Question

The man said, “The bird has flown.” (Change the Narration)

Hint:

When the reporting verb is in the past tense, the tense of the reported speech usually shifts one step back.

Answer 1

Step 1: Identify the type of speech.
The given sentence is in direct speech because the exact words of the speaker are quoted.
Step 2: Identify the reporting verb.
The reporting verb is “said”, which is in the past tense. Therefore, the tense of the reported speech will change accordingly.
Step 3: Change the tense.
The present perfect tense “has flown” changes into the past perfect tense “had flown” in indirect speech.
Step 4: Remove quotation marks and use conjunction.
Quotation marks are removed, and the conjunction “that” is used to join the clauses.
Step 5: Final sentence.
Thus, the indirect narration is: “The man said that the bird had flown.”