CBSE Class 10 English Reported Speech Worksheet

REPORTED SPEECH-DIRECT AND INDIRECT

What is a Direct Speech?
In a Direct Speech, the speaker‘s own words are quoted without making any change.
For example: Ravi said, ―Mohit has gone to Delhi.‖

What is an Indirect Speech?
In an Indirect Speech, the essence of the Speaker‘s words is given.
For Example: Ravi said that Mohit had gone to Delhi.

Some Important Points

1. In a Direct Speech-
(a) The Speaker‘s actual words are placed within inverted commas (―).
(b) His actual words start with a capital letter.
(c) There is a comma after the reporting verb.
(d) At the end of his actual words, a full stop or a question mark or a sign of exclamation is put according to the need of the sentence.
(e) The tense of the speaker‘s words remains the same.

2. In an Indirect Speech-
(a) Inverted commas are not used.
(b) Only the first letter of the sentence starts with a capital letter.
(c) There is no comma after the reporting verb.
(d) Conjunctions like that, to, if/whether are used to link the reporting verb and the reported speech.
(e) At the end of the sentence, only a full stop is put. Question marks are not allowed.
(f) The tense of the speaker‘s words undergoes a change.

Note: If the speaker‘s words express a habitual action, a universal truth, a scientific statement, a proverb or a permanent truth, the tense of the speaker‘s words remain the same.

Changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech

1. Tense And Verb Forms

(a) Simple Present-Simple Past
Direct: Rahul said to me, ―I am your friend.‖
Indirect: Rahul told me that he was my friend.

(c) Present Continuous-Past Continuous
Direct: Rahul said, ―I am playing.‖
Indirect: Rahul said that he was playing.

(d) Present Perfect- Past Perfect
Direct: Rahul said, ―I Have done my work.‖
Indirect: Rahul said that he had done his work.

(e) Present Perfect Continuous – Past Perfect Continuous
Direct: Rahul said, ―I have been playing since morning.‖
Indirect: Rahul said that he had been playing since morning.

(f) Simple Past – Past perfect
Direct: Rahul said, ―I did my work.‖
Indirect: Rahul said that he had done his work.

(g) Past Continuous- Past perfect Continuous
Direct: Rahul said, ―I was doing my work.‖
Indirect: Rahul said that he had been doing his work.

2. Change of Time, Place
Words showing nearness of time and place change into words showing distance, time and place.
Now-then
Ago-before
This-that
These-those
Here-there
Today-that day
Tomorrow- the following day/the next day
Yesterday-the previous day/ the day before
Last night- the previous night
Last week- the previous week
Will- would
May-might
Can-could

3. Change of Pronouns
S - First person according to subject
O - Second person according to object.
N - Third person no change.

4. Change of Different Kinds of Sentences

(a) Questions
(I) „Wh‟ questions: The questions beginning with which, when, where, why, how, whose, etc. do not need any conjunction.
For example,
He said to me, ―which book were you reading last night?‖ (Direct)
He asked me which book I had been reading the previous night. (Indirect)
(II) Yes/No questions: The question that begin with helping verbs like is, am, are, was, were, will, shall, do, does, it, has, have, had, etc., that the conjunction ‗if or ‗whether‘.
For example,
The teacher said to children, ―Have you finished your work?‖ (Direct)
The teacher asked the children if they had finished their work. (Indirect)

(b) Commands:
(i) The imperative sentences or commands take the conjunction ‗to‘.
(ii) The reporting verb ‗said‘ or ‗said to‘ changes into ordered, commanded, advised or requested.
For example:
The doctor said to the patient, ―Take this tablet daily.‖ (Direct)
The doctor advised to patient to take that tablet daily. (Indirect)
The master said to the servant, ―Bring me a glass of milk.‖ (Direct)
The master ordered the servant to bring him a glass of milk. (Indirect)

(c) Exclamations:
(i) The reporting verb ‗said‘ is changed into exclaimed, exclaimed with joy exclaimed with sorrow, exclaimed with wonder, wished or prayed etc.
(ii) The conjunction ‗that‘ is used to introduce the reported speech.
For example,
He said, ―What a beautiful painting!‖(Direct)
He exclaimed with wonder that it was a beautiful painting. (Indirect)
The boys said, ―Hurrah! We have won the match.‖(Direct)
The boys exclaimed with joy that they had won the match. (Indirect)

(d) Sentences beginning with “Let”:
(i) The man said to the servant, ―let the children play.‖ (Direct)
The man asked the servant to let the children play. (Indirect)
(ii) She said to her friend, ―Let us go for a picnic.‖ (Direct)
She proposed to her friends that they should go for picnic. (Indirect)
(iii) The Principal said to the peon, ―Don‘t let the children enter my study.‖ (Direct)
The Principal ordered the peon not to let the children enter his study. (Indirect)

Solved Example
Read the conversation below and complete the report that follows.
Lady: What a beautiful painting! Is it for sale?
Shopkeeper: No, ma‘am. This painting is not for sale.
The lady exclaimed with appreciation (a)………………… and inquired the shopkeeper (b) ……………….. .
The shopkeeper answered in the negative informing the lady that(c)…………….
Answer.
(a) that was a beautiful painting
(b) if that was for sale
(c) that painting was not for sale

DETERMINERS
- Determiners are words placed before nouns or pronouns to decide or fix their meaning.
- They tell us ‗how many‘ or ‗how much‘.
- Determiners are words which come before nouns.
- They contain several classes of words, including pronouns and adjectives
- They determine or limit the noun by giving some additional information about it.
- Determiners show whether a noun refers to is a general or a specific object, person or place.
- They indicate which or how many things the noun refers to.
- Determiners define or limit a noun to the singular or plural.
- They indicate amount or quantity.
- Determiners may precede numerals too.

Solved Exercises

1.Fill in the blanks using suitable determiners.
(a) …………………………….. (a/an/the) man went for (b) …………………………….. (a/an/the) holiday to (c) …………………………….. (a/an/the) place near (d) …………………………….. (a/an/the) sea., (e)…………………………….. (every/all/some) morning he went for a swim in the sea. On (f) …………………………….. (all/most/every) days the sea was rough, but on (g) …………………………….. (every/most/some) days it was calm.
Answer:
(a) a
(b) a
(c) a
(d) the
(e) every
(f) most
(g) some

2.Savita has lost the (a) …………………………. pens she had. Now she has spent the (b) …………………………. money she had on buying more. So she is giving (c) …………………………. worried look.
Answer:
(a) few
(b) little
(c) a

3.There are so (a) …………………………. ways of entertainment in life. (b) …………………………. circus is one of the most entertaining media. Last Sunday (c) …………………………. of (d) …………………………. friends went to see the Diamond Circus. My uncle took us there. (e) …………………………. one paid for (f) …………………………. ticket.
Answer:
(a) many
(b) The
(c) some
(d) our
(e) Every
(f) his

Question. Sam : I don’t want to participate in the competition.
John : I did not practice well.
Sam told John that__________________________________.
John replied that _________________________________.
Answer. he did not want to participate in the competition.
he had not practiced well

Question. Mohan : Where did you play with my son yesterday?
Ravi : I played in the football ground yesterday.
Mohan asked Ravi where______________________________.
Ravi replied that ___________________________________.
Answer. he had played with his son the previous day.
he had played in the football ground the previous day.

Question. Raju : How are you feeling today?
Riya: I am feeling better but I need more rest.
Raju asked Riya how ___________________________.
Riya replied that _______________________________.
Answer. she was feeling that day.
she was feeling better but she needed more rest.

Question. Doctor: Did you take the medicine on time?”
Patient: I did.
Doctor asked the patient if____________________________.
Patient replied that ______________________.
Answer. he had taken the medicine on time.
he had.

Question. Lady: What is the cost of this packet?
Shopkeeper: The cost of this packet was Rs. 40 till yesterday but now it is Rs. 45.
The lady asked the shopkeeper what ________________________.
Shopkeeper replied that ______________________________________________
Answer. the cost of that packet was.
the cost of that packet had been Rs. 40 till the previous day but then it was
Rs. 45.

Question. Seeing the gardener doing something Montu got curious .Report his curiosity .
“ Gardener uncle ,What are you doing here?”
Answer. What he was doing there.

Question. When the teacher asked about completion of the given work
Raj said, “ Madam ,I have completed my work.”
Report the response of Raj.
Answer. Raj told that he had completed his work.

Question. While returning home Sunil came across a crowd and asked one of the men ,“ What happened ?”
Report his question.
Answer. Sunil asked /enquired what had happened.

Question. Friends of Sumit were planning to go watching the newly released movie. They said to him ,” Would you join us or not ?”
Report the question of his friends.
Answer. Friends of Sumit asked him whether he would join them or not.

Question. Sumit said to his friends’ “ Yes !”
Report the response of Sumit.
Answer. Sumit replied / answered in affirmative.

Read the conversation between two friends, Shashi and Laxmi, complete the paragraph that follows.

Question. Shashi : Why have you not brought my dress?
Laxmi : I haven‘t brought it because I had gone to my cousin‘s house with my mother, so I forgot to pack the dress.
Shashi : Don‘t give me lame excuses. Tell me the truth.
Laxmi: I am sorry Shashi. I was playing with my friends till late.
Shashi asked Laxmi (a) __________________. Laxmi said that (b)_____________________________.
Shashi (c) ______________________________. Laxmi said (d) ____________________ and further added that she had been playing with her friend till late.
Answer. 
a. Why she had not brought her dress.
b. she had not brought it because she had gone to her cousin‘s house with her mother so she had forgotten to pack the dress.
c. scolded her and said not to give her lame excuses and tell her the truth.
d. that she was sorry

Rewrite the following sentences by changing them into indirect speech.

Question. Nisha said to her sister, "I have something to show you".
Nisha told __________________.
Answer. that she had something to show her.

Question. The doctor said to the patient, "Take these tablets daily before you go to bed".
The doctor advised __________________.
Answer. the patient to take those tablets daily before he went to bed.

Question. Mr. Rajora said to his wife, "Why don't you sleep early?".
Mr. Rajora asked __________________.
Answer. his wife why she did not sleep early.

Question. The poor beggar said, "Give me something to eat".
The poor beggar begged __________________.
Answer. to give him something to eat.

Question. Ram said, "Did you like this movie?"
Ram asked __________________.
Answer. if I liked that movie.

Question. They said, "Hurrah! we have won the match."
They exclaimed __________________.
Answer. with joy that they had won the match.

Question. "Shoot the prisoner," said the officer.
The officer commanded __________________.
Answer. to shoot the prisoner.

Question. She said to the teacher, "Please explain this question to me."
She requested __________________.
Answer. to explain that question to her.

Question. The teacher said to Ramesh, ―Will you do my work now?‖
The teacher asked Ramesh _______________________.
Answer. if he would do his work then.

Question. The Principal said to the clerk, ―Do this work or leave the office.‖
The principal ordered the clerk ________________________.
Answer. to do that work or leave the office.

Question. My father said, “Honesty is the best policy”.
Answer. My father said that honesty is the best policy.

Question. I said to him, "I will not go there tomorrow."
Answer. I told him that I would not go there the next day.

Question. The clerk said to me, "I will not attend the office tomorrow."
Answer. The clerk told me that he would not attend the next day

Question. Hari said to them, "Mohan did not sleep here yesterday."
Answer. Hari said to them, "Mohan did not sleep here the previous day."

Question. Gita said to Rita, "Will you help me in this work?"
Answer. Gita asked Rita if she would help her in that work.

Question. Sadhna said to me, "Can you go with me to the station?"
Answer. Sadhna asked if I could go with her to the station.

Question. Her father said to me, "Do you know where Prem is?"
Answer. Her father asked if I knew where was Prem.

Question. I said to him, "Who are you?"
Answer. I asked who he was

Question. Ram said to me, "Why do you not go home?"
Answer. Ram asked me why I did not go home.

Question. My mother said, "Watch the milk. Don’t let it boil over?" .
Answer. My mother asked to watch the milk and forbade to let it boil over.

Question. He said to her, "Go away from here at once."
Answer. He asked her to go away from there at once.

Question. The teacher said to the boys, "Work hard."
Answer. The teacher advised the boys to work hard.

Question. The doctor said to the patient, "Do not eat much to escape from disease."
Answer.The doctor forbade the patient to eat much to escape from disease.

Question. The servant said to him, "Sir, grant me leave for two days."
Answer. The servant requested his sir to grant him leave for two days.

Question. He said, "Rahul. Good Morning !”
Answer. He wished Rahul good morning. or He wished good morning to Rahul.

Question. He shouted, "Let me go."
Answer. He shouted that he should go.'

Question. The spectators said, "Bravo! Well done."
Answer. The spectators applauded by saying well done.

Question. The captain said, "Hurrah! We have won the match."
Answer. The captain exclaimed with joy that they had won the match.

Question.The doctor said, "Alas! The Poor man is no more."
Answer. The doctor exclaimed with grief that the poor man was no more.

Question. The teacher said to me, "What a beautiful picture it is !"
Answer. The teacher exclaimed with joy that it was a very beautiful scene.

Question. Mohan said, "Hi Ajay ! What are you doing ?!"
Answer. Mohan greeted Ajay and asked what he was doing.