NCERT Textbook: Reported Speech | English Grammar (Communicative) Interact In English Class 10

 Page 1


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245
REPORTED SPEECH
There are two main ways of relating what people have said.
We can use our own words (for instance, if we don't remember exactly what was said, 
or if we don't want to quote or repeat the exact words)
E.g (a) Mrs Palit greeted  everybody cheerily.
(b) I replied that I had no idea when I was going.
We can report what someone thinks in a similar way.
(c) He thought that Mahua was worried.
OR
We can use the actual words, as if recorded on a tape recorder, to report what 
has been said.
E.g (a) "Good morning, everybody!" said Mrs Palit.
(b) I told my friends, “I've no idea when I'm going.”
(c) He thought : “Mahua's worried."
It is important to remember that we come across both ways of reporting in 
newspapers, novels, magazines etc.
Points to note:
The exact words of the speaker quoted in Direct Speech are placed between 
inverted commas, and a comma or colon is placed immediately before the 
words quoted.  The end mark could be a full stop, a question mark or an 
exclamatory mark depending on the meaning, context and mood expressed.  
The first letter within the inverted commas is capitalized.
There is no comma after Reporting Verbs like said, asked, claimed in reported 
speech.  The end mark in Reported Speech is always a full stop.
Use of Direct Speech and Reported Speech.
•
•
•
Page 2


13
245
REPORTED SPEECH
There are two main ways of relating what people have said.
We can use our own words (for instance, if we don't remember exactly what was said, 
or if we don't want to quote or repeat the exact words)
E.g (a) Mrs Palit greeted  everybody cheerily.
(b) I replied that I had no idea when I was going.
We can report what someone thinks in a similar way.
(c) He thought that Mahua was worried.
OR
We can use the actual words, as if recorded on a tape recorder, to report what 
has been said.
E.g (a) "Good morning, everybody!" said Mrs Palit.
(b) I told my friends, “I've no idea when I'm going.”
(c) He thought : “Mahua's worried."
It is important to remember that we come across both ways of reporting in 
newspapers, novels, magazines etc.
Points to note:
The exact words of the speaker quoted in Direct Speech are placed between 
inverted commas, and a comma or colon is placed immediately before the 
words quoted.  The end mark could be a full stop, a question mark or an 
exclamatory mark depending on the meaning, context and mood expressed.  
The first letter within the inverted commas is capitalized.
There is no comma after Reporting Verbs like said, asked, claimed in reported 
speech.  The end mark in Reported Speech is always a full stop.
Use of Direct Speech and Reported Speech.
•
•
•
CBSE
246
a) Direct speech is generally used
i) to create a dramatic effect
ii) to create a sense of urgency and immediacy 
iii) because the exact words of the speaker or writer are in some way 
important
iv) because a quote is required from authors, scientists, experts and 
politicians to lend authenticity
v) to make a piece of writing or speech interesting by adding variety in the 
mode of narration.
b) Indirect speech is used when we are interested not in the exact words that 
someone has chosen, but in the essential information they convey.  Far fewer 
words are used to report what has originally been said.
c) We should remember that usually a judicious combination of the use of direct 
and reported speech enhances the effectiveness of speaking or writing .
The Road to English
(Adapted from an article by Arishban Bagchi (Hindu college) [The Hindustan 
Times, 4 October 1996]
1. The great question, after you have failed to put yourself in an engineering or 
medical college in contemporary Indian society, is whether you'll ever find a 
job.
2. "Oh! He showed such promise during his early days," says the sister of the 
neighbour of your aunt in Timbuctoo.  "Now look at my Bittoo,"  she goes on.  
"In spite of being so brilliant and all, he could only barely manage a grade A+ at 
MIT, and then he only just managed a well- paid job.  How difficult getting jobs 
must be."
A.1 Read and enjoy the following article.
Page 3


13
245
REPORTED SPEECH
There are two main ways of relating what people have said.
We can use our own words (for instance, if we don't remember exactly what was said, 
or if we don't want to quote or repeat the exact words)
E.g (a) Mrs Palit greeted  everybody cheerily.
(b) I replied that I had no idea when I was going.
We can report what someone thinks in a similar way.
(c) He thought that Mahua was worried.
OR
We can use the actual words, as if recorded on a tape recorder, to report what 
has been said.
E.g (a) "Good morning, everybody!" said Mrs Palit.
(b) I told my friends, “I've no idea when I'm going.”
(c) He thought : “Mahua's worried."
It is important to remember that we come across both ways of reporting in 
newspapers, novels, magazines etc.
Points to note:
The exact words of the speaker quoted in Direct Speech are placed between 
inverted commas, and a comma or colon is placed immediately before the 
words quoted.  The end mark could be a full stop, a question mark or an 
exclamatory mark depending on the meaning, context and mood expressed.  
The first letter within the inverted commas is capitalized.
There is no comma after Reporting Verbs like said, asked, claimed in reported 
speech.  The end mark in Reported Speech is always a full stop.
Use of Direct Speech and Reported Speech.
•
•
•
CBSE
246
a) Direct speech is generally used
i) to create a dramatic effect
ii) to create a sense of urgency and immediacy 
iii) because the exact words of the speaker or writer are in some way 
important
iv) because a quote is required from authors, scientists, experts and 
politicians to lend authenticity
v) to make a piece of writing or speech interesting by adding variety in the 
mode of narration.
b) Indirect speech is used when we are interested not in the exact words that 
someone has chosen, but in the essential information they convey.  Far fewer 
words are used to report what has originally been said.
c) We should remember that usually a judicious combination of the use of direct 
and reported speech enhances the effectiveness of speaking or writing .
The Road to English
(Adapted from an article by Arishban Bagchi (Hindu college) [The Hindustan 
Times, 4 October 1996]
1. The great question, after you have failed to put yourself in an engineering or 
medical college in contemporary Indian society, is whether you'll ever find a 
job.
2. "Oh! He showed such promise during his early days," says the sister of the 
neighbour of your aunt in Timbuctoo.  "Now look at my Bittoo,"  she goes on.  
"In spite of being so brilliant and all, he could only barely manage a grade A+ at 
MIT, and then he only just managed a well- paid job.  How difficult getting jobs 
must be."
A.1 Read and enjoy the following article.
CBSE
247
3. The next line reads, "I wonder how your son will find a job, being a non-
engineer, and that too in India."
4. Your father's friend, a prosperous doctor, decides to come visiting.   Quite 
predictably, his first question on seeing you is the inevitable, "Why in heaven's 
name did you not qualify in the pre-medical test?'  Followed by the equally 
inevitable, "Now what are you going to do?"
5. He raves on about his nephew who has just gone to the UK for his FRCS, and 
his daughter who has just completed her MBBS from AIIMS with top results, 
and what exciting prospects they have.
6. Your father into whose eyes you haven't dared to look for quite some time, 
speaks up.  "I have lost all hope for him.  However, educating him is my duty 
and I won't shirk from it."
7. Someone speaks up.  "Let him go to college to study Physics or Chemistry." 
Everyone sits in silence.  You cannot help feeling a little proud.  At length, 
someone plucks up the courage:  "It's quite impossible to educate him any 
further.  Youngsters these days never seem to listen to what we have to say."
8. "I will study English Literature," you say, dropping a bombshell, fearless of the 
consequences.  Amazingly, it works.  The crowd hurries to disperse.  You are 
so relieved to see their backs that you don't care.  Thankfully, your parents 
voice no objection, remembering, perhaps, that you did manage to score highly 
in English in your Board exams.
9. So you finally take English literature as your subject of study.
i. ____________________________________________________
ii. ____________________________________________________
iii. ____________________________________________________
iv. ____________________________________________________
v. ____________________________________________________
A.2 Work in pairs and list the speakers in the passage you have just read.
Page 4


13
245
REPORTED SPEECH
There are two main ways of relating what people have said.
We can use our own words (for instance, if we don't remember exactly what was said, 
or if we don't want to quote or repeat the exact words)
E.g (a) Mrs Palit greeted  everybody cheerily.
(b) I replied that I had no idea when I was going.
We can report what someone thinks in a similar way.
(c) He thought that Mahua was worried.
OR
We can use the actual words, as if recorded on a tape recorder, to report what 
has been said.
E.g (a) "Good morning, everybody!" said Mrs Palit.
(b) I told my friends, “I've no idea when I'm going.”
(c) He thought : “Mahua's worried."
It is important to remember that we come across both ways of reporting in 
newspapers, novels, magazines etc.
Points to note:
The exact words of the speaker quoted in Direct Speech are placed between 
inverted commas, and a comma or colon is placed immediately before the 
words quoted.  The end mark could be a full stop, a question mark or an 
exclamatory mark depending on the meaning, context and mood expressed.  
The first letter within the inverted commas is capitalized.
There is no comma after Reporting Verbs like said, asked, claimed in reported 
speech.  The end mark in Reported Speech is always a full stop.
Use of Direct Speech and Reported Speech.
•
•
•
CBSE
246
a) Direct speech is generally used
i) to create a dramatic effect
ii) to create a sense of urgency and immediacy 
iii) because the exact words of the speaker or writer are in some way 
important
iv) because a quote is required from authors, scientists, experts and 
politicians to lend authenticity
v) to make a piece of writing or speech interesting by adding variety in the 
mode of narration.
b) Indirect speech is used when we are interested not in the exact words that 
someone has chosen, but in the essential information they convey.  Far fewer 
words are used to report what has originally been said.
c) We should remember that usually a judicious combination of the use of direct 
and reported speech enhances the effectiveness of speaking or writing .
The Road to English
(Adapted from an article by Arishban Bagchi (Hindu college) [The Hindustan 
Times, 4 October 1996]
1. The great question, after you have failed to put yourself in an engineering or 
medical college in contemporary Indian society, is whether you'll ever find a 
job.
2. "Oh! He showed such promise during his early days," says the sister of the 
neighbour of your aunt in Timbuctoo.  "Now look at my Bittoo,"  she goes on.  
"In spite of being so brilliant and all, he could only barely manage a grade A+ at 
MIT, and then he only just managed a well- paid job.  How difficult getting jobs 
must be."
A.1 Read and enjoy the following article.
CBSE
247
3. The next line reads, "I wonder how your son will find a job, being a non-
engineer, and that too in India."
4. Your father's friend, a prosperous doctor, decides to come visiting.   Quite 
predictably, his first question on seeing you is the inevitable, "Why in heaven's 
name did you not qualify in the pre-medical test?'  Followed by the equally 
inevitable, "Now what are you going to do?"
5. He raves on about his nephew who has just gone to the UK for his FRCS, and 
his daughter who has just completed her MBBS from AIIMS with top results, 
and what exciting prospects they have.
6. Your father into whose eyes you haven't dared to look for quite some time, 
speaks up.  "I have lost all hope for him.  However, educating him is my duty 
and I won't shirk from it."
7. Someone speaks up.  "Let him go to college to study Physics or Chemistry." 
Everyone sits in silence.  You cannot help feeling a little proud.  At length, 
someone plucks up the courage:  "It's quite impossible to educate him any 
further.  Youngsters these days never seem to listen to what we have to say."
8. "I will study English Literature," you say, dropping a bombshell, fearless of the 
consequences.  Amazingly, it works.  The crowd hurries to disperse.  You are 
so relieved to see their backs that you don't care.  Thankfully, your parents 
voice no objection, remembering, perhaps, that you did manage to score highly 
in English in your Board exams.
9. So you finally take English literature as your subject of study.
i. ____________________________________________________
ii. ____________________________________________________
iii. ____________________________________________________
iv. ____________________________________________________
v. ____________________________________________________
A.2 Work in pairs and list the speakers in the passage you have just read.
CBSE
248
Still working in pairs, answer the following.
1. Did anyone actually say (or write) "Oh! He showed such promise during his 
early days?" (Yes/No) How can you tell? ____________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
2. Is "Now look at my Bittoo", said by the same person as the extract in 1 above?  
(Yes/ No) How do you know?  _______________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3. In paragraph 4, who says "Now what are you going to do?"
What words help you to know?  ______________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4. i)   In paragraph 5, who is the speaker?  _________________________________
Discuss and work out what must have been his exact words.  Then write 
them below.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
ii) Underline the verb which tells you how the person must have said this. 
[Hint:  
Try to work out the meaning of this verb. ]
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
5. How many of the nine paragraphs in the passage are reporting what someone 
has said? ______________________________________________
Page 5


13
245
REPORTED SPEECH
There are two main ways of relating what people have said.
We can use our own words (for instance, if we don't remember exactly what was said, 
or if we don't want to quote or repeat the exact words)
E.g (a) Mrs Palit greeted  everybody cheerily.
(b) I replied that I had no idea when I was going.
We can report what someone thinks in a similar way.
(c) He thought that Mahua was worried.
OR
We can use the actual words, as if recorded on a tape recorder, to report what 
has been said.
E.g (a) "Good morning, everybody!" said Mrs Palit.
(b) I told my friends, “I've no idea when I'm going.”
(c) He thought : “Mahua's worried."
It is important to remember that we come across both ways of reporting in 
newspapers, novels, magazines etc.
Points to note:
The exact words of the speaker quoted in Direct Speech are placed between 
inverted commas, and a comma or colon is placed immediately before the 
words quoted.  The end mark could be a full stop, a question mark or an 
exclamatory mark depending on the meaning, context and mood expressed.  
The first letter within the inverted commas is capitalized.
There is no comma after Reporting Verbs like said, asked, claimed in reported 
speech.  The end mark in Reported Speech is always a full stop.
Use of Direct Speech and Reported Speech.
•
•
•
CBSE
246
a) Direct speech is generally used
i) to create a dramatic effect
ii) to create a sense of urgency and immediacy 
iii) because the exact words of the speaker or writer are in some way 
important
iv) because a quote is required from authors, scientists, experts and 
politicians to lend authenticity
v) to make a piece of writing or speech interesting by adding variety in the 
mode of narration.
b) Indirect speech is used when we are interested not in the exact words that 
someone has chosen, but in the essential information they convey.  Far fewer 
words are used to report what has originally been said.
c) We should remember that usually a judicious combination of the use of direct 
and reported speech enhances the effectiveness of speaking or writing .
The Road to English
(Adapted from an article by Arishban Bagchi (Hindu college) [The Hindustan 
Times, 4 October 1996]
1. The great question, after you have failed to put yourself in an engineering or 
medical college in contemporary Indian society, is whether you'll ever find a 
job.
2. "Oh! He showed such promise during his early days," says the sister of the 
neighbour of your aunt in Timbuctoo.  "Now look at my Bittoo,"  she goes on.  
"In spite of being so brilliant and all, he could only barely manage a grade A+ at 
MIT, and then he only just managed a well- paid job.  How difficult getting jobs 
must be."
A.1 Read and enjoy the following article.
CBSE
247
3. The next line reads, "I wonder how your son will find a job, being a non-
engineer, and that too in India."
4. Your father's friend, a prosperous doctor, decides to come visiting.   Quite 
predictably, his first question on seeing you is the inevitable, "Why in heaven's 
name did you not qualify in the pre-medical test?'  Followed by the equally 
inevitable, "Now what are you going to do?"
5. He raves on about his nephew who has just gone to the UK for his FRCS, and 
his daughter who has just completed her MBBS from AIIMS with top results, 
and what exciting prospects they have.
6. Your father into whose eyes you haven't dared to look for quite some time, 
speaks up.  "I have lost all hope for him.  However, educating him is my duty 
and I won't shirk from it."
7. Someone speaks up.  "Let him go to college to study Physics or Chemistry." 
Everyone sits in silence.  You cannot help feeling a little proud.  At length, 
someone plucks up the courage:  "It's quite impossible to educate him any 
further.  Youngsters these days never seem to listen to what we have to say."
8. "I will study English Literature," you say, dropping a bombshell, fearless of the 
consequences.  Amazingly, it works.  The crowd hurries to disperse.  You are 
so relieved to see their backs that you don't care.  Thankfully, your parents 
voice no objection, remembering, perhaps, that you did manage to score highly 
in English in your Board exams.
9. So you finally take English literature as your subject of study.
i. ____________________________________________________
ii. ____________________________________________________
iii. ____________________________________________________
iv. ____________________________________________________
v. ____________________________________________________
A.2 Work in pairs and list the speakers in the passage you have just read.
CBSE
248
Still working in pairs, answer the following.
1. Did anyone actually say (or write) "Oh! He showed such promise during his 
early days?" (Yes/No) How can you tell? ____________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
2. Is "Now look at my Bittoo", said by the same person as the extract in 1 above?  
(Yes/ No) How do you know?  _______________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3. In paragraph 4, who says "Now what are you going to do?"
What words help you to know?  ______________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4. i)   In paragraph 5, who is the speaker?  _________________________________
Discuss and work out what must have been his exact words.  Then write 
them below.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
ii) Underline the verb which tells you how the person must have said this. 
[Hint:  
Try to work out the meaning of this verb. ]
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
5. How many of the nine paragraphs in the passage are reporting what someone 
has said? ______________________________________________
CBSE
249
6. How many paragraphs include the exact words of the various speakers (direct 
speech)?  _________________________________
7. How many paragraphs have reported them 'indirectly' (indirect speech)?
__________________________________________________________________
8. What is your conclusion about how writers report what someone says or has 
said in a newspaper article such as this?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
The tourist complained that the hotel was hot and noisy.
In this sentence, the reporting word 'complained' shows that the tourist was 
clearly unhappy about the arrangements.
Now work in groups of four.  Read the following sentences carefully, and circle 
the reporting verbs.  Then discuss and write the ways in which each reporting 
verb adds to the meaning of its arrangement.
1. "When I was in school, I used to skip a few classes, especially Moral Science 
because of the bookish manner in which it was treated," confessed the retired 
IAS Officer.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
B. Reporting Verbs
B.1 A reporting verb is used in both direct and indirect (reported) speech.  The 
reporting verb usually adds to the meaning of each sentence for instance, 
it may show the speaker's MOOD (e.g. agreed), PURPOSE (e.g. asked), 
MANNER OF SPEAKER (e.g. shouted).  An example is: