Narration of Optative Sentences – Practice Sets for SSC CGL, CHSL

Rules of Narration for Optative Sentences with Examples/ Practice Sets for Competitive exams like SSC SGL/ CHSL/HSSC, UPSSC etc.

What are Optative Sentences ?

The sentences which express wish or desire or pray etc are called Optative sentences. These sentences generally begin with May and end with a mark of Exclamation ( ! ). But sometimes we don’t find the use of May in a sentence, but its hidden meaning is always there. For Example –

  • May you live long !
  • May God bless you ! etc.

Rules of changing of Narration with Optative Sentences –

  • Rule 1 – We change Reporting verbs like say / says/ said in to wish/ wishes/ wished or pray/prays/prayed etc as per the meaning in the reported speech.
  • Rule 2 – We replace inverted commas ” ” by that .
  • Check Rule 3 – In direct speech, the structure is – May + Sub ……..! whereas in indirect speech it is Sub + Might …..
  • Rule 4. We replace Mark of Exclamation by Full Stop (.) .
  • Rule 5 – In sentences carrying Good Morning, Good Evening, verb said to is changed into – wished
  • Rule 6 – Good Bye – Bade good bye

Examples –

She said ,” May God bless you !”

She prayed that God might bless you/ me.

The old woman said,” May you live long!”

The old woman blessed/prayed that you/I might live long.

Practice Set for Optative Sentences –

  1. Teacher said to me,” May you get success in life !”
  2. She said to her neighbour,” May you die soon!”
  3. My friend said, ” May God help you !”
  4. I said to her,” You be happy in your life !”
  5. The subject said,” Long live the king !”
  6. The Prime Minister said,” Long live our Democracy!”
  7. People said,” God save the nation!”
  8. I said,” Her soul live in peace !”

Solution –

  1. Teacher wished that I might get success in life.
  2. She cursed her neighbour  that he/she might die soon.
  3. My friend prayed that God might help me.
  4. I wished her that she might be happy in her life.
  5. The subject prayed that the king might live long.
  6. The Prime Minister wished that their democracy might live long.
  7. People prayed that God might save the nation.
  8. I prayed that her soul might live in peace.

Learn Complete Rules of Narration from here.

Latest Comments

  1. She said to him, ” Wish you a very happy birthday.”

    Reply
    • she wished him a very happy birthday

      Reply
    • She wished him that a very happy birthday

      Reply
    • She prayed him that wish he might a very happy birthday.

      Reply
      • There must not be object ( him ) when you use prayed/ wished as reporting verb. Wish must not be here.

        Reply
    • She wished him a very happy birthday.

      Reply
  2. ” bravo” said the king” go ahead”

    Reply
  3. ” bravo” saif the king” go ahead”

    Reply
  4. She said, ‘May you be a doctor’. (report the sentence)

    Reply
    • She prayed that I might be a doctor.

      Reply
    • She prayed that you might be a doctor.

      Reply
    • she wished that you might be a doctor.

      Reply
    • She wished that you might be a doctor.

      Reply
  5. Very helpful,thank you very much.

    Reply
  6. What the answer
    May live long !

    Reply
  7. He said , ” may terrorism end totally ! “

    Reply
    • He prayed that terrorism might end totally.

      Reply
  8. He said , ” may terrorism end totally ! “

    Reply
    • He wished that the terrorism might end totally

      Reply
  9. Ty very much

    Reply
    • Good morning____

      Reply
  10. My friend said, “Let us help the poor.”

    Reply
    • My friend proposed that we should help the poor

      Reply
    • My friend approached me that we should help the poor

      Reply
    • My friend suggested that we should help the poor.

      Reply
  11. I said to my younger brother “I wish you too have wonderful time in abroad”.

    Reply
    • I wished my younger brother that I wished you might have a wonderful time abroad.

      Reply
    • I wished that my younger brother had also a wonderful time in abroad./ I blessed my younger brother that he had also a wonderful time in abroad.

      Reply
  12. they said to us ,” may you have à fine journey

    Reply
  13. He said, “would that i were the son of a very rich men”

    Reply
    • He wished that he had been the son of a very rich person.

      Reply
  14. He said to me,”Assalamualikum.”

    Reply
  15. She said, “Would that my father were alive! “

    Reply
    • She wished that her father had been alive.

      Reply
  16. He said to me, “Thank you”.

    Reply
    • He thanked me .

      Reply
    • He thanked me

      Reply
    • He wished me that thank you

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    • He thanked me

      Reply
    • He thanked me.

      Reply
  17. She said her father, ” I wish I were an engineer I would apply for that job. “

    Reply
  18. The old man said, “Would i were a child again”
    Plzz tell me which tense is used here in reported speech

    Reply
  19. Bravo!you have won the match.

    Reply
    • He exclaimed with praise that he had won the match

      Reply
    • Bravo ! He had won the match

      Reply
    • Someone exclaimed with joy that you had won the match.

      Reply
  20. the boy said,”May i come in?”

    Reply
    • The boy request to come in

      Reply
    • The boy requested to come in

      Reply
        • The boy replied with respect to come in

          Reply
        • Boy said that he is come

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        • The boy ordered me to come in .

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        • The boy requested to go in.

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    • The boy enquired of if he might come in.

      Reply
  21. The beggar said,” Would that I were rich”
    Ans: ????

    Reply
    • The beggar wish that he/she might a rich

      Reply
      • yes

        Reply
    • The beggar wished that he was rich

      Reply
    • The beggar wished that he had been rich .

      Reply
    • The beggar wished that he had been rich

      Reply
    • The beggar wished that he had been rich.

      Reply
  22. change this into indirect speech
    Radio news : A cure for Cancer has been invented

    Reply
  23. Thank you

    Reply
  24. Kanta said,”Welcome,sir!”

    Reply
    • Kanta greeted welcome to her sir.

      Reply
  25. he said, “Curse it! Who could have expected such a turn of events”.

    Reply
    • He cursed it and asked who could such a turn of events have expected.

      Reply
  26. Indra said, “If I had been the President of India.”

    Reply
    • Indra wished that if she had been the president of india.

      Reply
  27. she says to me “you are good boy in the class”

    Reply
    • She tells me that I am a good boy in the class. Article a should be there before good boy.

      Reply
  28. You said , “had i won the lottery”

    Reply
    • You asked if you had won the lottery.

      Reply
  29. hello, i have a question what would be the narration of a present perfect and perfect continuous

    Reply
    • present perfect tense changes into past perfect tense
      present continuous tense changes into past continuous tense

      Reply
  30. He said to her”may you win the match”

    Reply
    • He wished that she might win the match.

      Reply
    • He wished her that she might win the match.

      Reply
  31. She said may you prosper!
    She prayed for me I might prosper
    Is it right?

    Reply
    • She wished/prayed that I/he/she/you might prosper.

      Reply
    • She prayed that I might prosper.

      Reply
    • I think the word ‘that’ should be required.

      Reply
    • she wished that I might prosper.

      Reply
  32. Thanks!!!this is very helpful for me.

    Reply
    • Very nice. I got much help with this

      Reply
  33. very good also share about other narrations

    Reply
    • optative sentence she said to me.’may you stay happy

      Reply
      • She prayed for me that I might stay happy.

        Reply
  34. Good night, good morning ,good bye ke liye Rules bataiye sir ji

    Reply
  35. Thank you sir

    Reply
  36. these is so good it helped me but these sentences should be 10

    Reply
  37. That is so nice and that help me a lot…That help a preson to make his/her brain hard for english..

    Reply
  38. Thanks!! This is very helpful.

    Reply
  39. THANKS FOR TELLING A LOT OF THINGS TO ME

    Reply
  40. Very nice

    Reply
  41. Thank you.

    Reply
  42. this help me a lot thanks

    Reply

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