Changes Pronouns Reported Speech Practice (B1-B2)

⏱ Time: 07:30 📝 Questions: 15 📊 Level: B1, B2 📚 Type: Grammar ⭐ XP: up to +16 (on pass)

Challenge yourself: 15 Changes Pronouns Reported Speech questions, 7 minutes, Level B1-B2. Can you get a perfect score? The questions start straightforward and build to tricky edge cases. Read every explanation to pick up tips that textbooks often skip.

⏱ You have 07:30 to answer 15 questions. The timer only starts when you click Begin.

Q1  15
Q1 15

Question 1: Sarah said, 'I am tired.' → Sarah said that ___ was tired.

Question 1 options
'She' is correct because when the subject of the reporting verb is a third-person pronoun (Sarah/she), the first-person 'I' in direct speech changes to match that third-person pronoun in reported speech. 'I' keeps the original speaker's perspective, 'we' is plural, and 'you' refers to the listener.
Q2 15

Question 2: Tom said to Anna, 'You are very talented.' → Tom told Anna that ___ was very talented.

Question 2 options
'She' is correct because the second-person pronoun 'you' in direct speech changes to match the object of the reporting verb — Anna is 'she'. 'He' refers to Tom (the subject), 'I' would refer to the speaker, and 'they' is plural.
Q3 15

Question 3: In reported speech, third-person pronouns such as 'he', 'she', and 'it' must be changed to first-person pronouns.

Question 3 options
False because third-person pronouns (he, she, it, they) do NOT change in reported speech. They remain the same in indirect speech.
Q4 15

Question 4: Why does the pronoun change in: 'He said, "I need help."' → 'He said that he needed help.'?

Question 4 options
'He' is correct because when the subject of the reporting verb is third person, the first-person 'I' in direct speech must shift to match the third-person subject of the reporting verb. This avoids confusion about who is speaking.
Q5 15

Question 5: Arrange the words to make a correct sentence:

Question 5 options
  • They said
  • that they
  • would look after
  • the children

Drag items or use arrows to arrange them in the correct order.

The correct order is 'They said that they would look after the children' because 'they' (subject of reporting verb) replaces 'we' from direct speech, following Rule 1 of pronoun changes in reported speech.
Q6 15

Question 6: Which sentence correctly applies the rules of pronoun changes in reported speech?

Question 6 options
'She told him that he was late' is correct because 'you' (second person in direct speech) changes to 'he' to match the object of the reporting verb (him). The other options incorrectly keep 'you', use 'I' without a first-person reporter, or change a third-person pronoun unnecessarily.
Q7 15

Question 7: A student reports her friend's words: 'My friend said to me, "You should study more."' Which reported speech sentence is correct?

Question 7 options
'She told me that I should study more' is correct because 'you' in direct speech changes to match the object of the reporting verb — the speaker is 'me/I'. 'You' cannot remain unchanged, 'she' refers to the friend (subject), and 'we' is plural.
Q8 15

Question 8: Which sentence correctly contrasts direct speech pronoun use with reported speech pronoun use?

Question 8 options
'He said, "I am ready." → He said that he was ready' is correct because 'I' (first person) changes to 'he' (third person) to match the third-person subject of the reporting verb. The other options incorrectly keep 'I', misapply 'you', or change a third-person pronoun that should stay the same.
Q9 15

Question 9: Put the words/clauses in the correct order:

Question 9 options
  • He told her
  • a great job
  • that she
  • had done

Drag items or use arrows to arrange them in the correct order.

The correct order is 'He told her that she had done a great job' because 'you' in direct speech becomes 'she' to match the object of the reporting verb (her), following Rule 3 of pronoun changes in reported speech.
Q10 15

Question 10: We said, 'We will finish the project on time.' → We said that ___ would finish the project on time.

Question 10 options
'We' is correct because when the subject of the reporting verb is also first person ('we'), the first-person pronoun in direct speech does NOT change in reported speech. 'They', 'he', and 'I' would all incorrectly shift the pronoun.
Q11 15

Question 11: Look at this reported speech sentence: 'Maria said that she was going to the gym.' Which statement about the pronoun 'she' is true?

Question 11 options
'She' stays the same because third-person pronouns do not change in reported speech is correct. Rule 4 states that third-person pronouns (he, she, it, they) remain unchanged when moving from direct to reported speech.
Q12 15

Question 12: Direct speech: 'He said to me, "You look happy today."' Rewrite in reported speech: 'He told me that ___ looked happy that day.'

Question 12 options
'I' is correct because 'you' in direct speech changes to match the object of the reporting verb — the object is 'me', so 'you' becomes 'I' in the reported clause. 'He' refers to the speaker, 'she' refers to a third party, and 'you' cannot remain unchanged.
Q13 15

Question 13: Match each direct speech sentence to the correct pronoun change rule that applies in reported speech.

Question 13 options
He said, 'I need more time.' → He said that he needed more time.
I said, 'I enjoy cooking.' → I said that I enjoyed cooking.
She said to him, 'You are right.' → She told him that he was right.
They said, 'She works very hard.' → They said that she worked very hard.
First-person 'I' stays unchanged because the reporting subject is also first person
First-person 'I' changes to third-person to match the third-person reporting subject
Second-person 'you' changes to match the object of the reporting verb
Third-person pronoun remains unchanged in reported speech

Select an item on the left, then tap its match on the right.

Pronoun changes in reported speech follow four rules: first-person changes to third-person when the reporter is third person; first-person stays when the reporter is also first person; second-person changes to match the object; third-person pronouns do not change.
Q14 15

Question 14: When the subject of the reporting verb is first person ('I' or 'we'), the first-person pronoun inside the direct speech quotation does NOT change in reported speech.

Question 14 options
True because Rule 2 states that if the reporting subject is also first person (I/we), the first-person pronoun in direct speech remains unchanged. For example: 'I said, "I do my homework."' → 'I said that I did my homework.'
Q15 15

Question 15: Which sentence most accurately shows how 'you' changes in reported speech when the speaker is reporting their own words said to a third person?

Question 15 options
'I told her that she needed to practise more' is correct because 'you' (directed at 'her') becomes 'she' to match the object of the reporting verb. Keeping 'you' is incorrect in reported speech, 'I' refers to the reporter, and 'we' implies a group.