Which term captures indirect or reported speech?

• A. literal
• B. simile
• C. Indirect/reported speech
• D. personification

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is how we report what someone said without quoting them directly. The best term is indirect/reported speech because it describes conveying the message in a paraphrased form, often changing pronouns and tense, and using a word like that or whether to introduce the reported speech. For example, direct speech would be “I’m tired,” she said. Indirect/reported speech would be She said that she was tired. This shows the shift from the speaker’s exact words to a summarized version.

The other options don’t fit because literal refers to taking words exactly as written or spoken, which is not about reporting or paraphrasing. A simile is a figure of speech that compares two things using like or as, not about reporting speech. Personification gives human qualities to nonhuman things, which is also a stylistic device, not about reporting speech.