Direct & Indirect Speech

(b) Mohan said that he had been living in Delhi since 2019.
Present Perfect Continuous “have been living” → Past Perfect Continuous “had been living”; “I” → “he”. “Since 2019” does not change because it is a specific fixed point in time.

(c) commanded — A captain giving orders to soldiers uses a strong imperative; “commanded” is the most suitable reporting verb. “Told” is too neutral; “requested” implies politeness.

(b) the tense of the verb — When reporting a universal/general truth, the tense of the verb remains unchanged. Pronouns, time words, and demonstratives still change normally.

(d) Both (a) and (b) are correct.
A negative imperative can be reported as “told + not to” or with “advised + not to”. Both structures are grammatically acceptable.

(c) if / whether — Yes/no questions (without a wh-word) use “if” or “whether” as the conjunction in indirect speech. “That” is used for statements, not questions.

(c) The teacher said to the students, “Have you done your revision?”
“Asked” → “said to”; “whether they had done their” → “Have you done your” (tense moves forward, pronouns reverse). Option (a) is incorrect because it omits “to the students”.

(a) The policeman ordered the driver to show him his licence or warned that he would fine him.
Imperative → “ordered…to show”; “me” → “him”; “your” → “his”; “I will” → “he would”. (1 mark)
(b) Grandmother told us that she used to walk five kilometres to school when she was our age.
“I” → “she”; “your” → “our”; “used to” does not change (already past); “was” stays as “was” (already past). (1 mark)

(a) The coach said to the team, “You have played brilliantly and I am very proud of you.”
“told” → “said to”; “they” → “you”; “he” → “I”; “had played” → “have played”; “was” → “am”; “them” → “you”. (1 mark)
(b) Rekha said to Seema, “Will you lend me the notes that you took yesterday?”
“asked” → “said to”; “if she would” → “Will you”; “her” → “me”; “she had taken” → “you took”; “the previous day” → “yesterday”. (1 mark)

(a) The headmaster exclaimed that that was a very shameful act and asked who had broken the school trophy.
Exclamation: “exclaimed that”; “this” → “that”; “is” → “was”. Wh-question: “asked who”; “broke” → “had broken”. (1 mark)
(b) The monk said that patience is the greatest virtue and advised the children always to practise it.
Universal truth: tense does not change. Imperative: “advised…to practise”; “my children” → “the children”. (1 mark)

(a) Raju apologised to Suresh for breaking his pen.
Reporting verb: “apologised” (since “I am sorry” expresses apology); “your” → “his”; gerund form “for breaking” after “apologised”. (1 mark)
(b) The guard warned the children not to go near the electric fence or they would get hurt.
Reporting verb: “warned” (danger implied); negative imperative → “not to go”; “you will” → “they would”. (1 mark)

(a) Father said/advised that I/we should respect my/our elders.
“Should” does not change in indirect speech (it has no further past form). “You” → pronoun depending on listener. (1 mark)
(b) The announcer said that passengers might board the Rajdhani Express then.
“May” → “might”; “now” → “then”. (1 mark)

Aarav told his mother that he had scored the highest marks in the Science exam that day. (1 mark)
“I scored” → “he had scored”; “today” → “that day”.
His mother replied that she was very proud of him and asked what he would do to celebrate. (1 mark)
“I am” → “she was”; “you” → “him”; Wh-question: “will you do” → “he would do”.
Aarav answered that he wanted to visit the India Gate with his friends that evening. (1 mark)
“I want” → “he wanted”; “my” → “his”; “this evening” → “that evening”.

(a) said vs. told: “Said” is used without an object or with “to + object”; “told” always requires a direct object.
Example: He said that he was tired. / He told me that he was tired. (1 mark)
(b) asked vs. inquired: Both are used for questions; “inquired” is more formal.
Example: She asked where the library was. / She inquired where the library was. (1 mark)
(c) ordered vs. requested: “Ordered” is used for commands with authority; “requested” is used for polite requests (often when “please” is present).
Example: The officer ordered the man to stop. / She requested the teacher to allow her to leave early. (1 mark)

(a) Corrected: He said that he would come to the function the previous day. OR more logically: He said that he would come to the function. / He said that he had come to the function the previous day.
Errors: (i) “told that” is wrong — “told” needs an object (use “said that” or “told someone that”); (ii) “will” → “would”; (iii) “yesterday” → “the previous day”. (1 mark)
(b) Corrected: She asked me where I lived.
Errors: (i) “asked…that” is wrong for questions — remove “that”; (ii) “did I live” should be statement order “I lived” (no auxiliary “did” in indirect questions). (1 mark)
(c) Corrected: The teacher told/asked the students to open their books.
Errors: (i) “said the students” is wrong — use “told” or “said to”; (ii) imperative should become “to + verb”; (iii) “his” → “their” (refers to the students). (1 mark)

(a) It was reported that the Prime Minister had inaugurated a new metro line in Chennai.
Or: The news reported that the PM inaugurated / had inaugurated a new metro line in Chennai. (1 mark)
(b) It was reported that heavy rains had lashed Mumbai and schools had been closed.
Or: The reporter said that heavy rains had lashed Mumbai and that schools had been closed. (1 mark)
(c) It was announced that India had won the gold medal in hockey at the Asian Games.
Or: The commentator said that India had won gold in Asian Games hockey. (1 mark)

Sample Direct Speech (Dialogue): (2 marks for dialogue with all 4 sentence types)
Customer: “How much does this kurta cost?” (question)
Shopkeeper: “This is a pure cotton kurta. It costs eight hundred rupees.”
Customer: “What a high price! Please reduce it a little.” (exclamation + request)
Shopkeeper: “I can give you a discount of fifty rupees only.”
Customer: “Give me two kurtas for fourteen hundred rupees.” (command)
Shopkeeper: “Fine, take them. Happy Diwali!”

Indirect Speech: (3 marks)
The customer asked the shopkeeper how much that kurta cost.
The shopkeeper replied that that was a pure cotton kurta and that it cost eight hundred rupees.
The customer exclaimed that it was a very high price and requested him to reduce it a little.
The shopkeeper said that he could give him/her a discount of fifty rupees only.
The customer told the shopkeeper to give him/her two kurtas for fourteen hundred rupees.
The shopkeeper agreed and wished him/her a happy Diwali.

Complete Tense Change Table: (½ mark for rule + ½ mark for correct example = 1 mark per 2 tenses, but award generously for effort)

1. Simple Present → Simple Past
“I eat rice.” → He said that he ate rice.

2. Present Continuous → Past Continuous
“I am eating rice.” → He said that he was eating rice.

3. Present Perfect → Past Perfect
“I have eaten rice.” → He said that he had eaten rice.

4. Present Perfect Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous
“I have been eating rice.” → He said that he had been eating rice.

5. Simple Past → Past Perfect
“I ate rice.” → He said that he had eaten rice.

6. Past Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous
“I was eating rice.” → He said that he had been eating rice.

7. will → would
“I will eat rice.” → He said that he would eat rice.

8. can → could
“I can eat rice.” → He said that he could eat rice.

(Also accept: shall → should, may → might, Past Perfect → no change)

The tense does NOT change in indirect speech even with a past reporting verb when:

1. Universal / General Truth:
He said, “The sun rises in the east.” → He said that the sun rises in the east. (“rises” stays in Simple Present) (⅔ mark)

2. Habitual action still true at the time of reporting:
She said, “I go to the gym every day.” → She said that she goes to the gym every day (if she still does). (⅔ mark)

3. Hypothetical / Unreal condition (subjunctive with “if”):
He said, “If I were rich, I would travel the world.” → He said that if he were rich, he would travel the world. (“Were” does not change.) (⅔ mark)