Solution to Exercise 104, 105

Exercise 104. Turn the following into Indirect speech:

1. He said to me, "I have often told you not to play with fire."
Answer: He told (reminded) me that he had often told me not to play with fire.

2. 'You have all done very badly!' remarked the teacher.
Answer: The teacher remarked that they had all done very badly.

3. They wrote, 'It is time we thought about setting this matter.'
Answer: They wrote that it was time they had thought about settling the matter.

4. The teacher promised, 'If you will come before school tomorrow, I will explain it.'
Answer: The teacher promised that he would explain it if they would come before school the next day.

5. She wrote, I am waiting and watching and longing for my son's return.'
Answer: She wrote that she was waiting and watching and longing for her son’s return.

6. The examiner's orders were, 'No one is to bring books into the room nor ask me questions about what I have told you to do.'
Answer: The examiner’s orders were that no one was to bring books into the room nor ask him questions about what he had told them to do.

7. The dwarf said to her, 'Promise me that when you are queen you will give me your first-born child.'
Answer: The dwarf ask her to promise him that when she was Queen she would give him her first-born child.

8. 'That is my house, 'said he, 'and if I do not prove it in a few minutes I will give up my claim.'
Answer: He said that it was his horse and if he did not prove it in a few minutes he would give up his claim.

9. 'I will avenge your wrongs, 'he cried, 'I will not enter Athens until I have punished the king who had so cruelly treated you.'
Answer: He cried that he would avenge my wrongs and that he would not enter Athens until he punished the king who had so cruelly treated me.

10. He wrote and said, 'I am unable to come just now because I am ill, but I will certainly start as soon as I am well enough to do so.'
Answer: He wrote and said that he was unable to come just then because he was ill, but he would certainly start as soon as he was well enough to do so.

11. One day he sent for Cassim and said to him, 'You are now old enough to earn your living, so you must set off, and make your own way in the world.’
Answer: One day he sent for Cassim and told him that he was then old enough to earn his living, so he had to set off and make his own way in the world.

Exercise 105. Turn the following into Indirect Speech:

1.'What do you want? he said to her.
Answer: He asked her what he wanted.

2. He said, 'How is your father?'
Answer: He asked how my father was.

3. 'Are you coming home with me?' he asked.
Answer: He asked whether I was going home with him.

4. He enquired, 'When do you intend to pay me?'
Answer: He enquired when I intended to pay him.

5. He said to us, 'Why are you all sitting about there doing nothing?'
Answer: He asked us why we were all sitting about there doing nothing.

6. 'Do you really come from China?' said the prince.
Answer: The prince asked whether I really came from china.

7. The poor man exclaimed, 'Will none of you help me?'
Answer: The poor man exclaimed whether none of us/them would help him.

8. 'Which way did she go?' asked the young Rakshas.
Answer: The young Rakshas asked which way she had gone.

9. Aladdin said to the magician, 'What have I done to deserve so severe a blow?'
Answer: Aladdin asked the magician what he had done to deserve so severe a blow.

10. 'Don't you know the way home?' asked I.
Answer: I asked whether he/she/they did not know the way home.

11. 'Do you write in a good hand?' he said.
Answer: He asked whether I wrote a good hand.

12. 'Have you anything to say on behalf of the prisoner?' said the judge finally.
Answer: The judge finally asked whether he had anything to say on behalf of the prisoner.

13. 'Which is the proper way to answer this question, father? The boy enquired.
Answer: The boy enquired of his father which the proper way to answer the question was.

14. 'Have you anything to tell me, little bird?' asked Ulysses.
Answer: Ulysses asked the little bird whether it had anything to tell him.

15. The young sparrow said, 'Mother, what is that queer object?'
Answer: The young sparrow asked its mother what that queer object was.

16. Then aloud he said, 'tell me, boy, is the miller within?'
Answer: The aloud he asked the boy to tell him whether the miller was within.

17. 'Who are you, sir, and what do you want?' they cried.
Answer: They asked who he was and what he wanted.

18. 'Dear bird, 'she said, stroking its feathers, 'have you come to comfort me in  my sorrow?'
Answer: Stroking the bird’s feathers, she asked affectionately whether it had come to comfort her in her sorrow.

19. The Rajah was deeply grieved, and said to his wife, 'what can I do for you?'
Answer: The Rajah was deeply grieved and asked his wife what he could do for her.

20. When the sun got low, the king's son said, 'Jack, since we have no money, where can we lodge this night?
Answer: When the sun got low, the king’s son asked Jack where they could lodge that night, since they had no money.

21. She said to him, 'What is it that makes you so much stronger and braver than any other man?'
Answer: She asked him what was it that made him so much stronger and braver than any other man.

22. When the Brahmin approached, the first thief said, 'Why do you carry a dog on your back? Are you not ashamed?
Answer: When the Brahmin approached, the first thief asked why he carried a dog on his back and whether he was not ashamed.