Direct and Indirect Speech Quiz: Narration Practice

Spoilers! These are the Starter quiz’s answers. Easy, Medium, Hard and Mixed rounds show their own answers when you finish.

1. Choose the correct indirect speech: He said, 'I am tired.'

   • He said that he was tired.
   • He said that I was tired.
   • He said that he is tired.
   • He said that he had been tired.

   Answer: He said that he was tired.. With a past reporting verb, the present 'am' moves back to 'was', and 'I' becomes 'he'.

2. Choose the correct indirect speech: She said to me, 'Where do you live?'

   • She asked me where did I live.
   • She asked me where I lived.
   • She asked me that where I lived.
   • She said to me where I lived.

   Answer: She asked me where I lived.. A question becomes a statement: 'said to' becomes 'asked', no 'that', no 'do/did', and normal word order (I lived).

3. Choose the correct indirect speech: The teacher said, 'The earth revolves around the sun.'

   • The teacher said that the earth revolved around the sun.
   • The teacher said that the earth had revolved around the sun.
   • The teacher said that the earth revolves around the sun.
   • The teacher told that the earth revolves around the sun.

   Answer: The teacher said that the earth revolves around the sun.. A universal truth keeps its present tense. 'Told' needs an object (told us), so the last option is wrong.

4. Choose the correct indirect speech: He said to me, 'Please lend me your pen.'

   • He told me to lend me his pen.
   • He requested me that I lend him my pen.
   • He asked me please lend him my pen.
   • He requested me to lend him my pen.

   Answer: He requested me to lend him my pen.. A request becomes 'requested + object + to-infinitive'; 'please' is dropped and pronouns shift (me to him, your to my).

5. Choose the correct indirect speech: Ravi said, 'I will go to Pune tomorrow.'

   • Ravi said that he will go to Pune tomorrow.
   • Ravi said that he would go to Pune the next day.
   • Ravi said that he would go to Pune tomorrow.
   • Ravi said that I would go to Pune the next day.

   Answer: Ravi said that he would go to Pune the next day.. Will becomes would, and tomorrow becomes the next day (or the following day).

6. Choose the correct indirect speech: She said to him, 'Are you coming to the party?'

   • She asked him if he was coming to the party.
   • She asked him if he is coming to the party.
   • She asked him was he coming to the party.
   • She told him that he was coming to the party.

   Answer: She asked him if he was coming to the party.. A yes/no question is reported with if or whether, in statement order, with the tense moved back.

7. Choose the correct indirect speech: The captain said, 'Let us wait for the rain to stop.'

   • The captain ordered that they waited for the rain to stop.
   • The captain said let them wait for the rain to stop.
   • The captain suggested that they should wait for the rain to stop.
   • The captain suggested that let us wait for the rain to stop.

   Answer: The captain suggested that they should wait for the rain to stop.. 'Let us' expresses a suggestion: reported with suggested/proposed + that + subject + should.

8. Choose the correct indirect speech: He said, 'What a beautiful view!'

   • He said what a beautiful view!
   • He exclaimed that it is a very beautiful view.
   • He exclaimed that how beautiful the view was.
   • He exclaimed that it was a very beautiful view.

   Answer: He exclaimed that it was a very beautiful view.. An exclamation becomes a statement with exclaimed that; 'what a' becomes 'very' and the tense moves back.

9. Choose the correct direct speech: She told me that she had seen the film the day before.

   • She said to me, 'I had seen the film tomorrow.'
   • She said to me, 'I saw the film yesterday.'
   • She said to me, 'She saw the film yesterday.'
   • She said to me, 'I see the film yesterday.'

   Answer: She said to me, 'I saw the film yesterday.'. Going back to direct speech reverses the changes: had seen becomes saw, the day before becomes yesterday, and 'she' (the speaker) becomes 'I'.

10. Choose the correct indirect speech: The mother said to her son, 'Don't play in the sun.'

    • The mother told her son don't play in the sun.
    • The mother forbade her son not to play in the sun.
    • The mother requested her son to not play in the sun.
    • The mother told her son not to play in the sun.

    Answer: The mother told her son not to play in the sun.. A negative command becomes told/ordered/advised + object + not to + verb. 'Forbade ... not to' is a double negative.