Direct and Indirect Speech MCQ Quiz - Objective Question with Answer for Direct and Indirect Speech - Download Free PDF

Key Points

• Indirect Speech Conversion: When converting a direct question into indirect speech, the word order is changed to the affirmative form. In addition, the reporting verb (e.g., "said" or "asked") is changed, and the question mark is removed.
• Key Conversions:
  • Direct speech: "Where is the bus stand?" said the young man.
    Indirect speech: "The young man wanted to know where the bus stand was."
  • Tense Change: The present tense "is" becomes past tense "was" in the indirect speech, and the question is converted into a statement.

Additional Information

• Option 1: "The young man enquired where was the bus stand." is incorrect because in indirect speech, the word order of the question is changed to an affirmative order ("where the bus stand was").
• Option 2: "The young man asked for the bus stand." is incorrect because it changes the meaning of the sentence. The original sentence is asking about the location of the bus stand, not requesting it.
• Option 4: "The young man enquired about the bus stand." is incorrect because it omits the key detail of the location of the bus stand, which is crucial to the original question.

The correct answer is '2'.

Key Points

• When converting indirect speech to direct speech, we reverse the changes made during the direct to indirect conversion.
• Original Sentence (Indirect Speech): "The teacher asked her students why they had been quiet in the previous class."
• Let's apply the reverse rules:
  • Reporting Verb: "asked" indicates a question in direct speech. It can revert to "said to" or "asked."
  • Pronoun Change: "they" (referring to the students) reverts to "you."
  • Tense Change: "had been quiet" (Past Perfect) usually reverts to "were quiet" (Simple Past) or "have been quiet" (Present Perfect) in direct speech. "Why were you quiet?" is the most common and natural direct question for a past state.
  • Time/Place Adverb Change: "the previous class" remains "the previous class" or could revert to "the last class."
  • Question Structure: Since it's a 'why' question, it remains a 'why' question.
• Let's evaluate the options:
  • 1) The teacher asked her students, “Why were they keeping quiet in the previous class ?” Incorrect pronoun ("they" instead of "you") and different verb tense/aspect ("keeping quiet" instead of a form related to "had been quiet").
  • 2) The teacher said to her students, “Why were you quiet in the previous class ?” Correct reporting verb and structure. Pronoun "you" is correct. Tense "were quiet" (Simple Past) correctly backshifts to "had been quiet" (Past Perfect). "the previous class" is retained. This option is grammatically correct and natural.
  • 3) The teacher said to her students, “Why had you been quiet in the previous class ?” While "had been quiet" would also backshift to "had been quiet," the Simple Past "were quiet" is often the original form that leads to Past Perfect in indirect speech unless a clear sequence of past events is implied. This option is less natural for a direct question than option 2.
  • 4) The teacher said to her students, “Why were you quiet in previous class ?” Incorrect: Missing the definite article "the" before "previous class".

Correct sentence: The teacher said to her students, “Why were you quiet in the previous class ?”

The correct answer is '2'.

Key Points

• The given sentence is an exclamatory sentence, expressing admiration for the painting. The presence of "What a..." and the implied emotion make it an exclamation, despite the question mark which might be a typo or an unusual stylistic choice in the original.
• When converting exclamatory sentences to indirect speech, we follow these rules:
  • The reporting verb 'said to' changes to verbs like 'exclaimed', 'remarked', 'wondered', etc., depending on the emotion conveyed.
  • The exclamatory phrase is converted into a declarative sentence. For "What a + adjective + noun + it is/was", it typically becomes "it was a very + adjective + noun" or "it was a + adjective + noun".
  • Tense backshift occurs: 'is' changes to 'was'.
  • The conjunction 'that' is usually used.
• Let's analyze the options:
  • 1) Nitin wondered to his brother that what a beautiful painting it was. This option has redundant phrasing ("that what a") and "wondered to his brother" is awkward.
  • 2) Nitin wondered before his brother that it was a beautiful painting. While "wondered before his brother" is slightly awkward, the conversion of the exclamation "What a beautiful painting it is?" to "it was a beautiful painting" is grammatically correct. The tense is correctly backshifted from 'is' to 'was'. This is the best available option for converting the exclaimed content into a reported statement.
  • 3) Nitin exclaimed that it is a beautiful painting. Incorrect: The tense 'is' is not backshifted to 'was'.
  • 4) Nitin asked his brother whether it was beautiful painting. Incorrect: The original sentence is an exclamation, not a question, so 'asked' and 'whether' are inappropriate.

Correct sentence: Nitin wondered before his brother that it was a beautiful painting.

The correct answer is '1'.

Key Points

• When converting direct speech to indirect speech, several changes occur, especially regarding pronouns, tenses, and time/place adverbs.
• Let's analyze the changes from the original sentence: "Charu said to her friend, “I want you to be here at 6.00 p.m. tomorrow for the meeting.”"
  • The reporting verb "said to" changes to "told" because there is an object ("her friend").
  • The pronoun "I" changes to "she" (referring to Charu).
  • The present tense verb "want" changes to the past tense "wanted" (backshift of tense).
  • The pronoun "you" changes to "her" (referring to the friend).
  • The adverb of place "here" changes to "there".
  • The adverb of time "tomorrow" changes to "the next day".
  • The conjunction "that" is used to introduce the reported speech.
• Let's evaluate the given options:
  • 1) Charu told her friend that she wanted her to be there at 6.00 p.m. the next day for the meeting. This option correctly applies all the rules of conversion.
  • 2) Charu told her friend that she wanted her to be there at 6.00 p.m. tomorrow for the meeting. Incorrect: "tomorrow" is not changed to "the next day".
  • 3) Charu requested her friend that she wanted her to be there at 6.00 p.m. tomorrow for the meeting. Incorrect: While it's a request, "I want you to be here" is typically reported with "told that she wanted". More importantly, "tomorrow" is not changed.
  • 4) Charu told her friend that she will want her to be here at 6.00 p.m. the next day for the meeting. Incorrect: The tense "want" is not correctly backshifted to "wanted", and "here" is not changed to "there".

Correct sentence: Charu told her friend that she wanted her to be there at 6.00 p.m. the next day for the meeting.

The correct answer is '4' i.e. Rajesh said that he had bought a car the previous day.

Key Points

• The given sentence is in direct speech, where Rajesh says, “I bought a car yesterday.”
• When converting direct speech to indirect speech, we make the following changes:
  • The pronoun changes from "I" (speaker) to "he" (third person).
  • The verb tense shifts from "bought" (simple past) to "had bought" (past perfect), as per the rules of indirect speech.
  • The word "yesterday" changes to "the previous day" to reflect the indirect speech format.
• Option 4 correctly implements these changes.

Correct sentence: Rajesh said that he had bought a car the previous day.

Additional Information

• Rules for Changing Direct to Indirect Speech:
  • Change pronouns to suit the context.
  • Adjust verb tenses according to the reporting verb (e.g., past tense in reporting verb typically requires past perfect in indirect speech).
  • Replace time and place indicators appropriately (e.g., "yesterday" becomes "the previous day").
• Incorrect Options:
  • Option 1: Incorrect tense usage ("have bought" instead of "had bought").
  • Option 2: Incorrect auxiliary verb ("did bought" is grammatically incorrect).
  • Option 3: Incorrect reporting verb ("told" should be "said" for this context).

The correct answer is option 1)  i.e. She asked, "What is it that makes you stronger and braver than other men?"

Key Points

• The given sentence is an indirect speech.
• The basic rules for changing or converting indirect speech into direct speech:
  • Include the comma and inverted commas.
  • The past simple tense "Subject + V2 + Object" of indirect speech should be converted into the present simple tense "Subject + V1 + Object" in "direct speech". 
  • The pronoun 'him' changes according to the customer, here becomes 'you'.
• From the following rules, we get the correct sentence as She asked, "What is it that makes you stronger and braver than other men?"

Additional Information

The following table will enable us to know how tense changes into Indirect speech:

Here the correct answer is She asked me where I was going for the vacation.
Key Points

• Let's look at the steps for changing the sentence from direct to indirect speech:
• As the reporting verb is in the past tense and direct speech is in the present continuous tense, we will take the following steps:-
  • The reporting verb 'said' is changed to 'asked' because 'Reporting verbs such as said/ said to changes to enquired, asked, or demanded'.
  • The conjunction 'that' is not used because 'No conjunction is used, if a sentence in direct speech begins with a question (what/where/when) as the "question-word" itself acts as a joining clause'.
  • For Example:-
  • Direct: “Where do you live?”, asked the boy.
  • Indirect: The boy enquired where I lived.
  • The present continuous tense (are going) is changed to the past continuous tense (was going) in the direct speech.
  • The pronoun 'You' is changed to 'I' as the first person changes according to the subject.​

Additional Information
The following table will enable us to know how tense changes in indirect speech:-

The correct answer is option 1 i.e. She told me that she prepared evening snacks and he prepared the tea.

Explanation

To change a sentence from Direct to Indirect speech, we need to make the following changes-

• We make changes in Tense of Reported Speech only if the Reporting Verb is in Past Tense
• If the sentence of the Reported speech is an Assertive sentence we replace 'commas' with the conjunction 'that'
• If personal pronouns are there in the Reported Speech, will be changed according to the Subject and Object of the Reporting Verb
• Reporting Verb 'said to' will be changed into told.

Note- But always do Remember when the Reported Speech (Direct) expresses two simultaneous actions in the Past Tense, then there will be no change in Tense of Indirect speech.

 Thus, the Reported speech of the given sentence expresses two simultaneous actions in the Past Tense; hence, the Tense of the Reported Speech (Indirect) will not change

One can opt Option 2 as an answer but do remember the exception given above-when the Reported Speech (Direct) expresses two simultaneous actions in the Past Tense, then in Indirect Speech, there will be no change in Tense

Correct sentence- She told me that she prepared evening snacks and he prepared the tea.

The correct answer is: She said that she had to leave all the bad habits.

Key Points 

• The given sentence is in direct speech and we need to convert it to indirect speech.
• When we change a direct speech to an indirect speech, we must follow these rules:
  • The reporting verb "said" remains unchanged in the indirect speech.
  • The inverted commas ("...") are replaced with the conjunction 'that' to show the indirect speech part.
  • The comma (,) is removed in the indirect speech.
  • The first word of the indirect speech should be in capital letters.
  • 'Must' in direct speech changes to 'Had to' in indirect speech.
• Thus, option 3 is the correct answer.
   

Hence, indirect speech is - She said that she had to leave all the bad habits.

Important Points

• 'MUST changes into HAD TO' from direct speech to indirect speech
  • He said, “I must study for the exam”. - He said that he had to study the exam.
  • She said, “I must finish the work in time”.- She said that she had to finish the work in time.

The correct answer is He said to me, “When did you book the flight tickets?”

Key Points

• The given sentence is in Indirect Speech. As per the question we have to change it into Direct Speech. 
• The process of transformation is as follows:
  • 'Asked' will be changed into 'said to' because the given question is an example of an interrogative sentence with a question word. 
  • Commas and inverted commas will be added. 
  • 'had booked' will be changed into 'did book'.
  • 'I' will be changed into 'you' because we know that in 'direct to indirect' transformation second-person pronouns are changed according to the object of the reporting verb.
  • Thus, the correct answer is Option 1.
     

​Correct Sentence: He said to me, “When did you book the flight tickets?”

The correct sentence is He confirmed whether she was going to the party or not.

Key Points

• While changing the narration of an assertive sentence + question tag, we make the following changes:
  • 'Said to' is changed according to the tone. In this sentence the person is confirming, the reported verb is changed accordingly.
  • The first person (I/We) changes according to the subject, the second person (You) changes according to the object and the third person (He/She/It) remains unchanged.
  • Conjunction if/whether is used if the question is a close-ended question ( if the answer is "yes" or "no").
  • Question mark (?) is replaced with full-stop (.).
• Tense, place, and time change according to the rules for both assertive and interrogative sentences.
   

So, the final sentence is - He confirmed whether she was going to the party or not.

Additional Information

Tense, place, and time change according to the following rules:

The correct answer is option 3) i.e. 'Ramita said she wished she didn’t have to meet her step-mother.'

Key Points  

• The given sentence is in Direct Speech. As per the given directions, we have to change it into Indirect Speech.
• The given sentence is an optative sentence.
• The process of transformation is as follows:
  • The comma and inverted commas will be removed.
  • In the Indirect speech 'said' will not be changed because the reporting verb has no object.
  • The indirect speech will begin like 'Ramita said.'
• The Tense used in the sentence after wish/ if only, etc. does not change in indirect speech.
  • ​Example:- 
    • She said to him, “Wish you were here.”
    • She wished that he was there.
• Hence, 'didn’t have to' will be as it is in the indirect speech.
• Here the pronoun 'I' will be changed into 'she' twice.
• The pronoun 'my' will be changed into 'her' twice.
• The present form of the verb 'wish' will be changed into the past form 'wished.'
• The remaining part will not change.
• Finally, the indirect speech is 'Ramita said she wished she didn’t have to meet her step-mother.'
• ​So, the correct answer is option 3.

Correct Sentence: Ramita said she wished she didn’t have to meet her step-mother.

Confusion Points

• The modal verb "didn't have to" in the direct speech remains the same in the indirect speech because it refers to a present or future action that has not yet occurred at the time of reporting.
• Therefore, "didn't have to" does not change to "had not."

The correct answer is 'Ajay says that there is going to be a snowfall.'

Key Points

• The given sentence is in Direct Speech. As per the question we have to change it into Indirect Speech. 
• In the given sentence, the reporting verb is in the present tense.
• So, the tense of the reported speech will remain the same.
• We change the tense and pronouns of reported speech only when reporting verb is in the past tense.
• While changing the given Direct narration into Indirect narration, comma and inverted commas will be removed and connector 'that' will be added and the reported speech will be written after 'that'.

Correct Sentence: Ajay says that there is going to be a snowfall.

The correct answer is "The grandfather blessed the baby with long life and all good things of life."Key Points

• The given sentence is an Optative sentence.
• In an optative sentence Reporting verb is changed into ‘wish’, ‘pray’ , 'bless'.
• In this case, the grandfather is blessing the baby with long life and all the good things of life. So, 'Blessed' becomes the apt main verb.
• Notice how the whole sentence a blessing/hope that the grandfather is expressing and not something that he is actually saying to the baby.
• This means that the reported speech can just be that the grandfather blessed the baby with long life and all good things thereof.

• From the above-mentioned rules, it is clear that the correct sentence is "The grandfather blessed the baby with long life and all good things of life"

Hence, the correct answer is "Option 1".

The correct answer is 'Mother told me that she was worried about my safety.'

Key Points

• The given sentence is in Direct Speech. As per the question, we have to change it into Indirect Speech. 
• The process of transformation is as follows:
  • In the given sentence the reporting verb has an object. Hence, 'said to' will be changed into 'told'. 
  • Comma and inverted commas will be removed. 
  • The conjunction 'that' will be added.
  • 'I' will be changed into 'she' because the first person pronouns are changed according to the subject of the reporting verb.
  • 'am' will be changed into 'was'.
  • 'your' will be changed into 'my' because the second-person pronouns are changed according to the object of the reporting verb.
  • Thus, the correct answer is Option 2.
     

Correct Sentence: Mother told me that she was worried about my safety.