Indirect speech

Report the following direct sentences:

Tenzin said, 'I take delight in reading books these days.'

• Tenzin said he took delight in reading books those days.

• Tenzin said he take delight in reading books those days.

• Tenzin said I take delight in reading books those days.

• Tenzin said, 'he takes delight in reading books these days.'

Answer explanation

To report Tenzin's direct speech, change it to indirect speech: Tenzin said that he took delight in reading books those days. Note the change in tense and pronoun.

Timothy said, 'Where are you?"

• Timothy asked where you are.

• Timothy asked him where I was.

• Timothy asked him where was he.

• Timothy asked him where he was.

Answer explanation

Timothy's question is reported in indirect speech. The correct transformation is 'where he was' to maintain the past tense and third-person perspective, making 'Timothy asked him where he was' the accurate choice.

The austere teacher said to his students, 'Do not talk back to elders.'

• The austere teacher told us do not talk back to elders.

• The austere teacher told them not to talk back to elders.

• The austere teacher said to us not to talk back to teacher.

• The austere teacher told us to not to talk back.

Answer explanation

The correct choice, 'The austere teacher told them not to talk back to elders,' accurately reflects the teacher's instruction to students about respecting elders, maintaining the original meaning and context.

Yelena said, 'I wrote the essay yesterday.'

• Yelena asked she wrote the essay the previous day.

• Yelena stated that she had wrote the precious day.

• Yelena said that she had written the essay the day before.

• Yelena said she had written the essay yesterday.

Answer explanation

The correct choice is 'Yelena said that she had written the essay the day before.' This accurately reflects the past tense and the shift from 'yesterday' to 'the day before' in reported speech.

Tashi said, 'I worked as a waiter before becoming a chef.'

• Tashi said I worked as a waiter before becoming a chef.

• Tashi recalled he worked as a waiter before becoming a chef.

• Tashi stated he had worked as a waiter before becoming a chef.

• Tashi said he worked as a waiter before became a chef.

Answer explanation

The correct choice, 'Tashi stated he had worked as a waiter before becoming a chef,' accurately reflects the past perfect tense used in the original statement, indicating a completed action before another past action.

Grey said, 'Can you teach me English?'

• Gray said if she can teach him English.

• Grey asked if she could teach him English.

• Grey inquired if she could taught him English.

• Grey asked if could she teach him English.

Answer explanation

The correct choice is 'Grey asked if she could teach him English.' This accurately reflects the original question's structure and maintains proper grammar, using 'could' for polite requests.

'I have hurt my leg,' he said.

• He said he has hurt his leg.

• He said he had hurted his leg.

• He stated he had hurt his leg.

• He stated he have hurt his leg.

Answer explanation

The correct choice is 'He stated he had hurt his leg.' because it accurately reflects the past perfect tense used in the original statement, while the other options contain grammatical errors or incorrect tense.

She said, 'go and fetch me water.'

• She told him to went and fetched her water.

• She ordered him to go and fetch her water.

• She told him go and fetch her water.

• She told me to go and fetch my water.

Answer explanation

The correct choice is 'She ordered him to go and fetch her water.' because it accurately reflects the imperative nature of the original statement, maintaining the command form and the correct pronouns.

Tom said to his friends, 'Where is Sam?'

• Tom asked them where is Sam.

• Tom asked his friends where was Sam.'

• Tom said his friend where Sam was.

• Tom asked his friends where Sam was.

Answer explanation

The correct choice is 'Tom asked his friends where Sam was.' because it accurately reflects the reported speech structure, changing 'is' to 'was' to match the past tense of the original statement.

Report the following sentence:

The teacher told the students, 'Open your books and read.'

• The teacher told the students open your books and read.

• The teacher told the students to opened your books and read.

• The teacher told the students to open their books and read.

• The teacher told the students opened their books and read.

Answer explanation

The correct choice is 'The teacher told the students to open their books and read.' This accurately reports the command using 'to open' in the infinitive form, which is standard in reported speech.