THE BASICS OF CHANGING DIRECT TO INDIRECT SPEECH

 In reporting an idea or a message using the exact words of the speaker, use direct speech; However, in reporting an idea or a message using your own words, use indirect speech. But what is the most appropriate way to change direct speech to indirect?

Sentences in the indirect speech are already free of the quotation marks and must always end with a period.

The sentence inside the quotation mark is called the REPORTED SPEECH. When the verb in the reported speech is in the present tense, change it into its simple past tense when changing into indirect. 

In the sentence above, "like" is the verb in the reported speech and "like" is also present. In changing it to indirect "like" becomes "liked".

YOUR TURN

Directions: Change the given direct speech into indirect.

1. Direct: Melissa said, "I eat bread for breakfast."

    Indirect: _________________________

If the verb in the reported speech is in the past tense, in this case, "met" , change it into the past perfect tense which is "had met".

So, what is really the form of a past perfect tense? Simple: had +verb pp. Meaning had plus the past participle of the verb. The past participle form of the verb is generally the third column in conjugating verbs.

The verbs in the past participle column are the verbs to pair with had to form the past perfect tense of the verb. They would look like this: had liked; had talked; had eaten; had sung.

Notice also the time indicator in the example above; yesterday is changed to the previous day in the indirect form. This means that time expressions also change when the statement is transformed into indirect.

Be reminded of these changes:

now - then

tomorrow - the next day

today - that day

yesterday - that previous day

tonight - that night

YOUR TURN

Directions: Change the given direct speech into indirect.

2. Direct: Melissa said, "Robert drank the milk in the 

               fridge last night."

    Indirect: _________________________

This means that not everything in the reported speech has to be changed when you want to use the indirect speech. This one is an example. 

There is no need to change "All people have equal rights" because that is a universal truth. That is something everyone knows and should be known.

It would sound unnatural if you insist on changing it: ‘He said that all people had equal rights.’ You cannot change that because even when the speaker said that in the past, that idea is still true even after she said it.

YOUR TURN

Directions: Change the given direct speech into indirect.

3. Direct: Melissa said, "We are all created equal."

    Indirect: _________________________

This part could be tricky. You have to make sure that the pronouns used  refer to the correct antecedent. Antecedents are what pronouns refer to.

Let us examine the sentence above: "John told Mary that he had told her that they do not have money." It is very important that you do not interchange the pronouns. It should also be taken into consideration that some names do not suggest gender anymore so it is wise to clarify it.

YOUR TURN

Directions: Change the given direct speech into indirect.

4. Direct: Melissa told Pedro, "I needed you to listen 

    to me last night."

    Indirect: _________________________

The reporting verb refers to the verb before the reported speech or outside the reported speech; the verb outside the quotation marks. In the sentence above -  She says, "I will come." - "says" is the reporting verb. When the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, there is no need to change the tense of the verb in the reported speech. In the example above, the only changes made were the pronoun "I to she" and the addition of the word "that".

YOUR TURN

Directions: Change the given direct speech into indirect.

5. Direct: Melissa says, "Pedro and I will be leaving 

               soon."

    Indirect: _________________________

You can also watch this video. 

Originally published at jeanillec.blogspot.com

in 2020

References:

Direct to indirect speech: General rules. (9 February 2016). Retrieved from

https://www.englishgrammar.org/direct-indirect-speech-general-rules/

Cogtas, J. (3 March 2019). How to change direct to indirect speech. Retrieved form

https://jeanillec.blogspot.com/2019/03/how-to-change-direct-to-indirect-speech.html

HOW TO WRITE A REFLECTIVE ESSAY

 Reflective writing involves the thoughts of the author regarding a piece of literature or phenomenon.

In addition to being reflective and logical, you can be personal, hypothetical, critical and creative; Because of course reflective writing courses through your thoughts as the writer. This is the reason why reflective writing is mostly subjective. With that being said, this only means now that you can make connections about your experiences, rather than solely drawing on academic evidence, which may tend to be so uptight. 

However, experiences alone without connections tend to  make your writing plain and may not be of substance. It is in how you connect experiences to relevant information leading to values and new learning that would make-up a successful reflective writing.

TYPES OF REFLECTIVE WRITING

1. Experiential Reflection

     - This type of reflection allows you to ponder your experience and evaluate it in relation to theories applied.

2. Reading Reflection

    - This type of reflection asks you to write about your opinions about the text read; make assumptions and how they affect your interpretation.

THE DISCUSSION BELOW PERTAINS TO READING REFLECTION.

WHAT TO DISCUSS?

• Your perceptions of the literary piece or the story you've read.
• Which character might've struck you as a role model, hero, or evil.
• Any questions you have about the events in the story.
• Experiences, ideas and observations you have had, and how they relate to the course or topic.

WHAT TO DISCUSS?

• What you found confusing, inspiring, difficult, interesting and why.
• How new ideas challenge what you already know.
• What you need to explore next in terms of thoughts and actions.

WHAT TO DISCUSS?

• Experiences, ideas and observations you have had, and how they relate to the story.
• Possibilities, speculations, hypotheses or solutions.
• Alternative interpretations or different perspectives based on what you have read in another reading material.
• Relevance of the story to culture and history.

Like any other essay, reflective writing begins with an INTRODUCTION. 

HOW TO WRITE?

• Be descriptive but do not be wordy as those shall be thoroughly discussed in the BODY.

The BODY contains the meat of your reflective essay. This is where you explain, discuss, make connections, and provide evidences

HOW TO WRITE?

• Be descriptive.
• Be expressive.
• Be analytical and explanatory.

IMPORTANT: Since you are writing your reflective essay as a blog post, add pictures that would serve as evidences to the story's relevance to culture and history. Do not forget to write a caption or description below the picture.

CLICK TO SEE SAMPLE

The CONCLUSION is the portion where you impart your realization and discuss your new learning based on your discussion in the "body".

HOW TO WRITE?

• Be expressive.
• Be analytical and explanatory at a minimum level.

Originally published at jeanillec.blogspot.com

in 2020

References:

How to write a reflection paper. (2020). Retrieved from
 https://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/how-guides/how-write-university/how-approach-any-assignment/how-write-reflection-paper

How do I write reflectively?. (2019). Retrieved from

 https://student.unsw.edu.au/how-do-i-write-reflectively

COMPONENTS OF A NARRATIVE PARAGRAPH

 A narrative paragraph tells a story which means the events in  this type of paragraph should be arranged chronologically.  Chronological order presents details or events in the order in which they occur: what happens first, second and so on.

A narrative paragraph must have:

These components are very important in drafting your narrative paragraph. Study the draft below.

Note that the draft tells you that the author of the draft above would be writing a story about local tales.

YOUR TURN

Write a draft of one of the stories you've heard of in your local area. The story must be something that the folks in your community know of very well. You can start by asking your grandparents or your parents about a certain story. Then complete the matrix below.

Now that you already have drafted your narrative paragraph, it is time to write one. Study the example below but always make a reference to the sample draft above for guidance.

The narrative paragraph above is a draft of a probable folktale. Let's see how the components are distributed within the paragraph.

You may read the full-blown story featured above. It is entitled Mystique of Campo: Timo, Guardian of the Putat.

YOUR TURN

Now, write a narrative paragraph using the draft you made. Do remember that there is no exact order as to how the components should be arranged in your paragraph. The order depends on your creativity as the writer. 

You can listen and watch the full-length story.

Originally published at jeanillec.blogspot.com

in 2020

References:

Grammar for Writing. (2009). 

New York: William H. Sadlier, Inc.

Cogtas, J. (2 June 2020). Mystique of Campo: The Tales of Putat. Retrieved

https://www.owupress.com/mystique-of-campo-the-tales-of-putat-1218

Teng, S. A. (4 October 2012). Narrative Paragraph. Retrieved

http://thewindlike.blogspot.com/2012/08/narrative-paragraph.html#.Xv6HmGgzbIV

THE CYCLE OF THE SUN AND THE MOON: A Manobo Folktale

       

 

     A long time ago, only the Sun rode to the sky. His wife, the Moon, stayed at home and tended the children and their farm. The Moon loved their two children and went about her tasks happily - fetching water, gathering gabi leaves, and digging camote for supper.

     One cloudy day when the Sun was home, the Moon had to go to the river for water. She crooned the children to sleep and called to her husband. "Dear husband, I am going to fetch water. Watch over the children, but do not go near them because you know what will happen if you do." And after the warning, she left.

     The Sun looked lovingly at his children. He had never before been able to really know them or even get near them. Overcome with love and affection, he kissed them. To his horror, they shrivelled up before his eyes and crumbled to ashes.

     His anguish was great. He moaned and cried. Suddenly he remembered what his wife had told - not to touch the children! Not knowing what to do, he hid in the forest.

     Soon after this the Moon returned. A water jar was balanced on her head and she carried a bundle of freshly cut gabi leaves in her arms. Laying down the jar and leaves, she turned to look for her children. Wild was her grief to find only ashes where her lovely brown babies had once been.

     Her screams and lamentations reached her husband in the forest, and his pity overcoming his fear, he went home. However, as soon as the Moon saw him, her wailing became louder.

     "My husband, why did you do it? Did I not tell you never to touch or even draw near our children? Why did you disobey me?"

     "I couldn't help kissing them, O wife; they looked so sweet. I have never seen anything so sweet before. Forgive me, O Moon! Forgive me," he begged her.

     But the Moon would not be comforted. Her reproaches increased in intensity. In the end, the Sun got angry.

     "Mang-gad!" he shouted. "Did you say that I disobeyed you? How dare you think that you are superior to me, that you can order me what to do. Mang-gad! Slave! How dare you say that I disobeyed you!"

     "Ai!" she moaned. "I am nothing, nothing at all! Then, my children are nothing too! And with one defiant sweep of her arm, she scattered their ashes out of the house.

     When he returned very late that night, his ill temper was gone. He regretted having shouted at his wife. He found the house dark and empty. His wife had fled, but pinpoints of glimmering light in the distance told him where she was, for he knew the lights were his children following their mother in her flight.

     So started the endless cycle of the Sun chasing the Moon fleeing from the Sun. The Moon is forever with her children, the many tiny lights we call the stars. Now and then a shooting star breaks across the path of the Moon. It is nothing more than an attempt from her husband to make her and their two children return to him. But the Moon speeds away faster, sometimes leaving the sky altogether, with only her star-babies there. This happens when the marks of the gabi leaves on the Moon's face swell, and she remembers the pain and humiliation of her husband's anger when he threw the gabi leaves to her face and called her mang-gad (property) and binotong (slave).

   

Source

Lapid, Milagros and Serrano, Josephine. English Communication Arts and Skills through Philippine Literature 7. 9th ed, Phoenix Publishing House, Inc, 2022.

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF NARRATIVES

 There are different types of narratives; this blog talks about six types: myth, legend, epic, folktale, fable and short story. This blog also aims to show the distinction among them.

Let us use one story line to transform into the different types of narratives to clearly show the distinction. The creation story below is based from an Igorot story of Creation while the rest are already products of jcogtas's imagination.

This type of narrative revolves around the actions of gods and goddesses and their interactions with mortals which usually result to supernatural events. A myth is often depicted as a story of the ancient world which was usually believed to be true.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A MYTH NARRATIVE:

• mysterious
• explains the existence of the universe and its dwellers
• consists of non-human characters
• set to a previous proto-world: A proto-world describes this one we have now but a different one.
• interplay between worlds
• bends or breaks natural laws

EXAMPLE

Lumawig, the great spirit, made humans out of reeds and distributed them in different parts of the world. He taught them how to live in order to survive.

_____________________________________________________________________________

A legend is about a story of a character who because of his or her experiences and the circumstances around him or her resulted to an important phenomenon. Therefore, it is a story of human actions.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A LEGEND NARRATIVE:

• has a bit of historical truth which include a human hero
• includes beliefs and ideas of culture and even miracles believed to have happened

EXAMPLE

Yamot prayed that Lumawig, the great spirit, would bless him and his wife Tiyang with healthy children. He offered the great spirit his harvest and his best poultry. When it is time for Tiyang to give birth, Yamot was saddened because that day he lost Tiyang and their child. He faced the great spirit Lumawig in anger and mocked him; In return, the great spirit punished Yamot. Lumawig turned Yamot into a very hot body of water no one would want to swim into. Years passed and Yamot had been avoided by people until a very exhausted farmer came to bathe in it. Yamot was outraged so he made the waters really hot and so the farmer took off. The next day the farmer came and brought some eggs then put them into the hot water of Yamot. The eggs were cooked. From then on people flock to Yamot and called him the Yamot spring.

______________________________________________

Folktales are usually about ordinary people and everyday life who may encounter monsters, magical beings, and even trickery.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A FOLKTALE NARRATIVE:

• exaggerated
• orally passed on to generations
• unwise and one-sided characters
• questions are answered before the story ennds
• shorter and simpler plot
• lifts heroes and heroines to higher and more refined levels like being so beautiful and the like

EXAMPLE

Three miles from the Yamot spring was a huge mountain. On your way up you would be greeted by the sounds of bats who dwell in a cave somewhere. Most passersby simply ignored the sound and went on with their journey because it was believed that if you stopped to listen to the bats, you would be led astray and will never find your way home. One day, Batugan, a goatherd,  went to find his goat but he was led to the noisy bats so he followed the sound. He went on walking and walking until he found himself in a dark cave where the bats  live. He was outraged that he couldn't find his goat there. In his anger, he torched the bats who live there. The goddess of the mountain punished him and so he shall endure an endless journey to gather bats once more to replace the ones he killed.

______________________________________________

An epic tells of a story of the past, of a distant time, of mythological characteristic. An epic was originally and generally  told orally.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EPIC NARRATIVE:

• plot revolves around a hero with unbelievable stature like almost divine;
• character possesses super human strengths
• setting is vast as it may include the adventures of the characters
• narrator is omniscient; a tell-all
• represents moral ideas

EXAMPLE

Batugan spent most of his lifetime gathering the bats he needed to replace the one's he killed. In his travels he conquered beasts, fell in love, found a family and became a great leader of a prominent tribe. Because he was true to his promise to the goddess of the mountains, he was granted the strength of ten men to help him defend his tribe. With such strength his fame spread all throughout the lands beyond his tribe. Men of high stature came to him and asked for his help against monsters who attacked villages. Batugan never hesitated to help until he became old. When the day of his passing came, the universe bled. His son Mandaragat who was then of a very young age inherited his strength but no father shall be there to train him.

___________________________________________________________________________

The purpose of writing fables is to convey a moral lesson. Fables also give readers a chance to laugh at the follies of of the characters which actually represent that of a human being's. They are very helpful in teaching children good lessons based on examples. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF A FABLE NARRATIVE:

• use talking animals as main characters
• personifies actual human characteristics
• short and usually consists only of two to three characters 

EXAMPLE

Batugan's goat, Malaya, went to walk miles away from her master. Malaya was then captured by the bats of the mountain three miles from the Yamot spring when she got inside the cave. Sumpok, the leader of the bats, fell in love with her. Malaya only laughed at him as they are of different species. Their union would be an abomination. However, Sumpok showed dedication and eventually Malaya accepted his love as he had proven worthy. The goddess of the mountain made Malaya into a bat so that she could be with Sumpok.

______________________________________________

A short story is a narrative of interrelated events concerning the conflict and resolution.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A FABLE NARRATIVE:

• mostly revolves around single incident, character or period of time
• readable at one sitting
• mostly shows a decisive moment
• there is often little action

EXAMPLE

In a high-rise condominium lived a prominent family who are of political descent. Tony, a successful businessman, and a loving father ends the day by tucking in his daughters Loren and Mia by telling them stories about Mandaragat, the great conqueror. The story of the great conqueror was written by his late wife, Tanya, who died of cancer.

________________________________________________

Originally published at jeanillec.blogspot.com 

in 2020.

References:

Ashlimann, D.L. (2003). Creation Myths from the Philippines.

 Retrieved from https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/creation-phil.html

Legend. (2015) Retrieved from https://literarydevices.net/legend/

Jagadisan, S.  (2010). Characteristics of a Short Story. Retrieved from 

 https://thelitpath.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/characteristics-of-a-short-story/

Drake, T. Six Elements of the Epic. Retrieved from 

https://webpages.uidaho.edu/engl257/General%20lit/six_elements_of_the_epic.htm

SUBJECT - VERB AGREEMENT

 

The agreement between a subject and a verb is essential in grammar. Let us clarify first what a subject is and what a verb looks like.

The subject of a sentence is that thing or person being talked about performing the action to complete the sentence. The subject can either be a noun or  a pronoun.

The verb on the other hand is the word that expresses the action done by the subject (action verbs). If not action, it could simply just links the subject to the rest of the sentence with the intention of presenting solely a state of being (be verbs). Other verbs also function as aids to the main verb.  thus are called the helping verbs.

Here goes the basic rules:

Plural subjects could mean nouns or pronouns. Here are the list of nouns to help you identify whether they are singular or plural especially when used as subjects 

Add –s to pluralize most nouns.
computer - computers	solution – solutions
solo - solos	alto – altos
chief - chiefs	proof - proofs

 

Add –es to pluralize nouns ending in x, s, z, sh, ch and some words ending in o.
box - boxes	echo - echoes
class - classes	hero - heroes
church - churches	potato - potatoes

 

Some words ending in o can either be added with –s or –es to form their plural.
cargo – cargos / cargoes	motto – mottos / mottoes
halo – halos / haloes	tornado – tornados / tornadoes
mango – mangos / mangoes	tuxedo – tuxedos / tuxedoes
volcano – volcanos / volcanoes	flamingo – flamingos / flamingos
banjo – banjos / banjos	memento – mementos / mementoes

Nouns ending in y preceded by consonants form their plural by changing y to i, then adding     –es.
candy - candies	dairy - dairies
fairy - fairies	lady - ladies
nanny - nannies	baby - babies

Nouns ending f or fe form their plural by changing f or fe to v, then adding –es.
scarf -scarves	half -halves
knife - knives	life - lives
wife - wives	leaf - leaves

 

Nouns ending f or fe form their plural by changing f or fe to v, then adding –es.
scarf -scarves	half -halves
knife - knives	life - lives
wife - wives	leaf - leaves

 

Some nouns ending in f or fe form their plural by adding either –s or -es
wharf – wharfs / wharves	calf – calfs / calves
dwarf – dwarfs / dwarves	hoaf – hoafs / hoaves

 

Irregular nouns change in spelling when pluralized.
man - men	mouse - mice
louse - lice	goose – geese
child – children	ox - oxen

Some nouns have the same singular and plural forms.
sheep - sheep	headquarters - headquarters
moose - moose	species - species
salmon - salmon	swine – swine
shrimp - shrimp	barracks - barracks

Some nouns are indivisible pairs and thus always have a plural form.
jeans	forceps
shorts	goggles
pajamas	scissors
shears	tights

Some nouns are always plural in form and in meaning.
clothes	savings
groceries	belongings
remains	goods

  

Some nouns may be plural in form and are singular in meaning.
news	cards
politics	physics
mumps	Phonetics
Billiards	mathematics

 

There are nouns that could either be singular or plural depending on use.
statistics	politics
acoustics	gymnastics
economics	ethics
athletics	phonetics

Nouns with Greek and Latin origins retain their foreign plural form.
fungus - fungi	medium - media
curriculum - curricula	forum - fora
stimulus - stimuli	syllabus - syllabi
thesis - theses	alumna - alumnae

 

Some nouns with Greek and Latin origins can either be pluralized by adding –s or –es or just by retaining their foreign plural forms.
radius – radii / radiuses	formula – formulae / formulas
matrix – matrixes / matrices	apex – apexes / apices

  

To decide whether a verb or verb phrase agrees with its subject:

1. Find the verb of verb phrase. 
     Martina speaks so fast.

     VERB: speaks

2. Ask Who? or What? before the verb to find the 

    subject.
     WHO SPEAKS?   Martina

3. Use a singular verb with a singular and a plural verb with a plural subject.

IMPORTANT: The verb needs to agree with only the subject, not with any other word in the sentence.

TRY THIS!

1. People (are, is) using video-sharing websites to 
    post their own videos.
2. Even my grams (enjoy, enjoys) online videos.

A prepositional phrase is a phrase introduced by a preposition. Examples of prepositions are of, in, around, with, to, at, under and many others.

Check out the details of the example above: 

The wings of a monarch butterfly are orange and black.

SUBJECT :                  wings
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE:    of a monarch butterfly
VERB:                      are

The verb "are" is plural because the subject, "wings" is plural. The noun butterfly which is part of the prepositional phrase does not affect the verb.

TRY THIS!

3. A butterfly in the early stages (are, is) called a  
    caterpillar.
4. Insect lovers around the world (collect, collects) 
    moths and butterflies.

A compound subject is composed of two or more subjects that use the same verb. So when this happens a plural verb must be used.

In the sentence, "Neither the coach nor the players have the trophy", the verb used is have which is plural because the nearest subject to the verb is players which is also plural.

In the sentence, "Neither the players nor the coach has the trophy", the closest subject is coach which is singular, thus the verb should also be singular.

TRY THIS!

5. Highway signs and calculators (use, uses) solar 
    panels.
6. Either Mrs. Stanley or Mr. Cruz (are, is) teaching 
    our Physics class tomorrow.

TRY THIS!

7. There (are, is) many different kinds of bowling 
    balls.
8. (Do, Does) anybody know the date tenpin bowling 
    started?

In the sentence, "Each one of the girls has new Barbie doll", the verb used is singular because the verb agrees to the pronoun "each" which is singular and not to the word "girls".

In the sentence, "Most of the fruit is ripe", the closest to the verb or the noun in the "of phrase" is "fruit" which is singular thus the verb used is singular as well, "is".

In the sentence, "Most of the apples are crisp", the closest to the verb is "apples" which is plural thus the verb "are" is used.

TRY THIS!

9. Neither of my parents (have, has) bowling ball.
10. Some of the beginners (develop, develops) their 
    own style. 

You can watch this video to learn how the rules of subject and the verb agree with subject pronouns.

 

Reference:

Grammar for Writing. (2009). 

New York: William H. Sadlier, Inc. 

Originally published at jeanillec.blogspot.com

in 2020.