NARRATION

He said to her “I will come today”

Reporting Verb Reporting speech
FOLLOWING CHANGES ARE MADE TO CHANGE DIRECT SPEECH INTO INDIRECT SPEECH
:-
1) Remove commas and put that in its place, remove inverted commas of the reported
speech
2) The reporting verb is in the present or future tense, the tense of the verb in the reported
speech does not change
Example Direct: The girl says,” I may not sing today”
Indirect: The girl says that she may not sing today
3) If the reporting verb is in the past tense, the tense of the verbs in the reported speech will be
changed into their corresponding past tense .
Example: Direct: The boy said,” I write everyday” Indirect : The boy said that he wrote
every day.
4) Changes In Verb
Direct Indirect
Is was
Am was
Are were
Was had been
Were had been
Has had
Have had
Do did
Does did
5) Changes in Tenses
Direct Indirect
Present Indefinite Past indefinite
Present continuous Past continuous
Present perfect Past perfect
Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
Past Indefinite Past perfect
Past continuous Past perfect Continuous
Past perfect no change
Past perfect Continuous no change
6) Change of person:
i) 1st person of the reporting speech changes according to the subject of the reporting
verb
Example: Direct: He says ,” I am going to Delhi”
Indirect : He says that he is going to Delhi
 ii) 2nd person of the reporting speech changes according to the object of the reporting verb
Example Direct: Ram said to you ,”You are a good boy”
Indirect : Ram told you that you were a good boy
iii) Third person remains unchanged when converted to indirect speech
Example Direct: She said ,” He has come “
Indirect : She said that he had come
7) If the reporting verb said to is followed by an object ,it is changed into told while converting
it into indirect speech
Example Direct: Ram said to me,” You are a good boy”
Indirect : Ram told me that I was a good boy
8 ) In the case of interrogative sentences
i) said to is changed into asked
ii) if the question in the reporting speech begins with a helping verb , the inverted commas
are replaced by if or whether
Example Direct: He said to us,” Are the boys here?”
Indirect : He asked us whether the boys were there
9) Now changes into then
Just “ “ then
Here “ “ there
Hence “ “ thence
Thus “ “ so
Today “ “ that day
Tonight “ “ that night
Tomorrow “ “ the next day
Yesterday “ “ the previous day
Last night “ “ the previous night
Ago “ “ before
Next “ “ the following week
 NARRATION

Directions: In questions a sentence has been given in direct/indirect form. Out of the four alternatives suggested,
select the one which best expresses the same sentence in indirect/direct form and mark your answer in the
answer sheet.
1. “could you Please tell me the way?”he said.
a. He asked me please could I tell him the way. b. He asked me if I could tell him the way
d. He request me to tell him the way
c. He requested me to tell him the way, please
2. They said to him, “we will destroy your homestead”.
a. They said to him they will destroy his homestead b. They told him they would destroy their homestead.
d. They told him that they would destroy his homestead.
c. They told him that they can destroy his
homestead.
3. “You can phone from my office,” he said.
a. He said that he could phone from his office. b. He said you could phone from his office.
d. He said I can phone from my office.
c. He said that I can phone from your office
4. “Please sit down,” he said.
a. He asked her to sit down b. He said that she could sit down
d. He said her to sit down.
c. He told her that sit down
5. Keats wrote “a thing of beauty is a joy forever”.
a. Keats wrote that a thing of beauty is a joy forever. b. Keats wrote that a thing of beauty was a
joy forever.
d. Keats has written that a beautiful thing is
c. A thing of beauty was a joy forever is written by
always joyful.
Keats
6. Socrates said, “ Virtue is its own reward.”
a. Socrates said that virtue had its own rewards. b. Socrates says that virtue is its own reward.
d. Socrates said that virtue was its own reward.
c. Socrates said that virtue is its own reward.
7. The Prime Minister said that no one would be allowed to disturb the peace.
a. The Prime Minister said, “ We shall not allow anyone to disturb the peace.”
b. The Prime Minister said, “ we would not allow no one to disturb the peace.”
c. The Prime Minister said, “ no one will be allowed to disturb the peace.”
d. The Prime Minister said, “ No one can disturb the peace.”
8. The spectators said, “ Bravo! Well done, players.”
a. The spectators shouted that the players were doing very well.
b. The spectators exclaimed with joy that the players were doing very well.
c. The spectators applauded the players saying that they had done well.
d. The spectators applauded the players joyfully to do well.
9. I said to my friend, “ Good Morning. Let us go for a picnic today.”
a. I told good morning to my friend, and asked to go for a picnic that day
b. I wished my friend good morning and proposed that we should go for a picnic that day.
c. I wished my friend good morning and proposed that they should go for a picnic that day
d. I told good morning to my friend and suggested to go for a picnic today.
10. The new student asked the old one, “ Do you know my name?”
a. The new student asked the old one if he had known his name.
b. The new student asked the old one that whether he knew his name.
c. The new student asked the old one did he know his name
d. The new student asked the old one if he knows his name.
11. I warned her that I could no longer tolerate her coming late.
a. I said to her, “ You can no longer tolerate my coming late.”
b. I said to her, “ I can no longer tolerate your coming late.”
 c. I said to her, “ He can no longer ! tolerate her coming late.”
d. I said to her, “ I can no longer tolerate she coming late.”
12. I said to my mother, “I will certainly take you to Bangalore this week.”
a. I told my mother he would certainly take her to Bangalore that week.
b. I told my mother that I would certainly take her to Bangalore that week.
c. I told my mother that she would certainly take her to Bangalore that week
d. I told my mother that I would take you to Bangalore that week.
13. He said that he goes for a walk every morning.
a. He said, “ I went for a walk every morning”.
b. He said , “ I go for a walk every morning.”
c. He said , “ I will go for a walk every morning”.
d. He said, “ He goes for a walk every morning”.
14. I reiterated , “I don’t care about the job.”
a. I reiterated I didn’t care about the job. b. I said again and again I didn’t care about the job.
d. I repeatedly said that I cared about the job.
c. I reiterated that I did not care about the job.
15. I said to my brother, “ Let us go to some hill station for a change.”
a. I suggested to my brother that they should go to b. I suggested to my brother that we should go to some
some hill station for a change. hill station for a change.
d. I suggested to my brother that let them go to some hill
c. I suggested to my brother that let us go to some
station for a change.
hill station for a change.
16. I wondered how many discoveries went unheeded.
a. I said, “ how many discoveries have gone unheeded?”
b. I said, “ how many discoveries went unheeded?”
c. I said, “ Do discoveries go unheeded?”
d. I said, “ how many discoveries go unheeded?”
17. Gopan said to me, “ Can you do these sums for me?”
a. Gopan asked me if I could do those sums for him. b. Gopan asked me if can do those sums for him.
d. Gopan asked me if I could do these sums for him.
c. Gopan asked me if I can do these sums for him.
18. He said to the judge, “I did not commit this crime.”
a. He told the judge that he had not committed that b. He told the judge that he did not commit the
crime. crime.
d. He told the judge that he had not committed this
c. He told the judge that he had not committed the
crime.
crime.
19. Rahul said, “ I will do it now or never”.
a. Rahul said that he will do it now or never. b. Rahul said that he will now or never do it.
d. Rahul said that he would now or never do it.
c. Rahul said that he would do it then or never.
20. I said to her , “ all your faults will be pardoned if you confess them.”
a. I told her that all her faults will be pardoned if you confess them.
b. I told her that all her faults would be pardoned if she confessed them.
c. I told her that all her faults will have to be pardoned if she confessed them.
d. I told her that all her faults would have to be pardoned if she confessed them.
21. He said to Sita, “ When do you intend to pay back the money you borrowed from me?”
a. He enquired Sita when did she intend to pay back the money she borrowed from him.
b. He enquired Sita when she intended to pay back the money she borrowed from him.
c. He enquired Sita when she intended to pay back the money she had borrowed from him.
d. He enquired when Sita intended to pay back the money she borrowed from him.
22. Shanker said to his friend, “ Look out! There is a snake behind you.”
a. Shanker told his friend to look out as there was a snake behind him
b. Shanker exclaimed to his friend with surprise that there was a snake behind him.
c. Seeing a snake behind him, shanker asked his friend to look out.
d. Shanker warned his friend that there was a snake behind him.
23. She said, “ I’ll give you Rs. 100 to keep your mounth shut”
a. She said that she would give him Rs 100 to keep his mouth shut.
 b. She offered him Rs 100 to keep to keep his mouth shut.
c. She suggested to him that she will give him Rs 100 to keep his mouth shut.
d. She proposed that she would give him Rs 100 to keep him mouth shut.
24. The teacher said to the student, “ why were you absent yesterday?”
a. The teacher asked the student why had been he absent the previous day.
b. The teacher asked the student why had he been absent the previous day.
c. The teacher informed the student why he had been absent the next day
d. The teacher asked the student why he had been absent the previous day.
25. The teacher said to Ashok, “ I shall report the matter to the principal if you misbehave again.”
a. The teacher told Ashok that he would be reporting the matter to the Principal if he misbehaved again.
b. The teacher warned Ashok that he would report the matter to the Principal if he misbehaved again.
c. The teacher threatened Ashok to report the matter to the Principal if he misbehave again.
d. The teacher cautioned Ashok about reporting the matter to the Principal if he misbehaves again.

Answers
1 B 6 A 11 B 16 D 21 C

2 D 7 C 12 B 17 A 22 D

3 A 8 C 13 B 18 A 23 A

4 A 9 B 14 C 19 C 24 D

5 A 10 D 15 B 20 B 25 A