Assessment

Reported Speech
Exercises for Class 10
Here is an exercise on the
transformation of direct
speech to indirect speech.
Go through the following
sentences, work them out
and then check your
answers to assess how far
you have understood their
usage.
Change as directed
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.”

1. The teacher said, “The French Revolution took place in 1789.”

2. Uma said, “I saw a Royal Bengal Tiger in the zoo.”
3. Luke said, “I can do this homework.”
4. Aswini said to her mother, “I have passed the test”.
5. Daphne said to Antony, “I will go to London tomorrow.”
6. The boy said, “My father is sleeping.”
7. The traffic police said to us, “Where are you going?”
8. The man shouted, “Let me go.”
9. Shivina said, “Alas! I am lost.”
10. “I know her contact number,” said Helena.
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.

Do you know how to report what somebody else said? Test what you know
with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.
Look at these examples to see how we can tell someone what another
person said.
direct speech: 'I love the Toy Story films,' she said.
indirect speech: She said she loved the Toy Story films.

direct speech: 'I worked as a waiter before becoming a chef,' he said.

indirect speech: He said he'd worked as a waiter before becoming a chef.

direct speech: 'I'll phone you tomorrow,' he said.

indirect speech: He said he'd phone me the next day.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation
Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said. To do
this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech.
direct speech: 'I work in a bank,' said Daniel.
indirect speech: Daniel said that he worked in a bank.
In indirect speech, we often use a tense which is 'further back' in the past
(e.g. worked) than the tense originally used (e.g. work). This is called
'backshift'. We also may need to change other words that were used, for
example pronouns.