Exercises
  • My Vote For Reported Speech

Dialogue Reporting Exercises

Change into Indirect Speech

I. Statements:

1. He says, “Switzerland is the heaven on earth.”
ans : He said that Switzerland is the heaven on earth.
Answer
2. The Shopkeeper says, “Prices are shooting up alarmingly.”
ans : The shopkeeper says that prices are shooting up alarmingly.
Answer
3. She said, “Nobody can solve the problem.”
ans : she said that nobody could solve the problem.
Answer
4. Antony said, “Martin has gone home.”
ans : Antony said that Martin had gone home.
Answer
5. She said, “I shall be taking a test.”
ans : She said that she would be taking a test.
Answer

II. Questions (Auxiliary & WH-Questions):

1. The man said, “Is your father at home?”
ans : The man asked me whether my father was at home.
Answer
2. The clerk asked his manager, “Shall I email this letter again, Sir?”
ans : The clerk asked his manager politely if he should email that letter again.
Answer
3. She said, “Will you tell me what it means, David?”
ans : She asked David if he would tell her what it meant.
Answer
4. She said to me, “How have you done this sum?rdquo;
ans : She asked me how I had done that sum.
Answer
5. The policeman said to the stranger, “Who are you? Where do you come from?”
ans : The policeman enquired the stranger who he was and where he came from.
Answer

III. Imperatives & Exclamatory Sentences:

1. The wolf said to the lamb, “Don’t make the water muddy.”
ans : The wolf commanded the lumb not to make the water dirty.
Answer
2. The old man said, “Thief! Thief! Catch him!”
ans : The old man shouted to the crowd to catch the thief.
Answer
3. “Ooh! what a dirty child!” said the nurse.
ans : The nurse exclaimed disgustedly that the child was very dirty.
Answer
4. The accused said to the judge, “Let me meet my family before I die, sir.rdquo;
ans : The accused begged the judge to allow him to meet his children before he died.
Answer
5. The on-lookers said, “Bravo! Good hit, Jems!”
ans : The on-lookers applauded Jems for his good hit.
Answer

Report the Following Dialogue:

CustomerCan I have a cigarette, please?
SaleswomanOf course, but you cannot smoke here.
CustomerWhat?
SaleswomanYes sir, smoking is prohibited here.
CustomerThat’s funny. You sell cigarettes in here, but you prohibit smoking?
Saleswoman(smilingly) We also sell bath towels here, sir.
View Answer
Answer: A man who has just bought a cigarette in a departmental store was warned by the saleswoman not to smoke there. The agitated customer retorted by saying that it was odd that the store that sold cigarettes prohibited smoking. The saleswoman smilingly said that they also sold bath towels there.
Reported Speech Examples
Dialogue Reporting Definition

The Participle

The Adverb

The Pronoun

Learning Competency

Modal auxiliaries are used for
1.Probability - will ought
2.Possibility - can, could, may, might