Sometimes we read reports because we are interested in what a celebrity, an authority, a famous writer, a famous sportsman or any other person we are interested in has said exactly and we would like to draw our own conclusion from what is reported. When a writer is reporting the words of someone else, he/she resorts to direct speech or indirect speech. When a writer reports speech attributed to a particular person verbatim, we call it direct speech and these words are placed between inverted commas or quotation marks. If the writer merely gives their own version of the words they are reporting we call it indirect speech and there is no need for inverted commas. This is the second of two High English quizzes which will show you how to use direct and indirect speech correctly.
We have learnt in our past lessons that the actual words spoken by a speaker are represented by placing them between inverted commas or quotation marks. This signifies that the quotation is attributed to the person and there can be no confusion as to what was said. But there are other rules of grammar to be followed:
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A comma or colon is placed before the words quoted.
The end mark in reported speech is always a full stop. However, the end mark within the quotation marks would depend on the mood; context and meaning expressed and could be a full stop, an exclamatory mark, or a question mark.
The first letter of the quote within the quotation marks is always capitalised.
Writers, and more specifically newspaper reporters, rely heavily on reported speech and they use a combination of direct and indirect speech to communicate to their readers effectively. They make their report very interesting by interspersing quotations with their own interpretation of the speech they have heard. Read the news item that is reproduced as reported in an online publication, take the quiz that follows and learn to mix up direct and indirect speech in your written communication.
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1.
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Which kind of reporting used in the above passage? |
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[ ] |
Only direct speech. |
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Only indirect speech. |
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No direct or indirect speech. |
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Both direct and indirect speech. |
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2.
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How many times was direct or indirect speech attributed to Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu? |
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One direct and two indirect speeches. |
[ ] |
No direct or indirect speeches. |
[ ] |
Two direct speeches and one indirect speech. |
[ ] |
One direct speech and one indirect speech. |
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3.
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"Confused" and "and to the shock of Congress" are direct speech attributed to who? |
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Sitharaman |
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No-one |
[ ] |
Raje |
[ ] |
Swaraj |
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4.
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In the report, Congress leader Anand Sharma's words have been shown in which style? |
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In both direct and indirect speech. |
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In indirect speech only. |
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In direct speech only. |
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In neither direct nor indirect speech. |
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5.
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How many times has Swaraj been reported as saying something? |
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Three times. |
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Two times. |
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Once only. |
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Not at all. |
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6.
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'She claimed that Congress has put itself in an "untenable position" and has "pushed itself against the wall" by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan.'
What kind of a sentence is this? |
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[ ] |
Indirect speech. |
[ ] |
Direct speech. |
[ ] |
Both indirect and direct speech. |
[ ] |
Just a statement. |
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7.
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'She claimed that Congress has put itself in an "untenable position" and has "pushed itself against the wall" by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan.'
Convert this sentence into direct speech. |
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She claimed "Congress has put itself in an untenable position and has pushed itself against the wall by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan." |
[ ] |
She claimed, "Congress has put itself in an "untenable position" and has "pushed itself against the wall" by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan." |
[ ] |
She claimed, "Congress has put itself in an untenable position and has pushed itself against the wall by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan." |
[ ] |
She claimed, "Congress has put itself in an untenable position and has pushed itself against the wall by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan". |
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8.
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What is the necessary condition to differentiate between direct and indirect speech? |
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To hyphenate the words attributed to a person. |
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To place the words attributed to a person between inverted commas. |
[ ] |
To capitalise the words attributed to a person. |
[ ] |
To italicise the words attributed to a person. |
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9.
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Which of the following options is related more to indirect speech? |
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When we are interested in giving less information. |
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When we are interested in making sentences very long. |
[ ] |
When we are interested in the exact words. |
[ ] |
When we are not interested in the exact words. |
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10.
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Which of the following options is related more to indirect speech? |
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[ ] |
Dramatic effect. |
[ ] |
Authenticity. |
[ ] |
A sense of urgency. |
[ ] |
All of the above. |
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1.
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Which kind of reporting used in the above passage? |
|
[ ] |
Only direct speech. |
[ ] |
Only indirect speech. |
[ ] |
No direct or indirect speech. |
[x] |
Both direct and indirect speech. |
|
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2.
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How many times was direct or indirect speech attributed to Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu? |
|
[x] |
One direct and two indirect speeches. |
[ ] |
No direct or indirect speeches. |
[ ] |
Two direct speeches and one indirect speech. |
[ ] |
One direct speech and one indirect speech. |
|
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3.
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"Confused" and "and to the shock of Congress" are direct speech attributed to who? |
|
[ ] |
Sitharaman |
[x] |
No-one |
[ ] |
Raje |
[ ] |
Swaraj |
|
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4.
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In the report, Congress leader Anand Sharma's words have been shown in which style? |
|
[ ] |
In both direct and indirect speech. |
[ ] |
In indirect speech only. |
[x] |
In direct speech only. |
[ ] |
In neither direct nor indirect speech. |
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5.
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How many times has Swaraj been reported as saying something? |
|
[ ] |
Three times. |
[ ] |
Two times. |
[ ] |
Once only. |
[x] |
Not at all. |
|
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6.
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'She claimed that Congress has put itself in an "untenable position" and has "pushed itself against the wall" by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan.'
What kind of a sentence is this? |
|
[x] |
Indirect speech. |
[ ] |
Direct speech. |
[ ] |
Both indirect and direct speech. |
[ ] |
Just a statement. |
|
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7.
|
'She claimed that Congress has put itself in an "untenable position" and has "pushed itself against the wall" by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan.'
Convert this sentence into direct speech. |
|
[ ] |
She claimed "Congress has put itself in an untenable position and has pushed itself against the wall by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan." |
[ ] |
She claimed, "Congress has put itself in an "untenable position" and has "pushed itself against the wall" by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan." |
[x] |
She claimed, "Congress has put itself in an untenable position and has pushed itself against the wall by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan." |
[ ] |
She claimed, "Congress has put itself in an untenable position and has pushed itself against the wall by demanding resignations of Swaraj, Raje and Chauhan". |
|
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8.
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What is the necessary condition to differentiate between direct and indirect speech? |
|
[ ] |
To hyphenate the words attributed to a person. |
[x] |
To place the words attributed to a person between inverted commas. |
[ ] |
To capitalise the words attributed to a person. |
[ ] |
To italicise the words attributed to a person. |
|
|
9.
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Which of the following options is related more to indirect speech? |
|
[ ] |
When we are interested in giving less information. |
[ ] |
When we are interested in making sentences very long. |
[ ] |
When we are interested in the exact words. |
[x] |
When we are not interested in the exact words. |
|
|
10.
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Which of the following options is related more to indirect speech? |
|
[ ] |
Dramatic effect. |
[ ] |
Authenticity. |
[ ] |
A sense of urgency. |
[x] |
All of the above. |
|
|