Indirect to direct speech

Indirect speech to direct speech - exercise 5

Change the following sentences from indirect to direct speech.

Liz said she didn't speak Greek at all.
I don't speak Greek at all.

Peter admitted that he had never met us.

"I ," admitted Peter.

They told us they would start the voyage the following day.

"We the voyage tomorrow," they told us.

We called them that we were walking in the Central Park.

"We in the Central Park," we called them.

She said she worked in Ford headquarters in Europe.

I in Ford headquarters in Europe.

I replied that I had been trying to mend it since the morning.

"I to mend it since the morning," I replied.

Bob said that at one o'clock he had been doing nothing.

"At one o'clock I nothing," said Bob.

They explained that they had closed down the previous year.

"We down last year," they explained.

Neil said he wished he could be an independent accountant.

"I wish I an independent accountant," said Neil.

She told us we had better accept it as soon as possible.

"You it as soon as possible," she told us.

He claimed that someone had screamed in the garden.

"Someone in the garden," he claimed.

Moira admitted that she would rather stay at home.

"I at home," admitted Moira.

Related pages:

Direct and indirect speech exercises and grammar rules with examples.

From indirect to direct speech

If we want to tell someone what another person said or thought, we can use indirect or direct speech.

Indirect speech: Samantha said that she had stayed there the year before.
Direct speech: "I stayed here last year," said Samantha.

When we change the indirect speech to direct speech we usually change tenses (had stayed - stayed), pronouns (she - I), time (last year - the year before)) and place (here - there).

Moreover, we use different punctuation (commas at the end of statements) and quotation marks in the direct speech.

They told me they didn't want to move to Bristol.
"We don't want to move to Bristol," they told me.

Our grandma thought that Timothy would be the best student in his class.
"Timothy will be the best student in his class," our grandma thought.

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