[The Price of Flowers — Grammar
🗣️ 1. Reported Speech (Pages 65–66)
The grammar item specifically taught in The Price of Flowers is Reported Speech. Activity IX begins with an actual conversation from the story and shows how direct speech can be changed into reported speech.
What is Reported Speech?
When we report what somebody has said without using the speaker's exact words, we use reported speech or indirect speech.
Direct Speech:
Maggie said, “My elder brother is in India.”
Reported Speech:
Maggie said that her elder brother was in India.
💬 2. Reporting Statements (Pages 65–66)
When a statement is reported, we commonly use reporting verbs such as said, told, replied, answered, added etc.
Example from the lesson
Direct:
“I have heard that most Indians are vegetarians.”
Reported:
She said that she had heard that most Indians were vegetarians.
Important Changes
When the reporting verb is in the past tense, the tense of the reported statement normally changes.
Present Simple → Past Simple
“Most Indians are vegetarians.”
→ She said that most Indians were vegetarians.
Present Perfect → Past Perfect
“I have heard...”
→ She said that she had heard...
Will/Shall → Would
“I shall be paid more.”
→ She said that she would be paid more.
Pronouns also change according to the speaker and context.
❓ 3. Reporting Yes/No Questions (Pages 65–66)
For questions that can be answered with Yes or No, we normally use if or whether.
Example from the lesson
Direct:
“Are you an Indian?”
Reported:
The girl asked me whether I was an Indian.
Another example:
Direct:
“Are you very anxious to grow up?”
Reported:
Mr Gupta asked Maggie whether she was very anxious to grow up.
Remember
In reported questions, we do not retain question word order.
❌ He asked whether was she anxious.
✅ He asked whether she was anxious.
The question mark is also removed.
🔍 4. Reporting Wh-Questions (Pages 65–66)
When a question begins with why, how, what, where, when, who etc., the same question word is retained in reported speech.
Example from the lesson
Direct:
“Why do you ask that?”
Reported:
I enquired why she asked that.
Direct:
“How is it that you know anything about India?”
Reported:
I further asked her how it was that she knew anything about India.
Remember
We don't use if/whether when a Wh-word is already present.
✅ 5. Reporting Yes/No Answers (Pages 65–66)
The textbook also demonstrates how a simple answer such as Yes can be reported.
Example from the lesson
Direct:
“Are you an Indian?”
“Yes.”
Reported:
The girl asked me whether I was an Indian.
I answered in the affirmative.
So:
Yes → replied/answered in the affirmative
Similarly, when appropriate:
No → replied/answered in the negative
🙏 6. Choosing Suitable Reporting Verbs (Page 66)
An important point given in the textbook is that we should understand the context of the conversation before choosing the reporting verb.
Instead of using said everywhere, we can use suitable verbs such as:
asked, replied, answered, enquired, added, agreed, requested, advised, ordered, suggested etc., depending on what the speaker actually means.
Textbook Example
Direct:
The convict: “Yes, yes, I'll lie down.”
Reported:
The convict agreed that he would lie down.
Here, agreed is more suitable than simply using said.
⏳ 7. When the Tense Need Not Change (Page 66)
The textbook gives an important note about tense change.
If the reporting verb is in the simple present or present perfect tense, the tense of the direct speech can normally be retained.
Textbook Examples
It is said that the earth moves around the sun.
Shakespeare has said that one may laugh and laugh and yet be a villain.
Therefore, students should not change the tense mechanically. They should first look at the reporting verb and context.
✍️ 8. Textbook Practice — Reported Speech (Page 66)
The textbook asks students to rewrite the following conversation in reported speech.
Question
Report the conversation between Mr Gupta and Maggie.
Mr Gupta asks Maggie how she would like to be addressed. Maggie replies that she is not yet grown-up and that she is usually called Maggie. He then asks whether she is anxious to grow up and why. Their conversation continues about Maggie's work and ambitions.
Answer
Mr Gupta asked Maggie whether he should call her Miss Clifford or Alice.
Maggie replied that she was not grown-up yet and that he might call her what he liked. She added that she was usually called Maggie.
Mr Gupta then asked her whether she was very anxious to grow up.
Maggie replied in the affirmative.
He asked her to tell him why.
Maggie replied that when she grew up, she would be paid more for her work and added that her mother was old.
Mr Gupta asked her whether the work she did was to her liking.
Maggie replied in the negative. She explained that the work was very mechanical and that she wanted work that would make her use her head. She added that she wanted brain work like the work of a secretary.
📌 Quick Notes — Reported Speech (Pages 65–66)
Students should remember these points:
Statements: usually use that
She said that she had heard about India.
Yes/No Questions: use if/whether
She asked whether I was an Indian.
Wh-Questions: retain the question word
I asked why she wanted to know.
Yes:
replied/answered in the affirmative
No:
replied/answered in the negative
Question word order changes to statement word order:
“Are you an Indian?”
→ She asked whether I was an Indian.
Select the reporting verb according to context:
said / asked / replied / enquired / added / agreed, etc.
If the reporting verb is in the simple present or present perfect, the tense in the direct speech can be retained.]