Voice and narration

Why it matters

Compare "The police caught the thief." with "The thief was caught by the police." Both report the same event, but the first puts the doer in front and the second puts the receiver in front. This change is called voice.

Now compare: Ravi said, "I am tired." and Ravi said that he was tired. The first gives Ravi's exact words; the second reports them. This change is called narration (direct and indirect speech).

• Active voice: the subject does the action. Meena wrote the letter.
• Passive voice: the subject receives the action. The letter was written by Meena.
• Direct speech: the speaker's exact words inside quotation marks.
• Indirect (reported) speech: the same message without quotation marks, with changes in tense, pronouns and time words.

Where it appears in the Constable paper: Voice and narration are standard items in objective English sections like this one. You may have to pick the correct passive or indirect form, spot an error such as "He told that he was busy", or fill a blank with the right verb form. Both topics follow fixed rules, so they are quick marks once the rules are clear.

Core concept

Part A — Voice

Beginner: the basic formula

1. Make the object of the active sentence the new subject.
2. Add the form of be that matches the original tense.
3. Use the past participle (V3) of the main verb: write → written, catch → caught.
4. Put the old subject after by, in object form: I → me, we → us, he → him, she → her, they → them, who → whom.

Passive = Object + be (same tense) + V3 + by + Subject

Why? The passive keeps the time of the action the same; only the focus moves from doer to receiver. So the helping verb must carry the original tense.

Intermediate: the tense table

Tense	Active	Passive
Simple present	Anil cleans the room.	The room is cleaned by Anil.
Present continuous	Anil is cleaning the room.	The room is being cleaned by Anil.
Present perfect	Anil has cleaned the room.	The room has been cleaned by Anil.
Simple past	Anil cleaned the room.	The room was cleaned by Anil.
Past continuous	Anil was cleaning the room.	The room was being cleaned by Anil.
Past perfect	Anil had cleaned the room.	The room had been cleaned by Anil.
Simple future	Anil will clean the room.	The room will be cleaned by Anil.
Future perfect	Anil will have cleaned the room.	The room will have been cleaned by Anil.
Modals	Anil can / must clean the room.	The room can / must be cleaned by Anil.

• Continuous tenses add "being"; perfect tenses add "been".
• The perfect continuous tenses and the future continuous are normally not changed into the passive in exams (their passive forms are awkward and rarely used).
• The helping verb agrees with the new subject: The files were sent; The file was sent.
• Negatives keep "not" after the first helping verb: She did not invite Raju. → Raju was not invited by her.
• Only transitive verbs have a passive. Verbs with no object (sleep, arrive, die) cannot be made passive.

Advanced: special sentence types

Questions stay questions.

• Did he sign the form? → Was the form signed by him?
• What did the police find? → What was found by the police?
• Who broke the window? → By whom was the window broken? ("who" is the doer, so it becomes "by whom")

Imperatives.

• Command: Close the gate. → Let the gate be closed.
• Negative: Do not touch the wire. → Let the wire not be touched. (older books: Let not the wire be touched.)
• Request: Please help me. → You are requested to help me.

Two objects. The officer gave Lata a certificate. → Lata was given a certificate by the officer. or A certificate was given to Lata by the officer.

Dropping the agent. When the doer is unknown or unimportant (someone, people), leave out "by …": Someone has stolen my bicycle. → My bicycle has been stolen.

Prepositions other than "by". I know him. → He is known to me. Smoke filled the room. → The room was filled with smoke.

Phrasal verbs keep their particle. They looked after the child. → The child was looked after by them.

Part B — Narration

In Ravi said to me, "I am tired.", said to is the reporting verb and the words in quotation marks are the reported speech. In indirect speech we remove the quotation marks, add a connector (that / if / whether / a wh-word / to) and make four changes.

Intermediate: the four changes

1. Reporting verb. For statements, said stays said; said to + person becomes told + person. Never write "said me", or "told that" with no person.

2. Tense — only when the reporting verb is in the past. The verb moves one step back:

Direct speech	Indirect speech
"I am busy." (simple present)	he was busy (simple past)
"I am waiting." (present continuous)	he was waiting (past continuous)
"I have finished." (present perfect)	he had finished (past perfect)
"I saw him." (simple past)	he had seen him (past perfect)
"I was sleeping." (past continuous)	he had been sleeping (past perfect continuous)
will / shall · can · may	would / should · could · might
must (obligation)	had to

Past perfect, could, would, should, might and ought to do not change.

No tense change when the reporting verb is present or future (He says, "I am busy." → He says that he is busy.), or the words are a universal truth (The teacher said, "Water boils at 100 °C at sea level." → …that water boils at 100 °C at sea level.).

3. Pronouns — the SON rule.

• S: First person (I, me, my, we, our) follows the Subject of the reporting verb.
• O: Second person (you, your) follows the Object of the reporting verb.
• N: Third person (he, she, they) — No change.

Sita said to me, "You have done your work well." → Sita told me that I had done my work well. ("you" follows the object "me", so it becomes "I".)

4. Time and place words (when the reporting verb is past):

Direct	Indirect
now	then
today / tonight	that day / that night
tomorrow	the next day
yesterday	the previous day
ago	before
here	there
this / these	that / those

Why? When you report later, the speaker's "now", "here" and "I" are no longer your "now", "here" and "I". The changes keep the meaning correct from the reporter's point of view.

Advanced: questions, commands, exclamations, suggestions

Type	Reporting verb + connector	Example
Yes/No question	asked + if / whether	He said to me, "Are you ready?" → He asked me if I was ready.
Wh-question	asked + the wh-word	She said to him, "Where do you live?" → She asked him where he lived.
Command / request	told, ordered, requested + to (negative: not to)	The teacher said to the boys, "Do not shout." → The teacher told the boys not to shout.
Exclamation	exclaimed with joy / sorrow + that	Ravi said, "Hurrah! We have won." → Ravi exclaimed with joy that they had won.
"Let us"	suggested + that … should	Mohan said to his friends, "Let us play kabaddi." → Mohan suggested to his friends that they should play kabaddi.

Reported questions use statement order (subject before verb), drop do/does/did, take no "that", and end with a full stop.

Worked examples

Example 1 — Present perfect passive (MCQ). The police have arrested the smugglers.
(a) The smugglers were arrested by the police. (b) The smugglers have been arrested by the police. (c) The smugglers have arrested by the police. (d) The smugglers had been arrested by the police.
Solution: Have arrested is present perfect, so we need have been + V3. (a) is simple past, (d) is past perfect, and (c) has no "been", so it still says the smugglers did the arresting. Answer: (b).

Example 2 — "Who" question. Who wrote this complaint? "Who" is the doer → "by whom", placed first; wrote (simple past) → was written. Answer: By whom was this complaint written?

Example 3 — Statement with time words. Ramesh said to me, "I will meet you here tomorrow."
said to → told; I → he (subject, Ramesh); you → me (object); will → would; here → there; tomorrow → the next day.
Answer: Ramesh told me that he would meet me there the next day.

Example 4 — Wh-question (MCQ). Suresh said to me, "Where are you going?"
(a) Suresh asked me where was I going. (b) Suresh told me where I am going. (c) Suresh asked me where I was going. (d) Suresh asked me that where I was going.
Solution: (a) keeps question order; (b) uses "told" and no tense change; (d) puts "that" before a wh-word. Answer: (c).

Example 5 — Negative command. Inspector Rao said to Vijay, "Do not park your bike here." → Inspector Rao ordered Vijay not to park his bike there. ("your" follows the object, Vijay.)

Example 6 — Universal truth. The teacher said, "The earth goes round the sun." → The teacher said that the earth goes round the sun. No tense change, because it is always true.

Real-world connection

Police writing uses both topics daily. Reports often use the passive because the action matters more than the doer: "The vehicle was seized at the check-post." "The complainant has been informed."

When a constable records a witness, that is indirect speech: the witness says, "I saw two men near the shop," and the record reads, "The witness stated that he had seen two men near the shop." A wrong tense or pronoun can change who did what.

How it is asked in the exam

Formats:

1. Choose the correct passive (or active) form.
2. Choose the correct indirect (or direct) speech.
3. Spot the error — wrong V3, missing "being", "told that".
4. Fill in the blank — "The thief ____ by the police yesterday." (was caught)

Time: about 54 seconds per question on average. These are rule-based, so aim for 25–40 seconds and bank time for longer questions.

Difficulty:

• Easy: simple present/past passive; a plain statement with "said".
• Medium: continuous, perfect or modal passive; negatives; yes/no questions; time words like tomorrow.
• Hard: "who" questions (By whom…), imperatives (Let … be …), two objects, "known to"; exclamations, "Let us", SON changes with two people; passive back to active.

తెలుగు సారాంశం (Telugu summary)

• కర్తరి ప్రయోగం (Active voice)లో కర్త పని చేస్తాడు; కర్మణి ప్రయోగం (Passive voice)లో పని ఎవరిపై జరిగిందో ఆ కర్మ వాక్యం ముందుకు వస్తుంది.
• కర్మణి ప్రయోగం సూత్రం: కర్మ + కాలానికి తగిన be క్రియ + క్రియ యొక్క V3 రూపం + by + కర్త.
• Continuous కాలంలో "being", perfect కాలంలో "been" తప్పనిసరి; modal తర్వాత "be + V3" వస్తుంది.
• "by" తర్వాత me, us, him, her, them వంటి కర్మ రూపాలు వాడాలి. Who అయితే "By whom" అవుతుంది.
• కర్మ లేని క్రియలకు (sleep, arrive వంటివి) కర్మణి ప్రయోగం ఉండదు.
• ప్రత్యక్ష కథనం (Direct speech)లో మాటలు కొటేషన్ గుర్తుల్లో అలాగే ఉంటాయి; పరోక్ష కథనం (Indirect speech)లో అదే విషయాన్ని మన మాటల్లో చెబుతాం.
• Reporting verb భూతకాలంలో ఉంటే కాలం ఒక మెట్టు వెనక్కి వెళ్తుంది (is → was, will → would). వర్తమానంలో ఉంటే మారదు. శాశ్వత సత్యాలు వర్తమానంలోనే ఉంటాయి.
• సర్వనామాలకు SON నియమం: ఉత్తమ పురుష కర్తను, మధ్యమ పురుష కర్మను అనుసరిస్తాయి; ప్రథమ పురుష మారదు.
• ప్రశ్నలకు asked + if/whether లేదా wh-పదం; ఆజ్ఞలకు told/ordered + to + క్రియ, వద్దు అంటే "not to". now → then, tomorrow → the next day, here → there.

Key terms (English — తెలుగు)

• Active voice — కర్తరి ప్రయోగం
• Passive voice — కర్మణి ప్రయోగం
• Subject — కర్త
• Object — కర్మ
• Verb — క్రియ
• Past participle (V3) — భూతకాల కృదంతం
• Direct speech — ప్రత్యక్ష కథనం
• Indirect speech — పరోక్ష కథనం
• Reporting verb — నివేదించే క్రియ
• Tense — కాలం
• Pronoun — సర్వనామం
• Universal truth — శాశ్వత సత్యం