Rules of Narration

Rule-1:

Direct Speech-এ Reporting Verb মাঝে অথবা শেষে থাকলে Indirect Speech-এ Reporting Verb বাক্যের একদম শুরুতে থাকবে। 

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
“Will you play football tomorrow?” I asked Atif.	I asked Atif if he would play football the next day.

 

Rule-2:

• দ্বিতীয় বা তৎপরবর্তী Reported Speech-কে Indirect করার সময়ে Assertive Sentence-এর ক্ষেত্রে “added/ further added/ also said/ again said” হবে।
• দ্বিতীয় বা তৎপরবর্তী Reported Speech-কে Indirect করার সময়ে Interrogative Sentence-এর ক্ষেত্রে “also asked/ further asked/ again asked” হবে।

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
The teacher said to me, “You can stop reading. You may read tomorrow”.	The teacher told me that I could stop reading then. He added that I might read the next day.

 

Rule-3(A):

Reported Speech-এ শুধু “Yes” দেয়া থাকলে Indirect Speech-এর structure হবে “Subject + replied in the affirmative.” অথবা, “Subject + do/ does/ did/ was/ were/ has/ have/ had.”

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Arik asked me, “Have you done your task?” I said, “Yes.”	Arik asked me if I had done my task. I replied in the affirmative. Arik asked me if I had done my task. I said that I had.

 

Rule-3(B):

Reported Speech-এ “Yes”-এর পর কোনো বক্তব্য থাকলে Indirect Speech-এর structure হবে “Subject + replied in the affirmative + and said that…”

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Arik said to Atif, “Have you finished your homework?” “Yes, I will submit it tomorrow”, said Atif.	Arik asked Atif if he (Atif) had finished his homework. Atif replied in the affirmative and said that he would submit that the next day.

 

Rule-3(C):

Reported Speech-এ শুধু “No” দেয়া থাকলে Indirect Speech-এর structure হবে “Subject + replied in the negative.” অথবা, “Subject + Auxiliary Verb + Not”.

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Afrin said to Fateha, “Are you preparing now?” Fateha said, “No”.	Afrin asked Fateha if she (F) was preparing then. Fateha replied in the negative. Afrin asked Fateha if she (F) was preparing then. Fateha replied that she was not.

 

Rule-3(D):

Reported Speech-এ “No”-এর পর কোনো বক্তব্য থাকলে Indirect Speech-এর structure হবে “Subject + replied in the negative + and said that”.

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Arif said to Papia, “Are you coming to my home tomorrow?” “No, I have changed my decision”, said Papia.	Arif asked Papia if she (P) was coming to her (A) house the next day. Papia replied in the negative and said that she (P) had changed her decision.

 

Rule-4:

Direct Speech-এ ‘Sir’ থাকলে Indirect speech-এ “Addressing as Sir” যোগ করতে হবে অথবা, Sir-এর পরিবর্তে “Respectfully” হবে।

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
The student said to his teacher, “Sir, I need the answer sheets.”	The student told the teacher respectfully that he needed the answer sheets. Addressing the teacher as Sir, the student said that he needed the answer sheets.

 

Rule-5:

Reported Speech-এ যদি কাউকে সম্বোধন (Address) করা হয়, তাহলে Indirect Speech-এর প্রথমে “Addressing as” যুক্ত হবে।

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
“Are you tired, friends?” said the Army chief.	Addressing them as friends, the army chief asked if they were tired.

 

Rule-6:

Direct Speech-এ “By Allah/ By Jove/ By God/ By my life” থাকলে Indirect Speech-এ “Swearing by Allah/ by Jove/ by God/ by my life.” যোগ হবে।

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
“By Allah”, she replied, “I will not do this work”.	Swearing by Allah, she replied that she would not do that work.

 

Rule-7:

Inverted Comma-এর বাইরে Reporting Verb যুক্ত Phrase-এর অতিরিক্ত অংশ হিসেবে Present Participle Phrase থাকলে Indirect Speech-এ “Present Participle Phrase” Sentence এর শুরুতে বসে।

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
“Are you brothers?” asked the mistress of the house, turning to the dervishes.	Turning to the dervishes, the mistress of the house asked if they were brothers.

 

Rule-8:

Reported Speech-টি Assertive হওয়া সত্ত্বেও তার শেষে প্রশ্নবোধক চিহ্ন থাকলে Indirect Speech-এ Reporting Verb-এর পূর্বে “Being surprised” লিখতে হয়।

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
He said to her, “You have kept in mind how they survived?”	Being surprised, he asked her if she had kept in mind how they had survived.

 

Rule-9:

Reported Speech-এ Thank you থাকলে Indirect Speech-এর Structure হবে “Reporting Verb-এর Subject + thanked + Reporting Verb-এর object.”।

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
She said to him, “Thank you”.	She thanked him.

 

Rule-10:

Reported Speech এ “Good bye” থাকলে Indirect Speech-এর Structure হবে “Reporting Verb-এর Subject + bid/bade + Reporting Verb-এর object + good bye.”

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
She said, “Good bye my buddies”.	She bade her buddies good bye.

 

Rule-11:

Reported Speech-এ “good morning/ good evening/ good night” থাকলে Indirect Speech-এর Structure হবে “Reporting Verb-এর Subject + wish/wished + good morning/ good evening/ good night.”

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
He said to her, “Good night”.	He wished her good night.

 

Rule-12:

অনেক সময় Reported Speech-এ পূর্ণাঙ্গ Sentence না থেকে Sentence এর অংশ অর্থাৎ Phrase থাকলে, Indirect Speech-এ বক্তার বক্তব্যকে অনুসরণ করে উক্ত Speech-কে পূর্ণাঙ্গ Sentence-এ রূপান্তর করতে হয়।

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
“You’ve served me a good meal. How much to pay you?” I said to the waiter. “Four hundred fifty Taka?” -“Anything is alright.”	I told the waiter that he had served me a good meal. I also asked him how much I should pay him. I further asked him if four hundred fifty taka would do. He replied that anything was all right.

 

Rule-13:

যদি  Direct Speech-এ বক্তা ও শ্রোতা উল্লেখ না থাকে, তাহলে বক্তার ক্ষেত্রে “The speaker” এবং শ্রোতার ক্ষেত্রে “The listener” অথবা “The person spoken to” ব্যবহার করতে হয়।

Example:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
“Are you playing tomorrow?” “Yes, I will play tomorrow afternoon.”	The speaker asked the listener if he (L) was playing the next day. The listener replied in the affirmative and said that he would play the next afternoon.