Set-1: Re-write the following passage in the indirect speech:
‘Have you seen your mother, Jerry?’ ‘I see her every summer. She sends for me.’ I wanted to cry out. ‘Why are you not with her? How can she let you go away again?’ He said, ‘She comes up here from Manville whenever she can. She does not have a job now.’
Answer: I asked Jerry if he had seen his mother. Jerry replied that he saw her every summer and added that she sent for him. I had wanted to cry out and asked why he was you not with her and also asked how she could let him go away again. He said that she went up there from Manville whenever she could and added that she did not have a job then.
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Set-2: Re-write the following passage in the indirect speech:
‘Where are you from?’ said the teacher. ‘I am from Nepal,’ said the student. ‘How did you find Dhaka when you first arrived?’ said the teacher. ‘Well, I like it. I think the city is very beautiful,’ said the student.
Set-3: Re-write the following passage in the indirect speech:
‘I came here yesterday from my village,’ he said. ‘Why did you come?’ I asked. ‘My mother sent me to you with this letter.’ ‘How is your mother? I have not seen her for a long time. I hope she is quite well.’
Answer: He said that he had gone there the previous day from his village. I asked him why he had gone. He replied that his mother had sent him to me with that letter. I asked how his mother was and said that I had not seen her for a long time and added that I hoped she was quite well.
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Set-4: Re-write the following passage in the indirect speech:
Once I asked a little girl, ‘What’s your mother’s name?’ She replied cleverly, ‘I know my mother’s name but I won’t tell you that.’ I said, ‘What a clever girl you are! May you prosper in life.’
Set-5: Re-write the following passage in the indirect speech:
Once I said to a sweet little girl, ‘What’s your mother’s name?’ She replied cleverly, ‘I know my mother’s name but I won’t tell you that.’ I said, ‘What a clever girl you are!’ ‘I don’t tell my mother’s name to anybody whom I don’t know,’ she spoke with an air of confidence.
Answer: Once I asked a sweet little girl what her mother’s name was. She replied cleverly that she knew her mother’s name but she would not tell me that. I exclaimed with wonder that she was a very clever girl. She spoke with an air of confidence that she did not tell her mother’s name to anybody whom she didn’t know.
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Set-6: Re-write the following passage in the reported speech:
‘May I come in, sir?’ a boy standing at the door said to him. Then without waiting for his reply the boy entered the room and said, ‘Sir, I have come from Palashpur with a letter from Mr. Ajit Bose.’
‘Ajit Bose? How is he?’ he said smiling. ‘He is not well. He has been suffering from a serious illness for two years,’ the boy said. ‘How sad it is! May God cure him,’ he said.
Set-7: Re-write the following passage in the indirect speech:
‘Where did you go yesterday?’ said Lipi. ‘I went to Chittagong to see my mother,’ said Mina. ‘She has been suffering from high blood pressure.’ ‘Is she sound now?’ said Lipi. ‘No,’ said Mina.
Answer: Lipi asked Mina where she had gone the previous day. Mina replied that she had gone to Chittagong to see her mother and said that she had been suffering from high blood pressure. Lipi asked if she was sound then. Mina replied in the negative.
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Set-8: Re-write the following in the reported speech:
‘I’ll pay for it,’ he said. ‘I broke it, I brought the exe down careless.’ ‘But no one hits accurately every time, Jerry. Moreover, the fault was in the wood of the handle. I’ll see the man who I have bought it from,’ I told him.
Answer: Try yourself
Set-4: Re-write the following passage in the indirect speech:
Once I asked a little girl, ‘What’s your mother’s name?’ She replied cleverly, ‘I know my mother’s name but I won’t tell you that.’ I said, ‘What a clever girl you are! May you prosper in life.’
Set-5: Re-write the following passage in the indirect speech:
Once I said to a sweet little girl, ‘What’s your mother’s name?’ She replied cleverly, ‘I know my mother’s name but I won’t tell you that.’ I said, ‘What a clever girl you are!’ ‘I don’t tell my mother’s name to anybody whom I don’t know,’ she spoke with an air of confidence.
Answer: Once I asked a sweet little girl what her mother’s name was. She replied cleverly that she knew her mother’s name but she would not tell me that. I exclaimed with wonder that she was a very clever girl. She spoke with an air of confidence that she did not tell her mother’s name to anybody whom she didn’t know.
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Set-6: Re-write the following passage in the reported speech:
‘May I come in, sir?’ a boy standing at the door said to him. Then without waiting for his reply the boy entered the room and said, ‘Sir, I have come from Palashpur with a letter from Mr. Ajit Bose.’
‘Ajit Bose? How is he?’ he said smiling. ‘He is not well. He has been suffering from a serious illness for two years,’ the boy said. ‘How sad it is! May God cure him,’ he said.
Set-7: Re-write the following passage in the indirect speech:
‘Where did you go yesterday?’ said Lipi. ‘I went to Chittagong to see my mother,’ said Mina. ‘She has been suffering from high blood pressure.’ ‘Is she sound now?’ said Lipi. ‘No,’ said Mina.
Answer: Lipi asked Mina where she had gone the previous day. Mina replied that she had gone to Chittagong to see her mother and said that she had been suffering from high blood pressure. Lipi asked if she was sound then. Mina replied in the negative.
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Set-8: Re-write the following in the reported speech:
‘I’ll pay for it,’ he said. ‘I broke it, I brought the exe down careless.’ ‘But no one hits accurately every time, Jerry. Moreover, the fault was in the wood of the handle. I’ll see the man who I have bought it from,’ I told him.
Answer: Try yourself