Clerkship 2024 English Quiz: Direct and Indirect Speech
A little practice. A step forward.
Test yourself with 12 questions on direct and indirect speech, each with a worked explanation. 📖 Read the detailed topic
She said, "I like tea." Choose the correct indirect speech.
The reporting verb "said" is past, so the present simple "like" becomes the past simple "liked", and "I" becomes "she", the speaker. "Likes" shows no tense change, "I liked" no pronoun change, and "had liked" goes back too far.
- Present simple becomes past simple
- I becomes the subject of the reporting verb
- Statements take that
- Four steps: tense, pronoun, time word, sentence type
Mother said to me, "You have done well." Choose the correct indirect speech.
"said to" becomes "told". "You" refers to the listener "me", so it becomes "I". The present perfect "have done" becomes the past perfect "had done". The others use "said me", the wrong pronoun "you", or an unchanged tense.
- said to becomes told
- you becomes the object of the reporting verb
- Present perfect becomes past perfect
He said to her, "I shall see you tomorrow." Choose the correct indirect speech.
"Shall" becomes "would", "I" becomes "he", "you" becomes "her" and "tomorrow" becomes "the next day". The first two keep "tomorrow", and the third uses the wrong "said her". Only the fourth is fully correct.
- shall/will become would
- tomorrow becomes the next day
- said to becomes told
The teacher said to Rina, "What is your name?" Choose the correct indirect speech.
In a wh-question, "asked" and "what" stay, but the clause takes statement order (her name was), not question order. "Is" becomes "was" and "your" becomes "her". "That" cannot be added.
- The wh-word stays
- Subject first, then verb
- is becomes was
- Question order (what was her name) is wrong in indirect speech
He said to me, "Do you play cricket?" Choose the correct indirect speech.
A yes/no question takes "if" or "whether". "You" becomes "I", "play" becomes "played", and the clause is in statement order. The others keep question order (did I, do I) or add "that".
- Yes/no question takes if / whether
- No question order
- Drop the question mark
The captain said to the soldiers, "March forward." Choose the correct indirect speech.
A command takes "ordered" (or "commanded") + object + to-infinitive, not a that-clause. The first three use "that", which is wrong for a command.
- Command: ordered + to-infinitive
- No that-clause
He said to her, "Please don't make a noise." Choose the correct indirect speech.
"Please" signals a request, so use "requested". A negative takes "not to" + verb. The other options are structurally wrong.
- Please means requested
- Negative: not to + verb
She said, "Alas! I have lost my purse." Choose the correct indirect speech.
"Alas" shows sorrow, so use "exclaimed with sorrow that". "Have lost" becomes "had lost" and "my" becomes "her". The others have the wrong tense or reporting verb.
- Alas: exclaimed with sorrow
- Hurrah: exclaimed with joy
- Present perfect becomes past perfect
The teacher said, "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius." Choose the correct indirect speech.
The boiling point of water is a universal truth, so the tense does not change even though the reporting verb is past. "Told that" without a person is also wrong. The rest change the tense needlessly.
- Universal truths keep their tense
- Told needs a person after it
- A past reporting verb does not always change the tense
Choose the correct direct speech: She said that she had finished her work the day before.
Working backwards: she becomes I, her becomes my, the day before becomes yesterday, and had finished becomes finished. The first keeps the wrong pronoun, the third has today and the wrong tense, the fourth mixes a future tense with yesterday.
- the day before becomes yesterday
- had finished becomes finished
- Pronouns change back
Rahul said, "I met him here last night." Choose the correct indirect speech.
The past simple "met" becomes "had met", "here" becomes "there", and "last night" becomes "the previous night". The first two keep "last night", and the fourth keeps the tense unchanged.
- here becomes there
- last night becomes the previous night
- Past simple becomes past perfect
The judge said to the accused, "Why did you steal the money?" Choose the correct indirect speech.
In a wh-question, "asked" and "why" stay and the clause takes statement order. "Did steal" (past) becomes "had stolen" and "you" becomes "he". The second keeps question order, the third has the wrong pronoun, and the fourth adds "that".
- The wh-word stays
- Past becomes past perfect
- you becomes he
📊 Topic Analysis
Test yourself with 12 questions on direct and indirect speech, each with a worked explanation.
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