Direct and Indirect Speech Exercise

Turn the following sentences into indirect speech.

1.    John said, ‘I am very busy now.’
2.    He said, ‘The horse has been fed.’
3.    ‘I know her name and address,’ said John.
4.    ‘German is easy to learn,’ she said.
5.    He said, ‘I am writing letters.’
6.    ‘It is too late to go out,’ Alice said.
7.    He said to me, ‘I don’t believe you.’
8.    He says, ‘I am glad to be here this evening.’
9.    He said to me, ‘What are you doing?’
10.    ‘Where is the post office?’ asked the stranger.
11.    He said, ‘Will you listen to me?’
12.    John said to Peter, ‘Go away.’
13.    She said to me, ‘Please wait here till I return.’
14.    ‘Call the witness,’ said the judge.
15.    The speaker said, ‘Be quiet and listen to my words.’

Answers

1.    John said that he was very busy then.
2.    He said that the horse had been fed.
3.    John said that he knew/knows her name and address. (Note that the tenses may not change if the statement is still relevant or if it is a universal truth.)
4.    She said that German is/was easy to learn.
5.    He said that he was writing letters.
6.    Alice said that it was too late to go out.
7.    He told me that he didn’t believe me. OR He said he didn’t believe me.
8.    He says that he is glad to be here this evening. (When the reporting verb is in the present tense, adverbs of time and place do not normally change in indirect speech.)
9.    He asked me what I was doing.
10.    The stranger asked where the post office is/was.
11.    He asked me if I would listen to him.
12.    John ordered Peter to go away.
13.    She asked me to wait there till she returned.
14.    The judge commanded them to call the first witness.
15.    He urged them to be quiet and listen to them.