Reporting What Was Said: Indirect Speech for Grade 5

This Grade 5 worksheet helps students understand and use indirect speech — the grammatical way of reporting what someone said without quoting their exact words. Through five carefully structured exercises, learners develop the ability to identify changes in pronouns and tenses, choose correct conversions, and write their own indirect speech passages confidently.

Why Indirect Speech Matters in Grammar?

Indirect speech is a key grammar skill that helps students report conversations and information accurately. For Grade 5 learners, this topic is important because:
1. It teaches students how to retell what someone said without using quotation marks.
2. It introduces important changes in tense, pronouns, and reporting verbs.
3. It is widely used in writing summaries, news reports, and narratives.
4. It builds on knowledge of direct speech and strengthens overall grammar fluency.

What's Inside This Worksheet?

This worksheet includes five grammar-rich activities that build fluency with indirect speech:

Exercise 1 – Underline the Changes from Direct to Indirect Speech
Students read ten sentences written in direct speech form and underline the words or phrases that would change when converted to indirect speech — such as pronouns and verb tenses. This activity builds awareness of the key transformations involved.

Exercise 2 – Multiple Choice Questions
Students choose the correctly converted indirect speech sentence from three options in each of ten questions. This sharpens the ability to apply tense backshift and pronoun changes accurately.

Exercise 3 – Sentence Rewriting (Direct to Indirect)
Students convert ten direct speech sentences into indirect speech. Example: 'Riya said, "I am going to the market."' becomes 'Riya said that she was going to the market.' This hands-on exercise builds confident transformation skills.

Exercise 4 – Fill in the Blanks (Paragraph)
Students read a cricket team practice passage and fill in the blanks with appropriate indirect speech structures. This contextual task helps students apply indirect speech naturally within a story setting.

Exercise 5 – Paragraph Writing
Students write a paragraph reporting what someone said, using correct indirect speech. This open-ended activity encourages independent and creative application of the grammar concept.

Answer Key (For Parents & Educators)

Exercise 1 – Words That Change (Underline)
1. I → he; like → liked
2. Who → who; took → had taken
3. I → he; am going → was going
4. I → she; am opening → was opening
5. I → he; will → would
6. It → it; is → was
7. Can → if he could
8. I → she; will → would
9. I → he; hurt → had hurt
10. I → she; am → was

Exercise 2 – Multiple Choice Questions
1. b) Rahul said he liked it.
2. a) Anjali asked where it was.
3. c) Aryan said he was going.
4. b) Pooja said she loved it.
5. c) Kartik said they had won.
6. a) Nisha said it was secret.
7. b) Rohan asked if he could.
8. c) Neha said she would come.
9. a) Aarav said he had lost it.
10. b) Diya said she was happy.

Exercise 3 – Convert Direct to Indirect
1. Riya said that she was going to the market.
2. He said to finish the homework on time. / He told them to finish their homework on time.
3. Aman said that he would clean his room.
4. Mother told them to bring some vegetables.
5. The coach said to practice every day. / The coach told them to practice every day.
6. Neha said that she was learning dance.
7. The doctor said to take the medicine. / The doctor told them to take their medicine.
8. Father said that they would visit grandma.
9. The guide said to follow him carefully. / The guide told them to follow him carefully.
10. The chef said to taste the dish. / The chef told them to taste the dish.

Exercise 4 – Fill in the Blanks (Paragraph – Sample Answers)
1. that
2. that
3. whether / if
4. that
5. that
6. that
7. if / whether
8. that
9. that
10. that

Exercise 5 – Paragraph Writing (Sample Paragraph)
Answers may vary. A sample paragraph is given below for reference.

Yesterday, my teacher spoke to our class about our upcoming annual exam. She said that we should begin our revision at least two weeks before the test. She told us that reading our notes every evening would help us remember the topics better. My friend Rohan mentioned that he had already started preparing for the science chapter. He said that the chapter on the solar system was his favourite. Our class monitor Priya announced that the teacher had asked everyone to bring their textbooks the next day. After school, my mother asked me how my day had been. I told her that the teacher had given us important exam tips. She said that she was proud of me for paying attention in class. I promised her that I would study sincerely every day.

Help your child report conversations with confidence using a Free 1:1 English Grammar Trial Class at PlanetSpark — because knowing how to retell what was said is a skill that lasts a lifetime!
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