Page 52 - New Medley 5 Semester 2

c. Who had misunderstood the speaker?

d. When did the speaker try to clear the air and give an explanation?

D. Answer these questions.

1. What were the arrangements made for Birbal by the King of Persia?

2. How did Birbal describe the places he visited to the King of Persia?

3. What were Birbal’s views about the people of Persia?

4. When did a minister of Persia ask Birbal a question? What was the question?

5. How did Birbal compare his own king, Akbar, with the King of Persia?

Think and Answer • Critical Thinking

A. Why was Akbar upset with Birbal? What was the explanation given by Birbal? What do
we come to know about Birbal’s abilities from the way he dealt with the situation?

Grammar Spot • Direct and indirect speech
• Adverbs – kinds

Direct and Indirect Speech (Reported Speech)

Read these sentences.

1. Akbar said, “Birbal has gone to Persia.” (Direct speech)

2. Akbar said that Birbal had gone to Persia. (Reported speech)

When we want to tell the exact words of the speaker, it is said to be in direct speech.

Such words (spoken by the speaker) are written within single (‘ ’) or double inverted
commas (“ ”).

Sentence 1 is in direct speech.
We can also express the speaker’s words in our own words. This is called indirect

(reported) speech. We do not use inverted commas in indirect speech. We use them
only when we write the exact words of the speaker in direct speech.

Sentence 2 is in indirect (reported) speech.

Indirect Speech (Reported Speech)

Various changes take place when a sentence is changed from direct to indirect speech.

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