Get textual answers, explanations, solutions, notes, extras, MCQs, PDF of Chapter 1: ICSE Class 9 English Language/Grammar (Total English) solved which comprises Direct and Indirect Speech, Composition, and Notice and Email. However, the educational materials should only be used for reference, and students are encouraged to make necessary changes.
Assignment: Indirect speech
Change each of the following sentences into INDIRECT SPEECH
A. Statements
1. I promised him: “I will never do it again.”
Answer: I promised him that I would never do it again.
Explanation: When we change a sentence from direct speech to indirect speech, we change the tense and pronouns to fit the reporting verb. In this case, “will” becomes “would” because we are reporting something said in the past. For example, if you promise someone today that you won’t do something, but you are telling the story tomorrow, you would say, “I promised him that I would never do it again.”
2. The newspapers say: “The President died yesterday.”
Answer: The newspapers say that the President died the day before.
Explanation: Here, “yesterday” changes to “the day before” because we are talking about a past event when converting from direct to indirect speech. Imagine if a newspaper printed the news today, but you read it tomorrow, you’d have to refer to the event as happening the day before.
3. He announced: “The show will go on.”
Answer: He announced that the show would go on.
Explanation: In this sentence, we change “will” to “would” because the reporting verb “announced” is in the past tense. So, when reporting something someone said about the future, we shift the future tense to conditional. It’s like saying, “If the event was in the future when he said it, we report it like it’s in the past.”
4. The television predicted: “It may rain tomorrow.”
Answer: The television predicted that it might rain the next day.
Explanation: “May” becomes “might” when reported in indirect speech because we are talking about a possibility in the past. Also, “tomorrow” changes to “the next day” to match the time shift. Imagine you heard the weather report today and told your friend tomorrow. You’d say, “It might rain the next day.”
5. The manager told us: “If you work overtime, you will get the bonus.”
Answer: The manager told us that if we worked overtime, we would get the bonus.
Explanation: We change “you” to “we” to match the subject, and “will” becomes “would” because it’s a future event reported in the past. The idea here is that if we worked overtime in the past, we were promised a bonus. It’s like telling someone about something that would happen in the future, but you’re talking about it in the past.
B. Questions
1. The students asked: “Can’t we go with him?”
Answer: The students asked if they couldn’t go with him.
Explanation: When changing a question from direct to indirect speech, we need to make some changes. First, the question becomes a statement. The verb “asked” is used because it’s a question, and “can’t” changes to “couldn’t.” Also, we use “if” to connect the parts of the sentence because there’s no question word like “who” or “what.”
2. The gardener asked me: “When shall I prune the roses?”
Answer: The gardener asked me when he should prune the roses.
Explanation: In this question, “shall” changes to “should” when moving to indirect speech. “When” stays the same because it’s a question word, and we keep it in the sentence. The gardener is asking what to do, so we turn the question into a regular sentence by using “asked.”
3. The police officer asked the students: “What would you have done, if I had not arrived in time?”
Answer: The police officer asked the students what they would have done if he had not arrived in time.
Explanation: When a question uses “would,” we keep it as “would” in indirect speech. The question word “what” stays in the sentence. We don’t need to change it, but we do need to make the sentence a regular statement instead of a question.
4. John wondered: “Have they seen the document yet?”
Answer: John wondered if they had seen the document yet.
Explanation: For yes/no questions like this, we use “if” in the indirect speech. The verb “have” changes to “had,” which matches the tense in indirect speech. John’s wondering is not an actual question anymore, so the sentence is just a statement.
5. He said to us, “Are you going to school today?”
Answer: He asked us if we were going to school that day.
Explanation: In indirect speech, “are” changes to “were,” and “today” becomes “that day.” Since it’s a yes/no question, we use “if” to connect the two parts of the sentence. The sentence becomes a statement, not a question.
C. Commands and Requests
1. The psychologist advised them: “Keep the child in a peaceful environment!”
Answer: The psychologist advised them to keep the child in a peaceful environment.
Explanation: When we report what someone said, we change the sentence to make it indirect. Instead of repeating the exact words of the psychologist, we tell what was said by using a reporting verb like “advised”. Also, the command “Keep” changes to “to keep” because we use an infinitive form (to + verb) in reported commands.
2. They warned us: “Do not go near the flooded river!”
Answer: They warned us not to go near the flooded river.
Explanation: In this sentence, we report a warning. The command “Do not go” is changed into “not to go” because in indirect speech, we use “not to” for negative commands. “Warned” is used as the reporting verb because the original sentence was a warning.
3. The police said: “Everyone must stay indoors.”
Answer: The police said that everyone must stay indoors.
Explanation: Here, the sentence is reported with the word “that” to link the reporting verb “said” to the rest of the sentence. Since “must” is a modal verb, it remains unchanged in indirect speech, meaning we do not need to adjust the tense or form.
4. The singer requested: “Everyone in the audience, sing along with me!”
Answer: The singer requested everyone in the audience to sing along with him.
Explanation: “Requested” is used to report the action because the singer is asking for something to be done. The command “sing along with me” becomes “to sing along with him” when we report it. We use “to” before the verb “sing” to show it’s an indirect request.
5. The speaker said: “Listen carefully to my lecture!”
Answer: The speaker told us to listen carefully to his lecture.
Explanation: In this sentence, “said” changes to “told” because the speaker is giving an instruction. The command “Listen” becomes “to listen” in indirect speech. We also change “my” to “his” to match the third-person point of view, as we are reporting what the speaker said.
1. The politician advised the citizens: “Vote only for my party!”
Answer: The politician advised the citizens to vote only for his party.
Explanation: When we change this sentence into indirect speech, we don’t need to repeat the exact words the politician said, and we also need to make sure the sentence flows smoothly. The word “advised” already shows that it’s something the politician is telling others to do. We just change “my party” to “his party” because in indirect speech, the person changes from “I” or “my” to “he” or “his”.
2. Father said to the son, “Harsh listen to what I say!”
Answer: Father told Harsh to listen to what he said.
Explanation: In this sentence, Father is giving a command. When we report commands, we use words like “told” or “asked” followed by the person being commanded and an instruction. “I” changes to “he” because Father is the one speaking, and we make the instruction flow as one smooth sentence.
3. My uncle said, “Alas! He should have followed my advice.”
Answer: My uncle regretted that he had not followed his advice.
Explanation: “Alas!” is an expression of sadness, and in indirect speech, we don’t use these expressions. Instead, we use words like “regretted” to show how the person felt. Also, “should have followed” changes to “had not followed” to make the sentence sound natural in indirect speech. We use “his advice” because it’s the uncle’s advice.
4. Father said, “Thank God! The doctor has finally come to see you.”
Answer: Father thanked God that the doctor had finally come to see me.
Explanation: In this sentence, “Thank God!” is an exclamation, which we change to “thanked God” in indirect speech. The rest of the sentence is simply reported as something Father was happy about, so “has finally come” becomes “had finally come” to match the indirect speech format.
D. Exclamations and Wishes
5. She said to me, “Thank you for the computer!”
Answer: She thanked me for the computer.
Explanation: Here, the direct “Thank you” changes to “thanked” when we report it. It’s a simple sentence where she is showing gratitude, so we just report that she thanked the person without needing to change much else. The sentence remains clear and polite.
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