Practice Questions

<ul style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; list-style-position: outside; color: rgb(255,255,255);"><li value="1" style="margin: 0px 32px;">That: This is used to introduce a clause, but not typically used for reported yes/no questions.</li><li value="2" style="margin: 0px 32px;">But: This is a conjunction used to contrast statements and does not fit this context.</li><li value="3" style="margin: 0px 32px;">Until: This is used to indicate a time period and is not appropriate here.</li><li value="4" style="margin: 0px 32px;">If: This is used to introduce a reported yes/no question, which is the correct context here.</li></ul>

<ul style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; list-style-position: outside; color: rgb(255,255,255);"><li value="1" style="margin: 0px 32px;">reporting verb 'said' ന് ശേഷം 'to' വന്നാൽ indirect speech ൽ 'told' ആയിരിക്കും reporting verb.</li></ul>

The sentence is in reported speech (indirect speech). When converting direct speech to indirect speech, the tense usually shifts back.<ul class="ChallengerEditorTheme__ul_dark" style="color: rgb(255,255,255);"><li value="1" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark">Direct speech: He said to me, "I am going abroad."</li><li value="2" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark">Indirect speech: He said to me that he was going abroad.</li></ul>Here, "is" (present tense) in the direct speech becomes "was" (past tense) in the reported speech because of the rule of backshifting. Therefore, "was" is the correct choice.

Aravind requested that he was very busy now

In indirect speech, we usually change the tense of what someone said to match the tense of the reporting verb. If the original sentence is in the present, like "I am very fine," and we use a past-tense reporting verb, we change it to past tense, like "Rani said that she was very fine." But if both the original sentence and the reporting verb are in the present, we don't change the tense, like "Rani says that she is very fine" (the statement is still in the present tense because the reporting verb "says" is also in the present tense). This is known as the "backshift of tenses" in indirect speech.
അതായത്, Reported Speech ൽ അടിസ്ഥാന കാര്യങ്ങളിൽ ഒന്നാണല്ലോ Tense ൽ വരുന്ന മാറ്റം. എന്നാൽ ചില സന്ദർഭങ്ങളിൽ Tense ൽ മാറ്റങ്ങൾ വരുത്തേണ്ടതില്ല.  'Say', 'says' and 'will say' എന്നിവ റിപ്പോർട്ടിങ് വെർബുകളായി ഉപയോഗിക്കുമ്പോൾ വാക്യത്തിൻ്റെ കാലത്തിൽ (Tense)  മാറ്റം വരുത്തേണ്ടതില്ല.
യഥാർത്ഥ വാക്യവും റിപ്പോർട്ടിംഗ് ക്രിയയും വർത്തമാന കാലഘട്ടത്തിലായിരിക്കുമ്പോൾ (present tense), റിപ്പോർട്ടുചെയ്‌ത സംഭാഷണത്തിൻ്റെ Tense മാറ്റില്ല. Indirect speechൽ ഇത് "backshift of tenses" എന്നറിയപ്പെടുന്നു.

The correct transformation of the reported speech "I saw this film a week ago," he said would be:
"He said that he had seen the film a week before."

The tense in the reported speech (direct speech) needs to be changed when reporting it indirectly. Since "saw" is in the past simple tense in the direct speech, it changes to "had seen" in the reported speech.
"A week ago" becomes "a week before."

If the verb inside the inverted commas/quotation marks is in the present tense, change it into the corresponding past tense. If it is in the simple past tense, change it into the past perfect tense.
But
When the reporting verb is in a present or future tense, we do not change the tense of the verb inside the quotation marks.

Direct speech: She says, ‘I will come.’
Indirect speech: She says that she will come.

The teacher asked Ravi whether he has done his homework

The teacher asked Ravi that had he done his homework

The teacher asked Ravi whether he had done his homework

The teacher asked Ravi he had done his homework

Mary said that she is watching Television

Mary said that she has been watching Television

Mary said that she was watching Television

<ul style="color: rgb(255,255,255);">
<li>Auxiliary Verbs-ൽ ആരംഭിക്കുന്ന ചോദ്യങ്ങളാണ് 'Yes or No' type ചോദ്യങ്ങൾ. ഇത്തരം ചോദ്യങ്ങളുടെ മറുപടി 'yes' എന്നോ 'no' എന്നോ ആയിരിക്കും.</li>
<li>yes or no ടൈപ് ചോദ്യങ്ങൾ റിപ്പോർട്ട് ചെയ്യുമ്പോൾ asked എന്നാണ് reporting verb ആയി ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നത്. Asked നു കൂടെ whether/if എന്നീ വാക്കുകൾ കൂടി ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നു.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Auxiliary Verb + Subject എന്നത് whether/if + Subject+ Auxiliary Verb എന്നാകുന്നു.</li>
<li>So, 'She asked me whether I liked comics' is the right answer.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;

In indirect speech, we usually change the tense of the reporting verb and adjust pronouns and adverbs as needed. In this case, the original sentence is in direct speech:
"Manoj asked Lakshmi, 'Will you give me your notebook?'                                                                                                                                                                           
      -  Change the pronouns: "you" becomes "her," and "me" becomes "him."
      -  Change the tense of the question: "Will" becomes "would."
      -  Use the word "whether" to introduce indirect questions.
Option A is incorrect because it uses "his notebook" instead of "her notebook" for Lakshmi's possession.

Manoj asked Lakshmi if she will give him his notebook

Manoj asked Lakshmi whether she would give him her notebook

Beggar requested Ramu to give some water.

When transforming direct speech into reported speech in the past, you change the tense of the verb from the past simple ("wrote") to the past perfect ("had written") to convey that the action took place before the reporting verb ("said").

Kannan said that he had been writing a letter

When transforming a direct question into indirect speech, there are certain rules and changes in the structure of the sentence. The correct transformation involves the following considerations:
<ol style="color: rgb(255,255,255);">
<li>The introductory verb (asked) is followed by an object (me).</li>
<li>The question word "what" remains, but its position is altered/changed.</li>
<li>The auxiliary verb "is" changes to "was" to match the past tense in indirect speech.</li>
<li>In indirect speech, the word order of the question changes. Instead of "What is your name?" the structure becomes "what my name was."</li>
</ol>

The policeman asked me whether what my name is.

The teacher asked the students had they read ‘Othello’

The teacher asked the students have they read ‘Othello’

The teacher asked the students whether they had read ‘Othello’

The teacher asked the students whether they have read ‘Othello’

Anil asked Anu whether she is going to see her grandmother.

Anil asked Anu whether she was going to see her grandmother.

Anil asked Anu whether she had gone to see her grandmother.

Anil asked Anu whether she will go to see her grandmother.

<ul class="ChallengerEditorTheme__ul_dark" style="color: rgb(255,255,255);"><li value="1" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark">In reported speech, the verb tense often shifts back in time.</li><li value="2" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark">"Said" is the past tense of "say," so the direct speech verb "like" changes to "liked" in reported speech.</li><li value="3" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark">The pronoun "I" changes to "he" to match the subject in the reported speech.</li><li value="4" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark">"The boy says that he liked sweets.": Incorrect because it uses "says" (present tense) instead of "said" (past tense).</li><li value="5" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark">"The boy said that he had liked sweets.": Incorrect because the past perfect tense "had liked" is not needed; simple past "liked" is sufficient.</li><li value="6" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark">"The boy says that he has liked sweets.": Incorrect because it uses "says" (present tense) and "has liked" (present perfect tense), which do not match the past tense context of the original statement.</li></ul>

The judge ordered them to call the witness

The judge ordered them to called the witness

When reporting a statement in indirect speech, you generally change the tense of the reporting verb to the past and adjust the tense of the reported statement accordingly.
In reported speech, "today" usually changes to "that day" or "the same day. "Tomorrow" changes to "the next day" or "the following day". "Yesterday" changes to "the day before" or "the previous day."

The teacher asked him where he had gone the previous day

The teacher asked him where he has gone the previous day

The teacher asked him where he had been going yesterday

The teacher asked him where he was going yesterday

<ul style="color: rgb(255,255,255);">
<li>Auxiliary Verb കളിൽ ആരംഭിക്കുന്ന ചോദ്യങ്ങളാണ് &nbsp;'Yes or No' ടൈപ്പ് ചോദ്യങ്ങൾ. ഇത്തരം ചോദ്യങ്ങളുടെ മറുപടി 'yes' എന്നോ 'no' എന്നോ ആയിരിക്കും.</li>
<li>'Wh' ചോദ്യങ്ങൾ പോലെ തന്നെ yes or no ടൈപ് ചോദ്യങ്ങൾ റിപ്പോർട്ട് ചെയ്യാനും asked തന്നെയാണ് reporting verb ആയി ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നത്.</li>
<li>Asked നു കൂടെ whether/if എന്നീ വാക്കുകൾ കൂടി ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നു.&nbsp;
<ul style="color: rgb(255,255,255);">
<li>Anil asked Anu, “Are you going to see your grandmother” ?&nbsp;</li>
<li>Anil asked Anu whether she was going to see her grandmother.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>'Wh' ചോദ്യങ്ങൾ പോലെ തന്നെ ഇവിടെയും subject ലും auxiliary verb ലും മാറ്റങ്ങൾ വരുന്നു . "see your grandmother" എന്നത് "see her grandmother" എന്നായിരിക്കുന്നു. Auxiliary Verb + Subject &nbsp;എന്നത് &nbsp; whether/if + Subject &nbsp;+ Auxiliary Verb എന്നാകുന്നു. (whether + she + was)&nbsp;</li>
<li>"you" becomes "she" (the pronoun changes because we are now reporting Anu's words).</li>
<li>"are going" becomes "was going" to match the past tense in reported speech</li>
</ul>
More examples
<ul style="color: rgb(255,255,255);">
<li>Raju: are you a clever boy?</li>
<li>Raju asked me whether I was a clever boy.</li>
<li>Raju asked me if I was a clever boy.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Anil asked Anu whether she is going to see her grandmother

Anil asked Anu whether she was going to see her grandmother

Anil asked Anu whether she had gone to see her grandmother

Anil asked Anu whether she will go to see her grandmother

The given sentence is in indirect speech, and it is converted to direct speech. When we convert indirect speech to direct speech, we need to make some changes:<ul class="ChallengerEditorTheme__ul_dark" style="color: rgb(255,255,255);"><li value="1" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark" style="text-align: start;">We remove the indirect speech words like "whether", "if", etc.</li><li value="2" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark" style="text-align: start;">We use the person's exact words, which are usually in the form of a question or a statement.</li><li value="3" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark" style="text-align: start;">We keep the same verb tense (e.g., "was" becomes "is" in this case).</li></ul>So, in this case:<ul class="ChallengerEditorTheme__ul_dark" style="color: rgb(255,255,255);"><li value="1" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark" style="text-align: start;">Indirect Speech: He asked whether such a thing was possible.</li><li value="2" class="ChallengerEditorTheme__listItem_dark">Direct Speech: He said, "Is such a thing possible?"</li></ul>

He said "Whether such a thing was possible"?

<ul style="color: rgb(255,255,255);">
<li>"He said sadly that he was undone," is also grammatically correct. However, it doesn't fully capture the emotional intensity conveyed by the exclamation "Alas!" in the original sentence.&nbsp;</li>
<li>The word "Alas!" is an exclamation that expresses sorrow or regret ( ദുഃഖമോ ഖേദമോ പ്രകടിപ്പിക്കുന്ന വാക്ക്)</li>
<li>In indirect speech, we often use reporting verbs like "exclaimed" to convey the emotional tone of the original statement. Hence, "exclaimed" is appropriate.</li>
<li>In indirect speech, the first-person pronoun "I" changes to the third person "he" to match the subject of the reporting verb ("He").</li>
<li>The present tense "am" changes to the past tense "was" to reflect the shift from direct to indirect speech.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;

<ul style="color: rgb(255,255,255);">
<li>Keep the reporting verb ("said that") to introduce the reported speech.</li>
<li>Change the pronoun "my" to "his" to reflect the change in perspective from Appu to a third person.</li>
<li>Change the tense of the verb "drew" to the past perfect, which is "had drawn" to show that it happened in the past.</li>
</ul>
So, "My teacher drew the picture" becomes "Appu said that his teacher had drawn the picture" in indirect speech.

Appu said that his teacher drew the picture.

Appu said that his teacher had drawn the picture.

Appu said that his teacher has drawn the picture.

Appu said that his teacher drawn the picture.

Present Tense ലുള്ള  Direct Speech നെ Indirect Speech ലേക്ക് മാറ്റുമ്പോൾ അത് Past Tense ലേക്ക് മാറുന്നു. So 'go' becomes 'went'. 
Direct Speech ലുള്ള  First Person, Second Person pronounകൾ Third Person Pronoun കൾ ആവുന്നു.
So, 'I' becomes 'he'.

John said that he was going out too often

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