Narration in English: Guide to Storytelling with Types, Rules, Examples & Exercises with Answers

The process or technique or method of storytelling is called Narration. Narration in English grammar is used to describe events, express thoughts, feeling, give information and tell a story. As the name suggests, narration in grammar is the way to narrate and communicate a series of events in a chronological order. It is a fundamental skill for communication, reporting and formal writing.  

There are two ways of narrating; one that is directly spoken (direct speech) and when something is spoken in indirect manner (indirect speech or reported speech). In other words, Narration in English is the concept to explain and report words of some person in a new sentence. There are two types of narration- direct narration and indirect narration. 

Narration is conveyed by a narrator who can be a specified or unspecified literary voice which is developed by the creator. The narrative technique is the set of choices deployed by the narrator or the creator of the story, on how the narration will be developed. This can include setting, characters, themes, plot structures, specific details, genre, linguistic style, etc. For instance, if someone is reporting what was talked in a business meeting or if they are writing a dialogue, understanding narration in grammar is important.

Also Read: What is English Composition: Types, How to Write, Exercises and Examples

Definition of Narration According to the Collins Dictionary

As per the Collins dictionary, narration is 

- "the act or process of narrating"

- "a narrated account or story; narrative"

- "(in traditional rhetoric) the third step in making a speech, the putting forward of the question"

Definition of Narration According to Cambridge Dictionary

As per the Cambridge Dictionary, narration is the 'act of telling a story". 

The term 'narration' comes from the Latin word 'narrae' meaning 'to tell, relate or recount.  

Also Read:

Etymology and Roots of English words

Synonyms in English

Idioms and Phrases in English language

As mentioned before, narration is the way of reporting what is being said. There are two types of narration, i.e. direct narration and indirect narration. Let’s explore the two types in detail below:

Direct Narration

The technique used to report the exact words of the speaker is called Direct Narration. The direct narration uses the quotation marks (“ “) to express the thoughts, dialogues, or feelings, of the speaker. This form of narration keeps the tone, emotion and intent of the speaker, intact. There is no change in words or tenses of the verb.

Structure of Direct Narration

The structure of Direct Narration includes the following elements:

• Reporting Clause: The reporting clause is that part of English narration which introduces the speech of the person. Basically, it is noun or pronoun used in the sentence which introduces the speaker.

For example:

‘She said’, ‘He said’, ‘They asked’, etc.

• Quoted Speech: This includes the actual and exact words spoken/used by the speaker. These are enclosed with quotation marks or inverted commas.
• Punctuation: The reported speech includes punctuation marks, such as the comma (,) which separates the reporting clause from the quoted speech. Also, the first letter inside the quoted sentence is always capitalized.

For example:

• He said, “The school will be closed for three days during Diwali.”
• Peter exclaimed, “What a beautiful view!”
• Mark asked, “Are you feeling better now?”

Common Situations Where Direct Narration is Used

As said before, direct narration uses the exact words. Some common situations where direct narration is used include:

• Dialogues
• Storytelling
• Interviews
• Narratives where original voice of the speaker needs to be preserved

Indirect Narration

Also known as the reported speech, indirect narration is used to convey what someone said without quoting them directly. The words of the speaker are often paraphrased in indirect narration. The sentence is restructured to convey the message. The meaning does not change but the words do.

Also Read: English Paraphrasing

Key Features of Indirect Narration

Some key features to identify indirect narration include:

• No quotation marks: The reported speech is often rephrased and no quotation marks are used. The sentence includes the paraphrased version of what the speaker is saying.
• Tense changes: The tense of the speech often changes in indirect narration. For instance, if the speech is in the simple present tense, it will change to simple past tense in this kind of narration.
• Pronoun and time expression changes: The time expression and pronoun is often adjusted according to the context of the speech.

For example:

Direct: She said, “I am going to play.”

Indirect: She said that she was going to play.

Direct: Joe promised, “I will help you in the kitchen.”

Indirect: Joe promised that he will help me in the kitchen.

Common Situations Where Indirect Narration is Used

As said before, indirect narration does not use the exact words and the speech is often rephrased. Some common situations where indirect narration is used include:

• Formal writing
• News reporting
• Summaries
• Everyday conversations

There are a few set of rules of narration which should be followed to construct meaningful sentences and how to change narration step by step. These are:

#Reporting Verb and Tense

When using the direct and indirect narration, the tense and reporting verb changes according to the context. The reporting verbs such as ‘said’, ‘asked’, ‘exclaimed’, etc. are in the past tense in direct narration. These change when the narration is changed. The changes are as follows:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Present Simple	Past Simple
Present Continuous	Past Continuous
Present Perfect	Past Perfect
Simple Past	Past Perfect

#Changes in Pronouns

In the indirect narration, pronouns change according to the subject and context of the reporting verb. The indirect narration is dependent on the subject and object of the reporting sentence to ensure logical alignment. The changes are as follows:

Direct Narration	Indirect Narration
I	he/she
me	him/her
my	his / her
we	they
us	them
our	their
you	I / we / he / she / they (depends on context)
your	my / our / his / her / their (depends on context)
he	he
she	she
it	it
they	they
them	them
Their	Their

For example:

Direct: She said, “I am very tired.”

Indirect: She said that she was very tired.

Direct: Paul said, “I will help you with your homework.”

Indirect: Paul said that he will help me with my homework.

#Change of Time and Place

The time and place words also undergo changes when the type of narration changes. The change is done to show the shift in perspective from original speaker to the reporting speaker. Here is a list of changes of time and place:

Direct Narration	Indirect Narration
Now	Then
Today	That day
Tomorrow	The next day or the following day
Yesterday	The previous day or the day before
Tonight	That night
This week	That week
Last week	Previous week
Next year	The following year

For example:

Direct: “I will see you tomorrow.”, he said.

Indirect: He said that he would see her the next day.

Direct: Neeti said, “I am in a hurry now.”

Indirect: Neeti said that she was in a hurry then.

Direct: “I saw her three days ago.”, she said.

Indirect: She said that she had seen her three day before.

In summary:

Direct Narration	Indirect Narration
Present or Future Tense	No change in tense
Past Tense	Tense changes
Universal Truths	No change in tense
Pronouns	Changes according to subject and context
Adverbs	Changes according to shift in perspective

Narration Rules for Different Sentence Types

It is crucial to identify the type of sentence being reported in narration. Each sentence type follows its own set of narration rules. This means that the narration rules for imperative and interrogative sentences will be different from each other. Some grammatical rules for narration for different sentence types are:

Preparation tip: Students should always identify the type of sentence first and then apply the narration rule accordingly. This will help them understand which reporting verb to use, conjunction, and sentence structure in the reported speech.

Declarative Sentences Narration Rules

Declarative sentences are the type of sentences which make a statement or express an opinion. These sentences end with a period (.) or a full stop. The narration rules include:

• Reporting verbs such as said, asked, etc. are always followed by an object.
• Using ‘that’ to connect the reporting clause to the reported speech.
• Applying tense, pronoun and time word changes as per general narration rules.

Interrogative Sentences

As the name goes, these sentences are used when there is an interrogation or question. They always end with a question mark (?). The narration rules for interrogative sentences are:

• Changing the reporting verb: The reporting verb in the indirect narration is changed to asked, inquired, or wanted to know in case interrogative sentences.
• Removing the punctuation: The question mark (?) is replaced by a full stop in the interrogative sentences.
• The word order changes in indirect narrative. The order is changed to make the sentence in the statement form.
• In interrogative sentences, the words ‘if’ and ‘whether’ are used to retain the question intent.
• The question words, such as what, where, when, etc. (Wh-questions) remain intact.

For example:

Direct: Reena asked, “Are you tired?”

Indirect: Reena asked whether I was tired.

Direct: Sam said, “Do you like cakes?”

Indirect: Sam asked if I liked cakes.

Direct: Samantha and Ravi asked, “Where is your office?”

Indirect: Samantha and Ravi asked where my office was.

Direct: The teacher asked the student, “What are you doing?”

Indirect: The teacher asked the student what he was doing.

Imperative Sentences

The sentences which indicate a command, give order, offer advice, or make a request are known as the imperative sentences. The imperative sentences can either end with the period (.) or an exclamation mark (!). This varies according to the tone of the sentence. Some narration rules for imperative sentences are:

• Reporting verbs used in these sentences include, told, ordered, requested, advised, begged, etc.
• The structure used is ‘to + base form of the verb’ for affirmative sentences and for negative sentences the structure is ‘not to + base form of the verb’.

Also Read: Forms of Verbs in English Grammar

For example:

Direct: The judge said, “Keep silence in the court.”

Indirect: The judge ordered us to keep silence in the court.

Direct: He said, “Please help me lift a box.”

Indirect: He requested me to help him lift a box.

Exclamatory Sentences

These sentences always end with an exclamation mark (!) to express joy, fear, surprise, or anger. The narration rules for exclamatory sentences include:

• The reporting verb is replaced by ‘exclaimed’
• The interjections such as Oh!, Ouch!, Wow!, etc. are removed in reported speech and are replaced by the word ‘that’
• The sentence is changed into a statement.

For example:

Direct: He said, “Wow! It was an amazing movie.”

Indirect: He exclaimed that it was an amazing movie.

Direct: Sonali said, “Alas! I missed my train.”

Indirect: Sonali exclaimed with sorrow she missed her train.

Often students make some common mistakes in changing narration. When changing direct narration into indirect narration, many students make the mistakes in terms of tenses, pronoun placement, adverb changes and sentence structure. Here is a list of common errors in narration and how to avoid them:

#Not Changing the Tense After a Past Reporting Verb

If the reporting verb is in the past tense, the verb of the sentence (inside quotes) will change to the past. The tense does not change if the direct narration is stating a universal truth. 

For example:

• Direct narration: Rahul said, “I am happy.”

Incorrect: Rahul said that he is happy.

Correct: Rahul said that he was happy.

#Incorrect Pronoun Change

As mentioned before, the pronouns undergo changes in reported speech. The pronoun must always change according to the speaker (subject), listener and context of the sentence.

For example:

• Direct Narration: Shreya told Kunal, “You are my best friend.”

Incorrect: Shreya told Kunal you were her best friend.

Correct: Shreya told Kunal that he was her best friend.

• Direct Narration: Anita said to Gunjan, “You have hurt me!”

Incorrect: Anita told Gunjan that you had hurt me.

Correct: Anita told Gunjan that she had hurt her.

Also Read:

Parajumbles in English: Exercises and Answers	Auxiliaries and Modal Verbs: Definition, Types and Examples	English Subject and Verb Agreement: Rules, Examples, Preparation Tips
English Moods: Definition, Importance and Examples	Adjectives in English Grammar: How to Prepare, Rules, Types, Books	Reading Comprehension Exercises, Types, Rules, Preparation Tips

#Not Changing Adverb (Time and Place)

In reported speech or indirect narration, deictic expressions (time and place) in the direct narration are changed to reflect the shift from the original moment of speaking.

For example:

• Direct Narration: Vijay said, “I will start my new job tomorrow.”

Incorrect: Vijay said that he would start his new job tomorrow.

Correct: Vijay said that he would start his new job the next day.

• Direct narration: Ankita said, “I met him yesterday in the café here.”

Incorrect: Ankita said that she had met him yesterday in the café here.

Correct: Ankita said that she had met him the previous day in the café there.

#Using Question Format in Indirect Narration

When reporting a question, the structure of the sentence changes. The question structure changes to the form of a statement. The format of the question changes in indirect narration.

For example:

• Direct narration: He asked, “Where are you going?”

Incorrect: He asked where are you going?

Correct: He asked where I was going.

The interrogative format is not used in the indirect narration, instead the statement order is used (Subject + Verb).

• Direct Narration: She asked, “Have you completed your project?”

Incorrect: She asked have you completed your project.

Correct: She asked whether I have completed my project.

#Not Replacing Imperative with Infinitives

Students often forget to restructure the sentence in case of changing imperative sentences. The sentence structure includes, ‘to be + V1’ infinitive form.

For example:

• Direct Narration: The teacher said, “Sit quietly.”

Incorrect: The teacher said sit quietly.

Correct: The teacher told the students to sit quietly.

• Direct Narration: Neha asked, “Please help me!”

Incorrect: Neha requested help me.

Correct: Neha requested me to help her.

Following table depicts the best books to read for composition:

Name of the book	Author/Publication
English Grammar and Composition	Wren and Martin
English Grammar in Use	Raymond Murphy
Objective General English	SP Bakshi
Plinth to Paramount	Neetu Singh

A smooth and strong foundation is the key to mastering composition. Writing something everyday will improve the composition skills of the students.

Also Read:

Best Books to Read for Gerunds	Best books and preparation tips for Figures of Speech
Active and Passive Voice: Best books, exercises with answers and examples	Analogy: Easy preparation tips, books, rules and practice questions
Informal Letter Writing: Format, Types, Samples	Indefinite Articles: Rules, Exceptions, Types

Here are some narration practice questions to track what you have learnt about narration:

Exercise 1: Identify and Correct the Error

Q1. He said that he is going to the market.

Q2. She told me that I should bring my book tomorrow.

Q3. The teacher told the student go outside the classroom.

Q4. The mother said do not touch the crockery.

Q5. Sheena said that she has completed her homework.

Answers:

Q1. He said that he was going to the market.

Q2. She told me that I should bring my book the next day.

Q3. The teacher told the student to go outside the classroom.

Q4. The mother warned her child not to touch the crockery.  

Q5. Sheen said that she had completed her homework.

Exercise 2: Convert the following direct narration to indirect narration.

Q1. Ajit said, “I am learning Spanish.”

Q2. Riya said to me, “You have done a great job!”

Q3. They said, “We visited the art gallery yesterday.”

Q4. The boy said, “Wow! What a beautiful weather.”

Q5. The doctor said to the patient, “You should take rest.”

Answers:

Q1. Ajit said that he was learning Spanish.

Q2. Riya told me that I had done a great job.

Q3. They said they had visited the art gallery the previous day.

Q4. The boy exclaimed that it was a beautiful weather.

Q5. The doctor told the patient that he should take rest. (modals such as should generally remain unchanged)