Read the following sentences and change them into reported speech.

1. Mimi said, “I have been writing this letter.”

2. I said, “Sam’s driving the car.”
3. My uncle said, “I am cooking lunch.”
4. My brother said, “I had already eaten.”
5. The old lady said to the girl, “Where do you come from?”
6. Jon said, “I like to play rugby.”
7. My mother said, “I get up early every morning.”
8. The maths teacher said, “Three divided by three is one.”
9. Mohit said, “Switzerland is a very beautiful country.”
10. Ruben said, “It is very cold outside.”
11. The teacher said, “The French Revolution took place in 1789.”
12. Uma said, “I saw a Royal Bengal Tiger in the zoo.”
13. Luke said, “I can do this homework.”
14. Aswini said to her mother, “I have passed the test”.
15. Daphne said to Antony, “I will go to London tomorrow.”
16. The boy said, “My father is sleeping.”
17. The traffic police said to us, “Where are you going?”
18. The man shouted, “Let me go.”
19. Shivina said, “Alas! I am lost.”
20. “I know her contact number,” said Helena.
21. Stefen said, “My granny is making pasta.”
22. Raj said to Simran, “Have you ever been to the National Museum?”
23. Anish said to Sid, “Please lend me the book.”
24. The teacher said to the parents, “Shelly is working very hard.”
25. Joshua said, “I have completed my assignment.”
26. I said to Alka, “How long will you stay here?”
27. The child told his dad, “I want an ice cream.”
28. Meera said, “I am not feeling well.”
29. The teacher said to Vivek, “Draw the diagram of the plant’s parts.”
30. Irin said, “I am playing the piano.”
31. My mother said to me, “Help me carry this bag.”
32. Rahul said, “My sister is very helpful.”
33. The news reporter said, “The flight will be delayed by a few hours due to heavy rains.”
34. Urmi said to her mother, “I want a slice of pizza.”
35. I said to Daniel, “Are you reading this book?”

Answers
1. Mimi said that she had been writing that letter.
2. I said that Sam was driving the car.
3. My uncle said that he was cooking lunch.
4. My brother said that he had already eaten.
5. The old lady asked the girl where she came from.
6. Jon said that he likes to play rugby.
7. My mother said that she gets up early every morning.
8. The maths teacher said that three divided by three is one.
9. Mohit said that Switzerland was a very beautiful country.
 10. Ruben said that it was very cold outside.
11. The teacher said that the French Revolution took place in 1789.
12. Uma said that she saw a Royal Bengal Tiger in the zoo.
13. Luke said that he could do that homework.
14. Aswini told her mother that she had passed the test.
15. Daphne informed Antony that she would go to London the next day.
16. The boy said that his father was sleeping.
17. The traffic police asked us where we were going.
18. The man shouted to them to let him go.
19. Shivina exclaimed sadly that she was lost.
20. Helena said that she knew her contact number.
21. Stefen said that his granny was making pasta.
22. Raj asked Simran if she had ever been to the National Museum.
23. Anish requested Sid to lend him the book.
24. The teacher told the parents that Shelly was working very hard.
25. Joshua said that he had completed his assignment.
26. I asked Alka how long she would stay there.
27. The child told his dad that he wants an ice cream.
28. Meera said that she was not feeling well.
29. The teacher instructed Vivek to draw the diagram of the plant’s parts.
30. Irin said that she was playing the piano.
31. My mother asked me to help her carry the bag.
32. Rahul said that his sister was very helpful.
33. The news reporter said that the flight would be delayed by a few hours due to heavy rains.
34. Urmi said to her mother that she wanted a slice of pizza.
I asked Daniel if he was reading that book. 9. Sentences with ‘Let’.

 ‘Let’ is used in various meanings.

(i) ‘Let’ is used to make a proposal.

 First change the reporting verb into ‘proposed’ or ‘suggested’.

 Use ‘should’ instead of ‘let’.
Example:
Direct: He said to me, “Let us go home.”
Indirect: He suggested to me that we should go home.

(ii) ‘Let’ is used as ‘to allow’.

 In Indirect Speech, we change the reporting verb to ‘requested’ or ‘ordered’.

 We start Reported Speech with ‘to’.
Direct: Ram said to Mohan, “Let him do it.”
Indirect: Ram ordered Mohan to let him do that.
Or
Ram told Mohan that he might be allowed to do that.

10. Sentences with Question Tags

(i) In the indirect speech the question-tag is usually left.
(ii) In indirect speech these words are removed and the word ‘respectfully’ is used in the reporting
clause.
Direct: Mahesh said, “Sir, may I go home?”
Indirect: Mahesh respectfully asked his sir if he might go home.

11. Sentences with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’

Direct : He said, “Can you dance?” And I said, “No.”
Indirect: He asked me if I could dance and I replied that I couldn’t.
Direct : My mother said, “Will you come home on time?” And I said, “Yes.”
Indirect: My mother asked me if I would come home on time and I replied that I would.

Note : ‘Yes’ of ‘No’ hides a complete sentence. Therefore, change yes/no into a short answer.

Direct : She said to me, “You didn’t break the window, did you?”
Indirect: She asked me if/whether I had broken the window.
Direct : He said to Geeta, “You are going to the station, aren’t you?”
Indirect: He asked Geeta if/ whether she was going to the station.

12. Sentences with ‘have to’ or ‘had to’

(i) Change ‘have to’ according to the rules.
(ii) But change ‘had to’ into ‘had had to’ in the indirect speech.
Direct : Hari said, “I have to work a lot.”
Indirect: Hari said that he had to work a lot.
Direct : Hari said, “I had to work a lot.”
Indirect: Hari said that he had had to work a lot.

13. Sentences with ‘Sir’, ‘Madam’ or ‘Your Honour’ etc.

 Generally such words are used to show respect to the person concerned.

You can master in English Grammar of various classes by our articles like Tenses, Clauses,
Prepositions, Story writing, Unseen Passage, Notice Writing etc.

14. Exclamations and Wishes

Sometimes Exclamatory sentences contain exclamations like Hurrah!, Alas!, Oh!, Heavens!,
Bravo, etc. Such exclamatory words are removed in the indirect speech and we use ‘exclaimed
with sorrow’, exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with surprise, etc. instead of ‘said’.
Examples:

1. Direct : Rohan said, “Hurrah! We won the match.”

Indirect: Rohan exclaimed with joy that they had won the match.
2. Direct : Reema said, “Alas! Karina’s mother is suffering from cancer.”
Indirect: Reema exclaimed with sorrow that Karina’s mother was suffering from cancer.
3. Direct : The captain said to Kapil, “Bravo! You scored 89 runs.”
Indirect: The captain exclaimed with praise that he (Kapil) had scored 89 runs.

(a) Look at these sentences.

1. Direct : My mother said, “May God bless you!”

Indirect: My mother prayed to God for my well being.
2. Direct : She said, “May God save the country!”
Indirect: She prayed to God to save the country.
3. Direct : They said to the king, “Long live!”
Indirect: They blessed the king for his long life.
(b) Look at these sentences.

1. Direct : Mohan said, “What a pity!”

Indirect: Mohan exclaimed that it was a great pity.
2. Direct : I said, “How stupid he is!”
Indirect: I exclaimed that it was a very stupid of him.
3. Direct : “What a terrible sight it is!” said the traveller.
Indirect: The traveller exclaimed that it was a very terrible sight.
All the sentences in inverted commas are exclamatory sentences.

(i) Use ‘exclaimed’ in place of ‘said’ in the reporting verb in the indirect speech.
(ii) In Indirect sentences, we use exclamatory sentences as statements.
(iii) Indirect speech begins with that and full stop (•) is used instead of the exclamation mark (!).

Exercise (Solved)

Change the following sentences into Indirect Speech:

(i) He said, “I will do it now.”

Answer: He said that he would do it then.

(ii) He says, “Honesty is the best policy.”

Answer: He says that honesty is the best policy.

(iii) Ramesh says, “I have written a letter.”

Answer: Ramesh says that he has written a letter.

(iv) She said, “Mahesh will be reading a book.”

Answer: She said that Mahesh would be reading a book.

(v) She said, “Where is your father?”

Answer: She inquired where his father was.

(vi) He said to me, “Please take your book.”

Answer: He requested me to take my book.

(vii) The Principal said to the peon, “Let this boy go out.”
Answer: The Principal ordered the peon to let that boy go out.

(viii) He said to me, “May you live long!”

Answer: He prayed that I might live long.

(ix) She said, “Goodbye friends!”

Answer: She bade goodbye to her friends.

(ix) The student said, “Alas! I wasted my time last year.”

Answer: The student regretted that he had wasted his time the previous.