Choose the most appropriate reported construction of the following sentence:
The children said, “What a tall giraffe it is!”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The children exclaimed that it was a very tall giraffe.
Changing a “What a ...!” sentence into indirect speech:
| Change | Direct | Indirect | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting verb | said | exclaimed | “What a ...!” shows sudden surprise. So “said” becomes “exclaimed”. |
| Joining word | “ ” (quotation marks) | that | “That” joins the reported words. |
| Exclamation to statement | What a tall giraffe it is! | it was a very tall giraffe | “What a” and “!” are dropped. The words become a plain statement, and “very” shows the strong feeling. |
| Tense change | is | was | “Is” is in the simple present. The verb “be” in the simple present is am / is / are. After the past “said” it becomes the simple past “was”. The verb “be” in the simple past is was / were. |
| Full sentence | The children said, “What a tall giraffe it is!” | The children exclaimed that it was a very tall giraffe. |
A “How ...!” sentence changes in the same way. Example: Sonu said, “How sweet the mango is!” → Sonu exclaimed that the mango was very sweet.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: The children exclaimed that what a tall giraffe it was. — Incorrect. “That what a” keeps the exclamation form. In the report it must be a plain statement: “that it was a very tall giraffe”.
Option 3: The children exclaimed that it is a very tall giraffe. — Incorrect. The present “is” is kept. After the past “said” it must become “was”.
Option 4: The children exclaimed that it had been a very tall giraffe. — Incorrect. “Is” moves back only one step, to “was”. “Had been” is the change for “was” or “has been”.