Question

"The doctor advises surgery," said my mother. This can be reported as:

• A. My mother said that the doctor advises surgery.
• B. My mother said that the doctor advising surgery.
• C. My mother said that the doctor have been advising surgery.
• D. My mother said that the doctor advised surgery.

Answer 1

Answer:

D. My mother said that the doctor advised surgery.

**Direct Speech vs. Reported Speech (Narration)**

• Direct Speech: Quoting the exact words spoken by someone, usually enclosed in quotation marks (e.g., "I am tired").
• Reported Speech (Indirect Speech): Reporting what someone said without quoting their exact words. Quotation marks are not used, and conjunctions like 'that' are often introduced.

**Rules for Converting Direct Speech to Reported Speech**

• Tense Change: When the reporting verb (e.g., 'said', 'told') is in the past tense, the verb tense in the reported clause usually shifts one step back.
• Present Simple → Past Simple
• Present Continuous → Past Continuous
• Past Simple → Past Perfect
• Present Perfect → Past Perfect
• Future (will) → Conditional (would)
• Pronoun Change: Pronouns change according to the context of the reporting. For example, 'I' might become 'he' or 'she'.
• Adverbial Change: Words indicating time and place often change. For example, 'now' becomes 'then', 'here' becomes 'there', 'today' becomes 'that day', 'yesterday' becomes 'the previous day'.
• Reporting Verb: The reporting verb (e.g., 'said') is typically followed by 'that' in reported speech, especially for declarative sentences.

Application to the Given Sentence

• Original (Direct Speech): "The doctor advises surgery."
• Reporting Verb: 'said' (Past Tense)
• Verb in Direct Speech: 'advises' (Present Simple)
• Reported Speech Conversion:
  • The reporting verb 'said' remains the same or can be followed by 'that'.
  • The conjunction 'that' is introduced.
  • The verb 'advises' (Present Simple) changes to 'advised' (Past Simple) as per the tense rule.
  • The subject 'The doctor' remains the same.
• Result (Reported Speech): My mother said that the doctor advised surgery.

**Exam Relevance**

• Questions on narration are common in various competitive exams (e.g., SSC CGL, Bank PO, UPSC CAPF, NDA).
• Focus on mastering the rules of tense, pronoun, and adverbial changes for accurate conversion.
• Pay attention to sentences where the direct speech describes a universal truth or a habitual action; in such cases, the tense may not change even if the reporting verb is in the past. However, in this specific example, 'advises surgery' is a specific advice, not a universal truth.