He prayed that God might help him do his duty.

[Tait-ka]

He said, "May God help me do my duty."
He prayed that God might help him do his duty.

She said to her father, "May you live long!"
She prayed for her father that he might live long.

She said, "May you prosper."
She prayed that I might prosper.

The mother said to her daughter, "May God bless you with a son."
The mother prayed for her daughter that God might bless her with a son.

The mother said to her son, "May you return successful."
The mother prayed for her son that he might return successful.

Source: Sunshine English for grade 10 students, written by Prof. Musarrat Hussain - a Pakistani author.

Can I please ask whether the reported speech sentences (bolded) are correct?

 

[jutfrank]

They have a distinctly narrative feel to me, so I think they could have been good in, say, a nineteenth century novel.

 

[5jj]

I think they could have been good in, say, a nineteenth century novel.

I'd say that about the direct speech!

I find the reported versions most unnatural, apart from the first.

 

[Annabel Lee]

. . .
He prayed that God might help him do his duty.
. . .
The mother prayed for her daughter that God might bless her with a son.
. . .
Can I please ask whether the reported speech sentences (bolded) are correct?

It would be more natural to use an infinitive construction in those two sentences:

He prayed to God to help him do his duty.​

The mother prayed to God to bless her daughter with a son.​

 

[Tait-ka]

I find the reported versions most unnatural, apart from the first.

Can you please tell me the natural reported versions?

 

[5jj]

1. She said to her father, "May you live long!"
2. She said, "May you prosper.'
3. The mother said to her daughter, "May God bless you with a son."
4. The mother said to her son, "May you return successful."

1. She wished her father a long life.
2. She wished her father a prosperous life.
3. She hoped that her daughter would be blessed with a son.
4, She wished her son a successful return.

5jj expressed the hope that Tait-ka could move on from their fascination with producing reported speech versions of unnatural speech.

 

[emsr2d2]

Like 5jj, I wouldn't use "prayed" in the indirect speech in any of them. If the first sentence, for example, said "He knelt down, bowed his head and said "Dear God, please help me do my duty", using "prayed" in the indirect speech would be fine. However, none of them indicate that the person was praying.

 

[jutfrank]

People have wildly different ideas as to what counts as prayer. Does a blessing such as May God bless you with a son count as a kind of prayer or does it have a fundamentally different illocutionary force? Is the speaker entreating God directly to act or not? Our belief systems play a part in determining the language we use.

 

[BobK]

It would be more natural to use an infinitive construction in those two sentences:

He prayed to God to help him do his duty.​

The mother prayed to God to bless her daughter with a son.​

I agree. But I applaud @Tait-ka's use of 'might' - it was just what the book was after

@5jj: I think @Tait-ka 's fascination with reported speech is more a matter of the text-book's obsession. Blame them!