Select the option that expresses the given sentence in reported speech. Shyla said to me, “What a skilful tailor she is!”
Shyla exclaimed that she was a very skillful tailor.
Key Points
- Let's look at the steps for changing the sentence from direct to indirect speech:
- The comma and inverted commas are removed and 'that' is added.
- The exclamation mark '!' in the direct speech indicates the use of the reporting verb 'exclaimed' in indirect speech.
- Also, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, we usually change the present form to a past form in reported speech.
- Hence, 'is' is changed into 'was'.
- When an exclamatory sentence is changed into indirect speech 'what' will be removed and the sentence will become a simple sentence.
- 'she' will remain unchanged as it refers to the speaker of the reporting speech 'Shyla'.
Therefore, the correct answer is "Shyla exclaimed that she was a very skillful tailor."
Additional Information
- The following table will enable us to know how tense changes in indirect speech:-
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
Simple Present | Simple Past (Subject + V2 + Object) |
| Present Continuous (Subject + is/am/are + V1 + ing + Object) | Past Continuous (Subject + was/were + V1 + ing + Object) |
| Present Perfect (Subject + has/have + V3 + Object) | Past Perfect (Subject + had + V3 + Object) |
| Simple Past (Subject + V2 + Object) | Past Perfect (Subject + had + V3 + Object) |
| Past Continuous (Subject + was/were + V1 + ing + Object) | Past Perfect Continuous (Subject + had been + V1 + ing + Object) |
| Simple Future (Subject + will/shall + V1 + Object) | Present Conditional (Subject + would + V1 +Object) |
| Future Continuous (Subject + will/shall + V1 + ing + Object) | Conditional Continuous (Subject + would + be + V1 + ing + Object) |
Similar Questions
Select the correct indirect narration of the given sentence.
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Important Questions from Direct and Indirect Speech
Directions: Select the correct indirect form of the given sentence.
The lion asked the lioness, "Where will you hide yourself, until I return?”
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Sushant said to the elderly lady, “Madam, you can take my place and stand here in the queue.”
Select the correct indirect narration of the given sentence.
Dev said to his mother, “Don’t worry we’ll soon find a way out of this crisis.”
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Neha said to me, “I am going to see a movie today.”
Direction: Select the most appropriate indirect form of the given sentence.
Frank said to Albert, “ How is your search for a new house coming along?”
