Report these questions using if/whether or why/when/where/how/which/what. Remember the italicised verbs change into the past tense.
1. Meena asked her friend, “Do you think your teacher will come today?”
2. David asked his colleague, “Where will you go this summer?”
3. He asked the little boy, “Why are you studying English?”
4. She asked me, “When are we going to leave?”
5. Pran asked me, “Have you finished reading the newspaper?”
6. Seema asked her, “How long have you lived here?”
7. Sheila asked the children, “Are you ready to do the work?”

Question

Here are some sentences from the text. Say which of them tell you, that the author: (a) was afraid of the snake, (b) was proud of his appearance, (c) had a sense of humour, (d) was no longer afraid of the snake.
1. I was turned to stone.
2. I was no mere image cut in granite.
3. The arm was beginning to be drained of strength.
4. I tried in my imagination to write in bright letters outside my little heart the words, ‘O God’.
5. I didn’t tremble. I didn’t cry out.
6. I looked into the mirror and smiled. It was an attractive smile.
7. I was suddenly a man of flesh and blood.
8. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor too on top of it!
9. The fellow had such a sense of cleanliness...! The rascal could have taken it and used it after washing it with soap and water.
10. Was it trying to make an important decision about growing a moustache or using eye shadow and mascara or wearing a vermilion spot on its forehead.

Answer 1

1. Meena asked her friend, “Do you think your teacher will come today?”

Reported speech: Meena asked her friend if she thought her teacher would come that day.

2. David asked his colleague, “Where will you go this summer?”

Reported speech: David asked his colleague where he would go that summer.

3. He asked the little boy, “Why are you studying English?”

Reported speech: He asked the little boy why he was studying English.

4. She asked me, “When are we going to leave?”

Reported speech: She asked me when we were going to leave.

5. Pran asked me, “Have you finished reading the newspaper?”

Reported speech: Pran asked me if I had finished reading the newspaper.

6. Seema asked her, “How long have you lived here?”

Reported speech: Seema asked her how long she had lived there.

7. Sheila asked the children, “Are you ready to do the work?”

Reported speech: Sheila asked the children if they were ready to do the work.

Solution and Explanation