Reported Speech

Q1. Choose the correct indirect speech for the sentence:
Direct: He said, "I am going to the market."

• A) He said that he is going to the market.

• B) He said that he was going to the market.

• C) He said that I am going to the market.

• D) He said he will go to the market.

Answer explanation

• Present continuous ("am going") changes to past continuous ("was going").

Q2. Choose the correct indirect speech for the sentence:
Direct: She said, "I have finished my homework."

• She said that she had finished her homework.
• She said that I have finished my homework.

• She said that she has finished her homework.
• She said that I had finished my homework.

Answer explanation

Present perfect ("have finished") changes to past perfect ("had finished").

Q3. Choose the correct indirect speech for the sentence:
Direct: They said, "We will finish the project by Friday."

• They said that they would finish the project by Friday.

• They said that we will finish the project by Friday.

• They said that they will finish the project by Friday.

• They said that we would finish the project by Friday.

Answer explanation

Correct Answer:

1. They said that they would finish the project by Friday.

• "We" changes to "they" in reported speech to maintain the correct pronoun.

• "Will" changes to "would" in reported speech.

Q4. Choose the correct indirect speech for the sentence:
Direct: He said, "I am learning French."

• He said that he is learning French.

• He said that he was learning French.

• He said that I am learning French.

• He said that he has learned French.

Answer explanation

Correct Answer:

2. He said that he was learning French.

• "I am learning" (present continuous) changes to "he was learning" (past continuous) in indirect speech.

• The pronoun "I" changes to "he."

Q5. Choose the correct indirect speech for the sentence:
Direct: She said, "I will call you tomorrow."

• She said that she will call you tomorrow.

• She said that she would call you tomorrow.

• She said that I will call you tomorrow.

• She said that she called you tomorrow.

Answer explanation

Correct Answer:

2. She said that she would call you tomorrow.

• "Will" changes to "would" in reported speech.

• The pronoun "I" changes to "she," and "you" remains the same if it refers to the listener.

Q6. Choose the correct indirect speech for the sentence:
Direct: They said, "We are going to the concert tonight."

• They said that they are going to the concert tonight.

• They said that they were going to the concert tonight.

• They said that we are going to the concert tonight.

• They said that they will go to the concert tonight.

Answer explanation

Correct Answer:

2. They said that they were going to the concert tonight.

• "We are going" (present continuous) changes to "they were going" (past continuous) in indirect speech.

• The pronoun "We" changes to "they."

• "Tonight" remains as it is, unless a specific context requires it to change.

Q7. Choose the correct indirect speech for the sentence:
Direct: "I can solve this problem," she said.

• A) She said that she can solve that problem.

• B) She said that she could solve that problem.

• C) She said that she could solve this problem.

• D) She said that she will solve the problem.

Answer explanation

B) She said that she could solve that problem.

Explanation:

1. Change in tense: The verb "can" changes to "could" in indirect speech.

2. Change in demonstrative: "this" changes to "that" to reflect the change in perspective.

3. The sentence structure of indirect speech is generally: "She said that..."

Q8. Choose the correct indirect speech for the sentence:
Direct: "Where are you going?" my mother asked.

• A) My mother asked me where am I going.

• B) My mother asked where I am going.

• C) My mother asked where I was going.

• D) My mother asked where was I going.

Answer explanation

C) My mother asked where I was going.

Explanation:

1. Change in tense: The present tense "are" changes to the past tense "was" in indirect speech.

2. Pronoun change: "You" changes to "I."

3. The structure of indirect questions typically does not retain the question format, so "where am I going?" is incorrect.

Therefore, option C is the correct choice.

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Q9. Choose the correct indirect speech for the sentence:
Direct: He said, "I will finish my work by tomorrow."

• A) He said that he will finish his work by tomorrow.

• B) He said that he would finish his work by tomorrow.

• C) He said that he will have finished his work by tomorrow.

• D) He said that he would finish his work by the next day.

Q10. Choose the correct indirect speech for the sentence:
Direct: "I didn’t eat the cake," he said.

• A) He said that he didn’t eat the cake.

• B) He said that he hadn't eaten the cake.

• C) He said that he wasn’t eating the cake.

• D) He said that he had not ate the cake.

Answer explanation

Correct Answer: B) He said that he hadn't eaten the cake.

Why B is Correct:

1. Tense Change:

   • "Didn’t eat" changes to "hadn't eaten" when we report what he said in the past.

2. Proper Structure:

   • It uses "He said that..." correctly to report his speech.

Why Other Options are Incorrect:

• A) Keeps the same tense ("didn’t eat"), which isn’t how we usually report past speech.

• C) Changes the meaning to "wasn’t eating," suggesting he was in the middle of eating.

• D) Uses "ate" instead of "eaten," which is incorrect after "had not."