Direct and reported speech
Class 7 English · Grammar · 25 questions with answers
Reported speech is three changes made together: the pronouns, the tense, and the words for time and place. Children reliably make one or two of them and lose the mark on the third. These questions build the habit of checking all three before moving on, which is the whole skill.
- Makes all three changes - pronoun, tense, time and place - in one transformation
- Reports questions using the right word order and no question mark
- Reports commands and requests with the right reporting verb
- Knows when the tense does not change
Exercise 1 of 3 · 11 questions
Change to reported speech.
Write the answer · Warm-up
Here’s one done for you
'She said, "I will come tomorrow"' → 'She said that she would come the next day.' Three changes, and check them off in order. Pronoun: I becomes she. Tense: will becomes would. Time word: tomorrow becomes the next day. Children commonly get two of the three - the time word is the one most often left as it was.
- 1)He said, "I am tired."
- 2)She said, "I will come tomorrow."
- 3)Ravi said to me, "I have finished my homework."
- 4)The teacher said, "The Earth moves round the Sun."
- 5)She said, "I went to Delhi last week."
- 6)He said, "I am writing a letter."
- 7)They said, "We will help you."
- 8)The teacher said, "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius."
- 9)She said, "I have never seen this film."
- 10)Meera said, "I can swim well."
- 11)He said to her, "I was waiting outside."
Answers
- 1) He said that he was tired.
- 2) She said that she would come the next day.
- 3) Ravi told me that he had finished his homework.
- 4) The teacher said that the Earth moves round the Sun. (A universal truth keeps its present tense.)
- 5) She said that she had gone to Delhi the previous week.
- 6) He said that he was writing a letter.
- 7) They said that they would help me.
- 8) The teacher said that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. (A universal truth keeps its present tense.)
- 9) She said that she had never seen that film.
- 10) Meera said that she could swim well.
- 11) He told her that he had been waiting outside.
Exercise 2 of 3 · 3 questions
Change to reported speech, then list the three changes you made.
Write the answer · Guided
Here’s one done for you
Writing the three changes out is slow and it is the point of this exercise. A child who names them for three sentences stops forgetting the third one, and after that they can go back to doing it in their head. It is worth the ten extra minutes here rather than the lost marks in December.
- 1)"I will meet you here tomorrow," he said.
- 2)"We are going to the market now," they said.
- 3)"I saw this yesterday," she said.
Answers
- 1) He said that he would meet me there the next day. Changes: I → he and you → me; will → would; here → there and tomorrow → the next day.
- 2) They said that they were going to the market then. Changes: we → they; are → were; now → then.
- 3) She said that she had seen that the previous day. Changes: I → she; saw → had seen; this → that and yesterday → the previous day.
Exercise 3 of 3 · 11 questions
Change to reported speech. Watch the reporting verb.
Write the answer · Practice
Here’s one done for you
'He asked, "Where do you live?"' → 'He asked where I lived.' Two things change beyond the usual three. The word order becomes that of a statement - 'where I lived', not 'where did I live' - and the question mark goes, because the sentence is no longer a question. For commands the reporting verb changes instead: told for an order, requested for a request, and the verb becomes 'to' plus its base form.
- 1)He asked, "Where do you live?"
- 2)She asked me, "Have you finished?"
- 3)Mother said to us, "Do not waste food."
- 4)"Sit down," the teacher said to the boys.
- 5)"Please help me," she said to him.
- 6)"Why are you late?" the principal asked Ria.
- 7)He asked, "Are you coming with us?"
- 8)The guard said, "Close the door."
- 9)She asked him, "What is your name?"
- 10)"Please wait here," the nurse said to us.
- 11)Father said, "Do not touch that wire."
Answers
- 1) He asked where I lived. (No question mark, and the word order becomes that of a statement.)
- 2) She asked me whether I had finished.
- 3) Mother told us not to waste food.
- 4) The teacher told the boys to sit down.
- 5) She requested him to help her.
- 6) The principal asked Ria why she was late.
- 7) He asked whether we were coming with him.
- 8) The guard told us to close the door.
- 9) She asked him what his name was.
- 10) The nurse requested us to wait there.
- 11) Father told me not to touch that wire.
While your child works
- Three changes: pronoun, tense, time and place. Ask your child to say all three out loud before writing.
- The time words are the ones forgotten - tomorrow becomes the next day, now becomes then, here becomes there.
- In reported questions, check two things: the word order is a statement's, and there is no question mark.