Back to: English Language Primary 5
Welcome to class Cuties!
CHANGING DIRECT SPEECHES INTO INDIRECT SPEECHES.
In our last class, we discussed direct and indirect speeches. Let me remind you. When we use direct speech, we say the exact word someone said. Here, you put the words in quotation marks (“”). Indirect speech which is also called Reported Speech is when we are reporting or telling what someone said. We do not put the words in quotation marks like when using direct speech.
Today, we will be changing direct speech sentences into indirect speech.
Let’s go:
Direct Speech: He said, “I must go.”
Indirect Speech: He said he had to go.
Direct Speech: “You have to think carefully about what your teachers say,” she told us.
Indirect Speech: She told us we had to think carefully about what our teachers say.
Direct Speech: “A reader can learn a lot about a character by what they say,” said Mrs. Gold.
Indirect Speech: Mrs. Gold said that a reader could learn a lot about a character by what they say.
Direct Speech: “I can finish the painting today”, said the artist.
Indirect Speech: The artist said he could finish the painting that day.
Direct Speech: “Can I have some salad?” asked Mabel.
Indirect Speech: Mabel asked if she could have some salad.
COMPREHENSION
Sitting on the bank of river Amo I cried, if the river hadn’t been filled to the brink, my tears would have done that. I never noticed the sun had gone down hours ago, I just cried.
“It’s time for you to go home!” I jumped at the voice behind me, almost falling into the river as I turned sharply, the figure looked like Femi, “Femi?” I asked scared to death,
“No” the figure answered with great difficulty.
“Who are you?” I shouted back, I put a foot into the river, ready to dive in if the stranger ever took a step, as if reading my mind, he stretched a hand forward “Am not going to hurt you” and moved back to give a fair amount of space between us, “My name is Michael” he said, as if sensing my change in heart he came closer. “Am a friend of your father’s” he continued, and that got him the attention he craved for.
“What about my father?” I asked.
“Your father sent me here to protect you” he walked into the light of the moon, I held my breath, no I wasn’t ready to dive into the river, I held my breath because of the beauty standing in front of me, he has a body like rock, a blue eye, and the other black, a calm and rugged looking face. An angel? My heart just won’t stop beating fast.
“You knew my father?” I tried to prompt calmly, but my voice is as shaky as a leaf.
“Yes” he answered, his sweet voice telling me he wasn’t telling lies. “Am sorry about your loss”, I should be grieved but his voice calm and sweet, made it sound like a congratulations.
“Am I in any danger?”, I was happy to hear my voice back to normal.
“None at the moment” I could sense a hint of over confidence in his word, “But first I have to get you home”, I know it’s stupid to trust a complete stranger so fast, but the way he spoke made me feel have known him for years.
I couldn’t look away from him as we walked side by side to my home, I didn’t hear a thing he said, apart from the times he made mention of Letter and Clues. Basically, I was concentrated on his beauty not his talk.
“Do you have them?” Michael burst into my room out of breath, I replied with a nod, “Go out through the window” he nudged me, I had barely touched the ground than he started pulling me towards the woods behind our house, I wanted to ask him a lot of questions but the look on his face, and the sound of footsteps rushing towards us changed my mind, we hid behind a giant Oak tree, silent as the night.
First there were touches, then voices, then that utterly familiar voice “Spread out, and find her, she knows something”, that voice where did I hear it from?
“Eze Nunu!” the words crept from my mind to my mouth.
Extract from the novel “Sugar Girl” by Kola Onadipe.
QUIZ
- What is the name of the river she sat crying?
- What happened to her?
- What is the name of the stranger?
- Why did she follow the stranger?
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
Let us learn some new words and phrases by finding out what they mean according to the passage.
Crave… Feel a powerful desire for something.
Body like a rock… This expression is a Simile. It is used to help the reader visualize what is being described. It is to help you have a picture in your mind how hard Michael’s body is.
Prompt… An act of encouraging (a hesitating speaker) to say something.
As shaky as a leaf… Simile is also used in this expression to help us visualize how much she shook.
Grieve… Feel intense sorrow.
Hint… A slight or indirect indication or suggestion.
Nudge… A slight push or touch.
Note that Simile is a figure of speech.
WRITING
DESCRIPTIVE COMPOSITION
My Best Friend
Anyone you call your best friend is someone special with whom you can share all your feelings. Everyone has a best friend. My best friend is Sally.
Sally is in class 5 like me. She is a well-mannered girl, she respects people’s feelings. Sally is tall, fair, good looking and smart. She has a pointed nose and the color of her pupil is almond. She is very neat and organized. She is very good in her studies and always does her work attentively in the class. We sit side by side in class and so we share many things with each other. Whenever I need any help in my studies, she is always ready to help. We study together for examinations.
Sally is my best friend because we have a lot of things in common. Our favorite color is red. We both enjoy singing, dancing and participating in the drama club. I love her and she loves me too. I am glad God gave me a friend like her.
MORE QUIZ
Make sentences with the new words and phrases learnt today.
Write a descriptive essay on the topic “My Pet.”
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