Direct-Indirect Speech Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The indirect speech is The man said that the lion had died in the night.

When the reporting verb is in the past tense (said), the tense of the reported words moves one step back. A simple past (died) becomes the past perfect (had died), and the reported clause is introduced with that.

'The lion died in the night' keeps the simple past and so does not apply the change of tense. 'Was dead' and 'had been dead' change the verb from die (an event) to be dead (a state), which alters the meaning.

Answer: C

The indirect speech is Samir told us that we had done that work well.

Converting to indirect speech with a past reporting verb follows set rules: said to us becomes told us, the clause is joined with that, the pronoun you becomes we because Samir was speaking to us, the present perfect have done moves back to the past perfect had done, and this becomes that.

The other options change who did the work or drop the reporting structure: 'Samir has done this work well' makes Samir the doer, and the remaining two keep direct word order without the tense and pronoun changes.

Answer: C

The correct indirect speech is She wished me a Merry Christmas.

When the direct speech is a greeting or exclamation such as 'Merry Christmas!', 'Good morning!' or 'Happy birthday!', it is reported with a suitable reporting verb like wish or greet, not by repeating the words after 'said that'.

'She told me Merry Christmas' keeps the direct words without converting them. 'She said that Christmas was Merry' turns a greeting into a statement of fact, and 'She called me a Merry Christmas' makes no sense.

Answer: A

The correct indirect speech is The man says that coffee is ready.

The reporting verb 'says' is in the present tense. When the reporting verb is present (or future), the tense of the reported words does not change, so 'is ready' stays 'is ready'. Only the quotation marks are dropped and 'that' is added.

'The man said...' changes the reporting verb itself, which indirect speech never does. 'The man says that coffee was ready' shifts the tense back although nothing requires it. 'The man said that coffee was ready' is the correct form only if the direct speech had begun 'The man said'.

Answer: A

The reported form is The manager asked if Mira was leaving early.

When a yes-or-no question is reported, the reporting verb 'said' becomes 'asked', the question is introduced by 'if' or 'whether', the word order becomes that of a statement, and the tense moves back one step: 'is leaving' becomes 'was leaving'.

'Inquired if Mira is going to leave' keeps the present tense and changes the meaning. 'Demanded to know' adds a force the original does not have, and 'said whether' uses the wrong reporting verb for a question.

Answer: B

Correct answer: You said that you had brought books for me

The present perfect have brought moves back to the past perfect after a past reporting verb. Me in the direct speech refers to the listener, so it stays me from the reporter's side.

Answer: B

Correct answer: My younger sister says that she does not tell a lie

The reporting verb says is present, so there is no backshift - only the pronoun changes, from I to she. That change then forces do to agree as does.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Nita said to her servant, “Bring me a cup of tea.”

Working backwards from indirect to direct: ordered… to bring her a cup of tea unpacks into an imperative addressed to the servant, and her in the report becomes me in Nita's own words. The option omitting the servant loses the person addressed, and the ones keeping her or that leave the report's pronouns in the direct speech.

Answer: C

Correct answer: She said to me that he mostly ignored her

Me in the direct speech is the original speaker, so it becomes her. The present ignores then moves back to ignored. Keeping me would make the reporter the person ignored.

Answer: D

Correct answer: They said that they had returned the books

The present perfect have returned becomes the past perfect had returned. Had return is not a verb form, and the plain past returned loses the completed-before-the-report sense.