Reported Speech Worksheet for Class 9 CBSE

When we report questions, the question word (who, what, which etc.) is retained in the reported speech.

Note that a reported question has the same word order as a statement. That means the subject goes before the auxiliary verb.

• The teacher said, ‘What are you doing?’
• The teacher asked what I was doing. (NOT The Teacher asked that what I was doing.) (NOT The teacher asked what was I doing.)

In order to report Yes/No questions, we use the conjunction if or whether.

• ‘Would you like a cup of coffee?’ she asked.
• She asked if / whether I would like a cup of coffee.

Reporting commands

In order to report a command, we use a reporting verb like asked, told, requested, warned, advised, begged, urged, commanded, ordered etc.

• Direct speech: ‘Help me, please,’ she cried.
• Indirect speech: She begged them to help her.

Reported speech worksheet

Sentences are given in the direct speech. Change them into the indirect / reported speech.

1. ‘Leave me alone,’ she said.

2. ‘I don’t know what I am supposed to do,’ he said.

3. ‘How are we going to overcome this difficulty?’ they said.

4. Mother said, ‘Have you applied for that job?’

5. ‘Please wait for me,’ said the girl.

6. ‘It doesn’t work,’ she said.

7. ‘I can drive any car,’ she said.

8. Sam said, ‘I haven’t heard anything from them yet.’

9. ‘Close the doors and windows before you leave,’ said the woman.

10. ‘Should I wait any longer?’ he asked.

11. ‘Whose bag is this?’ he asked.

12. ‘I will wait outside,’ he said.

13. ‘Have you brought your lunch?’ she asked.

14. ‘Take this file with you when you go to work,’ she said to me.

15. ‘Be careful when you cross the road,’ said the mother to the children.

16. ‘Please wait a minute,’ the receptionist said to me.

17. ‘I don’t want to go,’ Maya said to me.

18. ‘Why are you crying?’ mother said to me.

19. ‘Do you know Rahul’s address?’ Rohit asked me.

20. ‘Submit your work before Monday,’ the teacher said to the students.

Answers

1. She requested / told me / us to leave her alone.

2. He said that he didn’t know what he was supposed to do.

3. They wondered how they were going to overcome that difficulty.

4. Mother asked if / whether I had applied for that job.

5. The girl requested me to wait for her.

6. She said that it didn’t work.

7. She said that she could drive any car.

8. Sam said that he hadn’t heard anything from them yet.

9. The woman told us to close the doors and windows before we left.

10. He asked if / whether he should / had to wait any longer.

11. He asked whose bag that was.

12. He said that he would wait outside.

13. She asked me if / whether I had brought my lunch.

14. She told me to take that file with me when I went to work.

15. The mother warned / advised the children to be careful when they cross the road.

16. The receptionist asked / requested me to wait a minute.

17. Maya told me that she didn’t want to go.

18. Mother asked me why I was crying.

19. Rohit asked me if / whether I knew Rahul’s address.

20. The teacher told / instructed the students to submit their work before Monday.