Direct Speech Indirect Speech I. The policeman said to us, "Where are you going?" The policeman asked where were we going. II. "Call the first witness", said the Judge. The Judge said them to call the witness first.
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Indirect Speech is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Analyzing Direct and Indirect Speech Pairs
This question asks to identify correctly converted pairs of Direct Speech into Indirect Speech.
Pair I: Interrogative Sentence Analysis
Direct Speech: The policeman said to us, "Where are you going?"
Provided Indirect Speech: The policeman asked where were we going.
Evaluation:
- The reporting verb 'said to' is correctly changed to 'asked'.
- The interrogative adverb 'Where' is correctly used to connect the clauses.
- The tense shift from present continuous ('are going') to past continuous ('were going') is correct.
- Error: In indirect questions, the word order should follow the normal sentence structure (Subject-Verb), not inversion. The phrase "where were we going" incorrectly uses inversion.
- Correct Form: The policeman asked where we were going.
Therefore, Pair I is stated incorrectly.
Pair II: Imperative Sentence Analysis
Direct Speech: "Call the first witness", said the Judge.
Provided Indirect Speech: The Judge said them to call the witness first.
Evaluation:
- The sentence is an imperative command.
- Reporting verbs for commands often change to 'told', 'ordered', or 'requested', followed by an object and 'to' + infinitive.
- Error: The structure 'said them' is grammatically incorrect for reporting a command directed at 'them'. It should be 'told them' or 'ordered them'.
- The infinitive phrase 'to call the witness first' is correctly formed from the command.
- Correct Form: The Judge ordered them to call the witness first.
Therefore, Pair II is stated incorrectly.
Final Conclusion
Both Pair I and Pair II demonstrate incorrect conversions from Direct to Indirect Speech based on standard grammar rules.
The correct response is that Neither I nor II are correctly stated.
Important Questions from Direct and Indirect Speech
Select the option that expresses the given sentence in reported speech.
The captain announced, “The flight will be delayed due to bad weather.”Select the option that expresses the given sentence in direct speech.
The actor said that what he did in films was something he had never attempted in real life.Select the option that expresses the given sentence in direct speech.
Mother said that when we pluck a flower it dies so we should let it beautify the world as long as it lives.Select the option that expresses the given sentence in reported speech.
The children said to the nurse, “Reema slipped and fell from the stairs.”Select the option that expresses the given sentence in reported speech.
The teacher says, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.”
