EXERCISE NARRATIVE TEXT 3

A. Read the story and write the generic structure next to the text

Rabbit and Bear Once upon a time, there lived as neighbours, a bear and a rabbit. The rabbit is a good shot. In contrary, the bear is always clumsy and could not use the arrow to good advantage. One day, the bear called over the rabbit and asked the rabbit to take his bow and arrows and came with bear to the other side of the hill. The rabbit was fearing to arouse the bear's anger so he could not refuse it. He consented and went with the bear and shot enough buffalo to satisfy the hungry family. Indeed he shot and killed so many that there was lots of meat left after the bear and his family had loaded themselves and packed all they could carry home. The bear was very gluttonous and did not want the rabbit to get any of the meat. The rabbit could not even taste the blood from the butchering as the bear would throw earth on the blood and dry it up. The poor rabbit would have to go home hungry after his hard day's work. The bear was the father of five children. The youngest child was very kind to the rabbit. He was very hearty eater. The mother bear always gave him an extra large piece of meat but the youngest child did not eat it. He would take it outside with him and pretended to play ball with the meat. He kicked toward the rabbit's house and when he got close to the door he would give the meat with such a great kick. The meat would fly into the rabbit's house. In this way, the poor rabbit would get his meal unknown to the papa bear. Source : http://www.sacred-texts.com/asia/tft/tft38.htm

B. In groups, answer these questions:

1.    What is the social function of the text above?

2.    Who was involved?

3.    What did the Bear ask to the Rabbit?

4.    Why the Rabbit didn’t get any of meat?

5.    How did the Rabbit get his meal?

6.    Does the story happen in the past time or in the present time?

7.    Mention the words are used to tell that the story happened in the past?

8.    What are the words used to tell the order of events?

9.    Are the verbs in the present or in the past?

10. Write several action verbs that you find in the text!

C. Now, take turn reading the story aloud. Then, in turn read it aloud for your friends!

EXERCISE NARRATIVE TEXT 2

A. Read the story and write the generic structure next to the text

Why do the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky? Long time ago, there was no day. It was always dark and always summer. This was because the Kachina, a very powerful people had stolen the Sun and the Moon and locked them away in a box. In the light, Coyote and Eagle, two friends wondered the desert. Coyote and Eagle had always hunted together, but Coyote could not hunt anymore because he could not see at night. Coyote suggested that they went to find the Sun and the Moon and make them light up the world. Eagle was worried. He reminded Coyote that the Sun and the Moon were very strong and it was dangerous to try to trick them. In the end, Eagle agreed to help Coyote. While the Kachina were sleeping, Coyote and Eagle crept into their village, stole the Sun and the Moon, and headed into the hills. Coyote told Eagle that he wanted to open the box containing the Sun and the Moon. Eagle said, “No”. They must wait fter their travels and open it with their eyes closed. Coyote grumbled. Hwe couldn’t wait to see what was in the box. Finally he grew so corious that he threw it open. The light of the Sun was so bright that it blinded Coyote’s eyes. The Sun and the Moon laughed and flew far away, up into the sky where they are today.

B. In groups, answer these questions:

1.    What is the social function of the text above?

2.    Who was involved?

3.    Why was the sky dark?

4.    Where did the Kachina people hide the Sun and the Moon?

5.    When did Coyote steal the Sun and the Moon back?

6.    Does the story happen in the past time or in the present time?

7.    Mention the words are used to tell that the story happened in the past?

8.    What are the words used to tell the order of events?

9.    Are the verbs in the present or in the past?

10. Write several action verbs that you find in the text!

C. Now, take turn reading the story aloud. Then, in turn read it aloud for your friends!

EXERCISE NARRATIVE TEXT

A. Read the story and write the generic structure next to the text

Why do hawks hunt chiks? Once upon a time, a hawk fell in love with a hen. The hawk flew down from the sky and asked the hen, “Will you marry me?” The hen loved the brave, strong hawk and wished to marry him. But she said, “I cannot fly as high as you can. If you give me time, I may learn to fly as high as you. Then we can fly together.” The hawk agreed. Before he went away, he gave the hen a ring. “This is to show that you have promised to marry me,” said the hawk. It so happend that the hen had already promised to marry a rooster. So, when the rooster saw the ring, he became very angry. “Throw that ring away at once!” shouted the rooster. The hen was so frightened at the rooster’s anger that she threw away the ring immediately. When the hawk came a few months later, the hen told the truth. The hawk was so furious that he cursed the hen, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Now, you’ll always be scratching the earth, and I’ll always be flying above to catch your children,” said the hawk.

B. In groups, answer these questions:

1.    What is the social function of the text above?

2.    Who was involved?

3.    Did the hen face any problems to marry the hawk?

4.    How did the hen solve the problem?

5.    Does the story end in happy or sad ending?

6.    Does the story happen in the past time or in the present time?

7.    Mention the words are used to tell that the story happened in the past?

8.    What are the words used to tell the order of events?

9.    Are the verbs in the present or in the past?

10. Write several action verbs that you find in the text!

C. Now, take turn reading the story aloud. Then, in turn read it aloud for your friends!

DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

REPORTED (= INDIRECT) SPEECH

(Indirekte Rede)

1. Is the reporting verb in the past form (said, told,...) you have to change the tense.

(Steht das reporting verb in der Mitvergangenheit (said, told,...) ändert sich die Zeitform.)

Direct speech	Indirect speech	Direct Speech	Indirect speech
Present simple	Past simple	go	went
Present progressive	Past progressive	am/is/are going	was/were going
Past simple	Past perfect	went	had gone
Past progressive	Past perfect progressive	was/were going	had been going
Present perfect simple	Past perfect	has/have gone	had gone
Present perfect progressive	Past perfect progressive	has/have been going	had been going
Future	Conditional I	will go	would go
Example: Peter said: "Carol is a nice girl."
Peter said (that) Carol was a nice girl.

2. When you form the reported speech you have to pay attention that the pronouns refer to the correct person.

(Bei der Bildung der reported speech ist darauf zu achten, dass sich die Fürwörter auf die richtige Person beziehen.)

Examples:	Susan said: "My parents are clever scientists."
	Susan said (that) her parents were clever scientists.
	Tom said: "I like PE best."
	Tom said (that) he liked PE best.
	They said: "We went swimming with our friends."
	They said (that) they had gone swimming with their friend.
	Betty said: "Sam told me the truth."
	Betty said (that) Sam had told her the truth.

	Direct speech	Indirect speech
She said	I - my - me	she - her - her
He said	I - my - me	he - his - him
They said	they - their - them	we - our - us

You and your:

They told her / him / me / them / us: "George loves you."

They told her / him / me / them / us (that) George loved her / him / me / them / us.

They told her / him / me / them / us: "George loves your sister."

They told her / him / me / them / us (that) George loved her / his / my / their / our sister.

They told her / him / me / them / us: "You are clever."

They told her / him / me / them / us (that) she / he / I / they / we was / were clever.

3. Expressions of time and place must also be changed.

(Zeit- und Ortsangaben ändern sich ebenfalls.)

	Direct speech	Indirect speech
Time	now	then
	today	that day
	yesterday	the day before
	tomorrow	the next / following day
	last week, month,...	the previous week, month,...
	next week, month,...	the following week, month,...
Place	here	there
	this	that
	these	those

Examle: She said: "I have already seen Carol today."

She said (that) she had already seen Carol that day.

DIRECT AND REPORTED SPEECH

You can answer the question "What did he/she say?" in two ways:

·        by repeating the words spoken (direct speech)

·        by reporting the words spoken (indirect or reported speech).

Direct Speech
Direct speech repeats, or quotes, the exact words spoken. When we use direct speech in writing, we place the words spoken between inverted commas ("....") and there is no change in these words. We may be reporting something that's being said NOW (for example a telephone conversation), or telling someone later about a previous conversation

Examples:

She says "What time will you be home?"
She said "What time will you be home?"
and I said "I don't know! "
"There's a fly in my soup!" screamed Simone.
John said, "There's an elephant outside the window."

Reported Speech
Reported speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we normally change the tense of the words spoken. We use reporting verbs like 'say', 'tell', 'ask', and we may use the word 'that' to introduce the reported words. Inverted commas are not used.

She said, "I saw him." She said that she had seen him.

a.      'That' may be omitted:
She told him that she was happy.
She told him she was happy.

b.     'Say' and 'tell':
Use 'say' when there is no indirect object:
He said that he was tired.

Always use 'tell' when you say who was being spoken to (i.e. with an indirect object):
He told me that he was tired.
'Talk' and 'speak' are used:
- to describe the action of communicating:
He talked to us.
She was speaking on the telephone.
- with 'about' to refer to what was said:
He talked (to us) about his parents.

REPORTED SPEECH

HOPES, INTENTIONS, PROMISES

When we report an intention, hope or promise, we use an appropriate reporting verb followed by a that-clause or a to-infinitive:

"I'll pay you the money tomorrow."
He promised to pay me the money the next day.
He promised that he would pay me the money the next day.

Other verbs used in this pattern include:
hope, propose, threaten, guarantee, swear.

Examples:

a.      "I'll be back by lunchtime."
He promised to be back by lunchtime.
He promised that he would be back by lunchtime.

b.     "We should arrive in London before nightfall."
They hoped to arrive in London before nightfall.
They hoped they would arrive in London before nightfall.

c.      "Give me the keys to the safe or I'll shoot you!"
He threatened to shoot me if I didn't give him the keys to the safe.
He threatened that he would shoot me if I didn't give him the keys to the safe.

REPORTED SPEECH

ORDERS, REQUESTS, SUGGESTIONS

1. When we want to report an order or request, we can use a verb like 'tell' with a to-clause.

Examples:

He told me to go away.
The pattern is verb + indirect object + to-clause.
(The indirect object is the person spoken to.)

Other verbs used to report orders and requests in this way are: command, order, warn, ask, advise, invite, beg, teach, forbid.

Examples:

a. The doctor said to me, "Stop smoking!".
The doctor told me to stop smoking.

b. "Get out of the car!" said the policeman.
The policeman ordered him to get out of the car.

c. "Could you please be quiet," she said.
She asked me to be quiet.

d. The man with the gun said to us, "Don't move!"
The man with the gun warned us not to move.

(See also section on Verbs followed by infinitive and Verbs followed by gerund)

2. Requests for objects are reported using the pattern
ask + for + object: Examples:

a. "Can I have an apple?", she asked. She asked for an apple.
b. "Can I have the newspaper, please?"
He asked for the newspaper.
c. "May I have a glass of water?" he said.
He asked for a glass of water.
d. "Sugar, please."
She asked for the sugar.
e. "Could I have three kilos of onions?"
He asked for three kilos of onions.

3. Suggestions are usually reported with a that-clause. 'That' and 'should' are optional in these clauses:

She said: "Why don't you get a mechanic to look at the car?" She suggested that I should get a mechanic to look at the car. OR She suggested I get a mechanic to look at the car.

Other reporting verbs used in this way are: insist, recommend, demand, request, propose.

Examples:

a. "It would be a good idea to see the dentist", said my mother. My mother suggested I see the dentist.

b. The dentist said, "I think you should use a different toothbrush". The dentist recommended that I should use a different toothbrush.

c. My manager said, "I think we should examine the budget carefully at this meeting." My manager proposed that we examine the budget carefully at the meeting.

d. "Why don't you sleep overnight at my house?" she said. She suggested that I sleep overnight at her house.

Notes:

Suggest can also be followed by a gerund: I suggested postponing the visit to the dentist.

REPORTED SPEECH

QUESTIONS

1. Normal word order is used in reported questions, that is, the subject comes before the verb, and it is not necessary to use 'do' or 'did':

"Where does Peter live?" She asked him where Peter lived.

2. Yes / no questions: This type of question is reported by using 'ask' + 'if / whether + clause:

a. "Do you speak English?" He asked me if I spoke English.

b. "Are you British or American?" He asked me whether I was British or American.

c. "Is it raining?" She asked if it was raining.

d. "Have you got a computer?" He wanted to know whether I had a computer.

e. "Can you type?" She asked if I could type.

f. "Did you come by train?" He enquired whether I had come by train.

g. "Have you been to Bristol before?" She asked if I had been to Bristol before.

3. Question words:
This type of question is reported by using 'ask' (or another verb like 'ask') + question word + clause. The clause contains the question, in normal word order and with the necessary tense change.

Examples:

a. "What is your name?" he asked me. He asked me what my name was.

b. "How old is your mother?", he asked. He asked how old her mother was.

c. The mouse said to the elephant, "Where do you live?" The mouse asked the elephant where she lived.

d. "What time does the train arrive?" she asked. She asked what time the train arrived.

e. "When can we have dinner?" she asked. She asked when they could have dinner.

f. The elephant said to the mouse, "Why are you so small?" The elephant asked the mouse why she was so small.

REPORTED SPEECH

SUMMARY OF REPORTING VERBS

Note that some reporting verbs may appear in more than one of the following groups.

1. Verbs followed by 'if' or 'whether' + clause:

ask know remember

say see

2. Verbs followed by a that-clause:

add admit agree announce answer argue boast claim comment complain confirm consider deny

doubt estimate explain fear feel insist mention observe persuade propose remark remember repeat

reply report reveal say state suggest suppose tell think understand warn

3. Verbs followed by either a that-clause or a to-infinitive:

decide expect guarantee hope

promise swear threaten

4. Verbs followed by a that-clause containing should
(but note that it may be omitted, leaving a subject + zero-infinitive):

advise beg demand

insist prefer propose

recommend request suggest

5. Verbs followed by a clause starting with a question word:

decide describe discover discuss explain forget guess

imagine know learn realise remember reveal say

see suggest teach tell think understand wonder

6. Verbs followed by object + to-infinitive

advise ask beg command

forbid instruct invite

teach tell warn

REPORTED SPEECH

TENSE CHANGES

Normally, the tense in reported speech is one tense back in time from the tense in direct speech:

She said, "I am tired." She said that she was tired.

The changes are shown below:

Simple present		Simple past
"I always drink coffee", she said		She said that she always drank coffee.
Present continuous		Past continuous
"I am reading a book", he explained.		He explained that he was reading a book
Simple past		Past perfect
"Bill arrived on Saturday", he said.		He said that Bill had arrived on Saturday
Present perfect		Past perfect
"I have been to Spain", he told me.		He told me that he had been to Spain
Past perfect		Past perfect
"I had just turned out the light," he explained.		He explained that he had just turned out the light.
Present perfect continuous		Past perfect continuous
They complained, "We have been waiting for hours".		They complained that they had been waiting for hours.
Past continuous		Past perfect continuous
"We were living in Paris", they told me.		They told me that they had been living in Paris.
Future		Present conditional
"I will be in Geneva on Monday", he said		He said that he would be in Geneva on Monday.
Future continuous		Conditional continuous
She said, "I'll be using the car next Friday".		She said that she would be using the car next Friday.

NOTE:

1. You do not need to change the tense if the reporting verb is in the present, or if the original statement was about something that is still true, e.g.

He says he has missed the train but he'll catch the next one.
We explained that it is very difficult to find our house.

2. These modal verbs do not change in reported speech:
might, could, would, should, ought to, e.g.

We explained that it could be difficult to find our house.
She said that she might bring a friend to the party.