Question

"The police are appealing for witnesses," she said.
Choose the correct reported speech.

Answer 1

She said that the police were appealing for witnesses.

$\blue{Additional \: information :}$

• A conversation between two people ie between the first person and the second person is called direct speech.

• Example - Kshitij said to Prince, " I'll rock there ".

• When the same dialogues are reported to a third person, it's called indirect speech.

• Example - Kshitij told prince that he would rock there.

$\red{Rules: }$

• All the tenses of the direct speech are converted to the past tense in the indirect speech, but if the sentence is already in past tense, it turns to past perfect tense.

• Example -

1. Kshitij said to Khushali, " We will go to Kolkata for a tour ".

=> Kshitij told Khushali that they would go to Kolkata for a tour.

• If the direct speech is a universal truth, the tense of the sentence doesn't change in the indirect speech.

• Example -

1. Kshitij said, " The sun rises in the east ".

=> Kshitij said that the sun rises in the east.

• If the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, the tense of the verb isn't changed in the indirect speech.

• Example -

1. He says , " I write a letter. "

=> He says that he writes a letter.

• If the person addressed to, reports the speech, the second person in the direct speech becomes first person in the indirect speech.

• Example -

1. Kshitij said to me,"You're an idiot."

=> Kshitij told me that I was an idiot.

Answer 2

She said that police were appealing for witness.