the expression: “said to/told” for the first speech. But for the second speech, you will use the expression: “again said/told/asked, added, and further said/told/asked”. But remember, if the sentences are of similar categories, you will do it. If one sentence is assertive and another one is interrogative or imperative, you need not apply this method. 

Example and Explanation:

Direct: “You have selected the boy for the job. You will take his responsibility from now”, said the Officer.

Indirect: The officer said to me that I had selected the boy for the job. He again said that I would take his responsibility from then. 

Here, the speaker ‘the officer’ has spoken for two times and the sentence category of these two sentences is assertive. So, I have used the expression ‘again said’ before the second speech. 

Rule-05: 
There are some certain words or phrases in direct speeches which will be changed in indirect speeches. Now, I will show you a chart of those phrases. Here it is: 

Forms in Direct Speech	Forms in Indirect Speech
Sir	Respectfully said/asked…….
Yes	Replied in the affirmative that……
No	Replied in the negative that……
Thanks	Subject+ thanked+ object
Good morning/evening/night	Subject+ wished+ object+ good morning/evening/night
Good bye	Subject+ bade+ object+ good bye
By Allah/God/Jove/my life..	Swearing by by Allah/God/Jove/my life..
Ok	Subject+ agreed that……
Hello/hi	Subject+ greeted that…
Replied/asked/cried/uttered/muttered	No change

Examples: 
Direct: The boy said, “Sir, I will attend the classes regularly.” 
Indirect: The boy respectfully said that he would attend the classes regularly. 

Direct: You said, “Yes, it is my lost bag.” 
Indirect: You said in the affirmative that it was your lost bag. 

Direct: He said to me, “No, I cannot help you now.” 
Indirect: He said to me in the negative that he could not help me then. 

Direct: You said to me, “Thanks, you have done the job.” 
Indirect: You thanked me and said that I had done the job. 

Direct: He said to you, “Good morning, how are you?” 
Indirect: He wished you good morning and asked how you were. 

Direct: He said to me, “Good bye, meet me tomorrow” 
Indirect: He bade me good bye and told to meet him the next day. 

Direct: She said to me, “By Allah, I will meet you.” 
Indirect: Swearing by Allah he said to me that he would meet me. 

Direct: Rajib said to me, “Ok, I am going there now.” 
Indirect: Rajib agreed with me and said that he was going there then. 

Direct: He said to her, “Hello, how are you?” 
Indirect: He greeted her and asked how she was. 

Direct: He uttered silently, “No one is here now.” 
Indirect: He uttered silently that no one was there then. 

Rule-06:

If there is any addressing word in a sentence such as

“friend/father/brother/sister/mother/king/comrades/viewers”, you will use a different structure during changing into indirect. Here is the structure: 

Addressing+ object+ as+ friend+ subject+ verb………………. 

Addressing+ object+ as+ friend+ subject+ verb………………. 

Example: 
Direct: He said to me, “Friend, give me this book for reading.” 
Indirect: Addressing me as friend he told me to give him that book for reading.

Rule-07:

If there is any phrase out of inverted commas (“ ”), you will not change it. You will rewrite the same form of phrase at the beginning of the reporting verb of indirect speech. 

See the example: 

Direct: He said to me moving beside the Indian boarder, “I am visiting the historical place.” 
Indirect: Moving beside the Indian boarder, He said to me that he was visiting the historical place.

Rule-08:

 If there is a name of a person in the speech and inverted commas (“ ”), you will use that name in reporting verb during changing the speech. 

Example: 
Direct: He said, “Where are you going Robin?” 
Indirect: He asked Robin where he was going.

Rule-09:

If the sentence in inverted commas (“ ”), is in assertive but with an interrogation sign (?) at last, you will use the expression: “Being surprised” at the beginning of indirect speech. Besides, you have to transform the direct speech into indirect following the structure of interrogative sentence. 

Example: 
Direct: He said to me, “You know where he lives now?” 
Indirect: Being surprised, he asked me if I knew where he lived then.

Rule-10:
Sometimes, we do not get any object of reporting verb in direct speech. In that case, we can use the expression: “the person spoken to…” or “me” as the object of reporting verb in indirect speech. 

Example: 
Direct: He said, “I will tell you the incident tomorrow.” 
Indirect: He said to the person spoken to that he would tell him the incident the next day. 
Or, 
Indirect: He said to me that he would tell him the incident the next day.

Now see the example of a passage narration and its transformation from direct to indirect. 

Direct: “You have lost my new bag today. Why have you gone outside leaving it then?”, asked the Master. “By Allah, I went outside for drinking a glass of water sir”, said the Servant. “you could go after my coming. You could wait for someone else. Now pay for the bag.” “Yes, I am guilty for my carelessness but now I have no money”, cried the servant.

Indirect: The Master said to the Servant that he(S) had lost his(M) new bag that day. He(M) asked him(S) why he(S) had gone outside leaving it then. Swearing by Allah, the servant respectfully replied that he(S) had gone outside for drinking a glass of water. He(M) said to him(S) that he(S) could go after his(M) coming. He(M) again said that he(S) could wait for someone else. He(M) ordered him(S) to pay for the bag then. The servant cried and said in the affirmative that he(S) was guilty for his(S) carelessness but then he(S) had no money. 


Explanation: 
Here, the first two sentences “You have lost my new bag today. Why have you gone outside leaving it then?” are spoken by the speaker ‘The Master’. So, before the both sentences, I have mentioned the name of speaker ‘master’ and listener ‘servant’ in reporting verb. The 1st sentence is an assertive sentence. So, I have used the verb ‘told’. But the 2nd sentence is interrogative. So, I have used the verb ‘asked’. After that, I have used the phrases ‘Swearing by Allah’ for the part ‘By Allah’ and ‘respectfully’ for the word ‘sir’. 


Besides, I have used the verb ‘replied’ here because the servant is answering the question of the master. Then, there are 3 sentences without mentioning the name of speaker before or after. But from the conversation and its context, we can assume that these speeches are spoken by the master. Among these 3 sentences, the first 2 sentences are in assertive but the last one is in imperative. So, I have used the verb ‘again said’ in second speech. Finally, there is a sentence-“Yes, I am guilty for my carelessness but now I have no money” told by the servant. As there is the name of speaker mentioned, I have used the name also. The word ‘cried’ is unchanged. The expression ‘said in the affirmative’ is used for the word ‘yes’. 


You have noticed that throughout the whole passage, I have used the pronoun form ‘he’ for the subject and I have put the marker (M) or (S) after the pronoun. The other elements of reported speeches such as persons, tenses of verbs, and adverbials have been changed according to the general rules following the structure of sentence categories such as assertive, interrogative, and imperative. You have to remember and notice all the things I have explained here. 

There is nothing more to discuss on the changing strategies of passage narration. You can successfully change any passage narration in your exams following these 10 rules properly. So, study these rules and prepare your lesson of Passage Narration. 

Thank you very much.

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10 rules of Passage Narration

Narration Changing Theory Part-01

Narration Changing Theory Part-02

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