Question

Jane said to John, “Will you go shopping with me?”
The above sentence is in reported speech.
 a. True
b. False

Answer 1

Hint: The student should read the given sentences carefully and pay heed to the structure. Note the tense, person and placement of words in the sentence and then follow the rules of narration to convert it into indirect speech.

Complete answer: Indirect speech or reported speech is (grammar) a form of speech used to express what another has said; often involves a change in the tense. If we were to change "Fred says "I will do the housework"." into reported speech it would become "Fred said that he would do the housework."
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question -
Option (a.), 'True', refers to the given sentence ‘Jane said to John, “Will you go shopping with me?”’ as a sentence in reported speech.
Therefore, option (a.) is incorrect as the given sentence is not in reported speech since it does not express what another has said, and it also uses direct quotations, which are only used in direct speech.

Option (b.), ‘False', refers to the given sentence ‘Jane said to John, “Will you go shopping with me?”’ as a sentence not in reported speech.
Therefore, option (b.) is correct as the given sentence is in direct speech since it does not express what another has said, and it also uses direct quotations, which are only used in direct speech.

Note: In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of direct speech. Direct speech is (grammar) the writing of speech, using the exact words of the speaker, usually between quotation marks.