Voice and Narration form a crucial grammar component in the Language II paper of Assam TET. These topics test your understanding of sentence structure transformation—how the same information can be expressed differently without changing its core meaning. Active-passive voice questions assess your grasp of subject-object relationships and verb forms, while direct-indirect speech (also called reported speech) tests your ability to convert quoted dialogue into narrative form.
Expect 3–5 questions from this combined topic in the exam. Questions typically appear as sentence transformation tasks or error-spotting items. Mastery here also strengthens your comprehension skills, as many passages contain mixed voice and narration structures. The good news: both topics follow predictable rules that, once memorised, yield quick marks.
Key Concepts
**Active Voice**: The subject performs the action. The sentence follows Subject + Verb + Object order. Example: "The teacher explains the lesson."
**Passive Voice**: The subject receives the action. The sentence follows Object (as new subject) + be-verb + past participle + by + original subject. Example: "The lesson is explained by the teacher."
**Voice change requires a transitive verb**: Only verbs that take objects can be converted to passive. Intransitive verbs (sleep, arrive, die) cannot form passive constructions.
**Direct Speech**: The exact words of the speaker are quoted within inverted commas. Example: Ram said, "I am going to school."
**Indirect Speech**: The speaker's words are reported without quotation marks, with appropriate changes in pronouns, tenses and time expressions. Example: Ram said that he was going to school.
**Reporting Verb governs changes**: The tense of the reporting verb (said, told, asked) determines whether backshift of tense occurs in indirect speech.
**No tense change for universal truths**: When the reported statement expresses a universal truth or habitual fact, tense remains unchanged. Example: The teacher said, "The earth revolves around the sun" → The teacher said that the earth revolves around the sun.
Formulas / Key Facts
### Voice Transformation Formula **Active**: Subject + Verb + Object **Passive**: Object + appropriate be-form + Past Participle + by + Subject
### Tense-wise Be-verb Forms for Passive
| Tense | Active | Passive Structure | |-------|--------|-------------------| | Simple Present | writes | is/am/are + written | | Present Continuous | is writing | is/am/are + being + written | | Present Perfect | has written | has/have + been + written | | Simple Past | wrote | was/were + written | | Past Continuous | was writing | was/were + being + written | | Past Perfect | had written | had + been + written | | Simple Future | will write | will + be + written | | Future Perfect | will have written | will + have + been + written |
### Tense Backshift Rules for Indirect Speech
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech | |---------------|-----------------| | Simple Present | Simple Past | | Present Continuous | Past Continuous | | Present Perfect | Past Perfect | | Simple Past | Past Perfect | | Past Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | | Will | Would | | Can | Could | | May | Might |
### Pronoun Changes in Indirect Speech
First person (I, we, my, our) → changes according to the subject of reporting verb
Second person (you, your) → changes according to the object of reporting verb
Third person (he, she, they) → usually remains unchanged
### Time and Place Expression Changes
today → that day
yesterday → the previous day / the day before
tomorrow → the next day / the following day
now → then
here → there
this → that
these → those
ago → before
Worked Examples
### Example 1: Active to Passive (Simple Past) **Question**: Change to passive voice: "The students completed the project."
**Solution**: 1. Identify: Subject = The students; Verb = completed; Object = the project 2. New subject = the project 3. Tense = Simple Past → was/were + past participle 4. "The project" is singular → use "was" 5. Past participle of "complete" = completed
**Answer**: The project was completed by the students.
### Example 2: Passive to Active (Present Perfect) **Question**: Change to active voice: "The letter has been posted by Meera."
**Solution**: 1. Original subject (doer) = Meera; Object = the letter 2. Tense = Present Perfect Passive → Present Perfect Active 3. "has been posted" → "has posted"
**Answer**: Meera has posted the letter.
### Example 3: Direct to Indirect Speech (Statement) **Question**: Change to indirect speech: She said to me, "I will help you tomorrow."
**Solution**: 1. Reporting verb: said to me → told me 2. Remove quotation marks, add "that" 3. Pronoun changes: I → she; you → me 4. Tense backshift: will → would 5. Time change: tomorrow → the next day
**Answer**: She told me that she would help me the next day.
### Example 4: Interrogative to Indirect Speech **Question**: Change to indirect speech: He said, "Where are you going?"
**Solution**: 1. Wh-question → use the wh-word as connector (no "that") 2. Reporting verb: said → asked 3. Pronoun: you → I (assuming speaker is reporting about themselves being asked) 4. Tense backshift: are going → was going 5. Question mark removed; statement word order used
**Answer**: He asked where I was going.
Common Mistakes
**Using "by" unnecessarily in active voice** → The word "by" appears only in passive voice. When converting passive to active, remove "by" entirely and make the doer the subject.
**Forgetting the past participle in passive** → Students write "The book was write" instead of "The book was written." Always use the third form (past participle) after the be-verb.
**Double backshift error** → If direct speech already uses past perfect ("I had finished"), it remains past perfect in indirect speech. Don't try to backshift it further.
**Changing tense for universal truths** → "Water boils at 100 degrees" stays in simple present even in indirect speech. Don't write "boiled."
**Retaining question word order in indirect questions** → Wrong: "He asked where was I going." Correct: "He asked where I was going." Indirect questions use statement word order.
**Confusing "say" and "tell"** → "Say" does not take an indirect object directly. Write "He said to me" or "He told me"—never "He said me."