In the following section the sentences have been given in Direct or Indirect speech. From the given alternatives, choose the most appropriate sentence that best suits the given sentence in Indirect or Direct speech.
"Did you come from India"?, said Sara to boy.
Answer: A
Correct answer: Sara asked the boy if he had come from India
A yes-or-no question is reported with asked… if (or whether), and the past simple did you come moves back to the past perfect had come. Came would leave the tense unshifted, and come is not a finite form.
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You said, "You have brought books for me"
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.
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My uncle said to me, "How is your studies going on now?"
Answer: C
Correct answer: My uncle asked me how my studies were going on then
Four changes: said to becomes asked; the question order is dropped, so the subject comes before the verb; your becomes my; and now becomes then while is becomes the past. Studies is plural, so the verb is were.
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You said, "He was there"
Answer: A
Correct answer: You said that he had been there
The past simple was moves back to the past perfect had been. There stays as it is - it is already the distant form; it is here that would have to change to there, not the other way round.
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Change into indirect speech: He said to her, “Did you finish the work ?”
Answer: C
Correct answer: He asked her if she had finished the work
A question answerable by yes or no is reported with if or whether, the word order becomes that of a statement, and the question mark is dropped. The simple past finish shifts back to the past perfect had finished.
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She said to him, "Where are you living"?
Answer: B
Correct answer: She asked him where he was living
Said to becomes asked, the inverted question order is straightened out, and are living moves back to was living. Was lived is a passive and has no place here.
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A doctor will say, “A nurse will look after the patient.”
Answer: A
Correct answer: A doctor will say that a nurse will look after the patient
The reporting verb is in the future, not the past, so nothing shifts back: will look after stays exactly as it is. Backshift is triggered by a past reporting verb alone.
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She said to me, "He mostly ignores me"
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.
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Ali asked them, "Are you playing with me"?
Answer: C
Correct answer: Ali asked them if they were playing with him
A yes-or-no question needs if or whether; without it the reported clause has no link. You becomes they, me becomes him, and are playing becomes were playing.
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My younger sister says, "I do not tell a lie"
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.
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