English Language

Direct and Indirect Speech

290 Questions
All Interrogative Sentences 64 Imperative Sentences 63 Tense Sequence Shift 30 Assertive Sentences 23 Exclamatory Sentences 23 Universal Truths and Habits 22 Modal Auxiliary Shift 19 Time and Place Expressions 19 Pronoun Shifts 18 Mixed Sentence Types 5 Question Tags 1

Direct and Indirect Speech Questions

Multiple choice

Directions: Pick out the correct alternative that completes the sentence after change of narration.

Ann said Sunny, “What are you doing?” Ann asked Sunny

  1. what she will be doing?

  2. that what she is doing?

  3. that what she was doing?

  4. what she was doing.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Fourth option is correct. The tense of the sentence changes into 'past' tense because the reporting verb in direct voice (said) is in past tense. As the reporting speech is in interrogative, the word 'said' changes to 'asked'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Select the alternative that completes the sentence after change of narration.

She said to her maid, “Run and catch the thief”. She ordered her maid

  1. ran and catch the thief

  2. that to run and to catch the thief

  3. ran and caught the thief

  4. to run and catch the thief
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Fourth option is correct. As the reported speech is in the imperative, the word 'said' changes to 'ordered to'.  Because of the use of 'to infinitive', there is no other change. 

Multiple choice

Directions: Select the alternative that completes the sentence after change of narration.

He said to his friend, “Wait here till father comes.”

He requested his friend

  1. to wait here till father had come.

  2. that to wait there till his father came.

  3. to wait there till father came.

  4. to wait here until his friend came.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Third option is correct. The tense of the sentence changes into 'past' tense because the reporting verb in direct voice (said) is in past tense. As the reporting speech is in imperative, the word 'said' changes to 'requested'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the given four options correctly puts the following sentence into indirect speech?

The manager said,”Well, what can I do for you?”

  1. The manager asked what he could do for him.

  2. The manager wondered what he could do for him.

  3. The manager wanted to know what he could do for him.

  4. The manager said that he couldn't do anything for him.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

In indirect speech, the direct question 'What can I do for you?' becomes 'what he could do for him'. Option C correctly uses 'wanted to know' to reflect the inquiry.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the given four options correctly puts the following sentence into indirect speech?

He said,”will you listen to such a man.”

  1. He asked them will you listen to such a man.

  2. He asked them are you listening to such a man.

  3. He asked them whether they would listen to such a man.

  4. He asked them whether they will listen to such a man.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

To convert a yes/no question into indirect speech, we use 'whether' or 'if' as a conjunction. The reporting verb 'said' becomes 'asked', and the modal 'will' is changed to 'would' to maintain tense consistency with the past reporting verb.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the option that converts the given statement into indirect speech.

"Has it been raining all night?", Grandma said to Sunil.

  1. Grandma asked Sunil if it had been raining all night.

  2. Grandma asked Sunil if it was raining all night.

  3. Grandma asked Sunil if it has raining all night.

  4. Grandma asked Sunil if has been raining all night.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

When converting a present perfect continuous question to indirect speech, the tense shifts to past perfect continuous ('had been raining').

Multiple choice

Directions: Change the narration.

"How much chocolate do you eat every day?", the dentist asked the little boy.

  1. The dentist asked the boy how much chocolate will he eat every day.

  2. The dentist asked the boy how much chocolate he eats every day.

  3. The dentist asked the little boy how much chocolate he ate every day.

  4. How much chocolate he eats every day asked the dentist to little boy.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Since the reporting verb is in simple past tense and the addressee is a boy, 'you eat' will be replaced by 'he ate'. Also, the question is converted into a statement.