Change the following into indirect speech.
1The girl said, "It gives me great pleasure to be here this evening." In reported speech: The girl said that it ............... her great pleasure to be there that evening.
Wrong!
In reported speech after a past reporting verb, the present simple usually backshifts to "gave".
2The man ............... that he had to go as soon as possible.
Wrong!
Use "said" before a that-clause when there is no direct object after the reporting verb.
3She said that she ............... to see any of them and asked them to go away.
Wrong!
In reported speech after a past reporting verb, the present simple usually backshifts to "did not want".
4The teacher says that if you work hard, you ...............
Wrong!
Because the reporting verb is present, there is no backshift, so "will pass" is correct.
5He said, "I have won." In reported speech: He said that he ...............
Wrong!
In reported speech after a past reporting verb, the present perfect backshifts to "had won".
6He proposed that they ............... wait for her return.
Wrong!
After "proposed that," the natural formal pattern here is "should" plus the base verb.
7Alice exclaimed how clever ...............
Wrong!
Indirect exclamations use statement word order, so "she was" is correct.
8The young man asked, "Which way has she gone?" In reported speech: The young man asked which way she ...............
Wrong!
In reported speech after a past reporting verb, the present perfect usually backshifts to "had gone".
9He asked me where ............... going.
Wrong!
Indirect questions use statement word order, so "I was" is correct.
10She requested them to wait there till she ...............
Wrong!
After a past reporting verb, the time clause is naturally backshifted to "returned".
Exercise complete
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Answers
- The girl said, “It gives me great pleasure to be here this evening.” In reported speech: The girl said that it gave her great pleasure to be there that evening.
- The man said that he had to go as soon as possible.
- She said that she did not want to see any of them and asked them to go away.
- The teacher says that if you work hard, you will pass.
- He said, “I have won.” In reported speech: He said that he had won.
- He proposed that they should wait for her return.
- Alice exclaimed how clever she was.
- The young man asked, “Which way has she gone?” In reported speech: The young man asked which way she had gone.
- He asked me where I was going.
- She requested them to wait there till she returned.