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Direct and Indirect Speech Exercises: Grammar Practice (A2-B2) with Answers

20questions
10:00minutes
+22XP on pass

Can you use Direct and Indirect Speech correctly in everyday English? These 20 practice questions for Level A2-B2 go beyond memorisation — they put grammar rules into realistic sentences and situations. Detailed explanations help you understand not just the what, but the why.

Browse all Direct and Indirect Speech lessons

⏱ You have 10:00 to answer 20 questions. The timer only starts when you click Begin.

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Questions 20
Q1  20
Q1 20

Question 1: She said, "I am happy." This is an example of ___ speech.

Question 1 options
"Direct" is correct because when we use the speaker's exact words inside quotation marks, it is called direct speech. "Indirect" is reported speech without exact words. "Passive" and "active" refer to voice, not speech reporting.
Q2 20

Question 2: He said, "I like tea." → He said that he ___ tea.

Question 2 options
"Liked" is correct because when converting direct speech to indirect speech, the present simple tense ("like") shifts back to the past simple tense ("liked"). "Likes" keeps present tense incorrectly. "Is liking" and "has liked" are wrong tense shifts.
Q3 20

Question 3: In indirect speech, the pronoun 'I' in the direct speech often changes to 'he' or 'she'.

Question 3 options
True because when reporting what someone else said, first-person pronouns like 'I' typically shift to third-person pronouns such as 'he' or 'she' to match the new perspective.
Q4 20

Question 4: Tom said, "I am tired." → Tom said that he ___ tired.

Question 4 options
In indirect speech, 'am' (present simple) changes to 'was' (past simple) due to the backshift rule.
Q5 20

Question 5: "I will call you tomorrow," she said. → She said that she ___ call me the next day.

Question 5 options
"Would" is correct because 'will' shifts to 'would' in indirect speech. 'Will' is the original tense and does not backshift. 'Shall' and 'could' are incorrect modal shifts for 'will'.
Q6 20

Question 6: In indirect speech, the time expression "today" usually changes to ___.

Question 6 options
"That day" is correct because time expressions shift in indirect speech. 'Today' becomes 'that day,' not 'this day,' 'the today,' or 'yesterday' (which has a different meaning).
Q7 20

Question 7: "I bought a car yesterday," he said. → He said that he had bought a car ___.

Question 7 options
"The day before" is correct because in indirect speech, 'yesterday' changes to 'the day before' (or 'the previous day'). 'Yesterday,' 'today,' and 'last morning' are incorrect transformations.
Q8 20

Question 8: Match each direct speech tense with its indirect speech equivalent.

Question 8 options

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

pair_side"": ""right""}
Q9 20

Question 9: She asked me, "Where do you live?" → She asked me where I ___.

Question 9 options
"Lived" is correct because in reported questions, the tense shifts back (present simple 'live' → past simple 'lived') and we use statement word order, not question order. 'Do live' retains the auxiliary incorrectly. 'Was living' and 'had lived' are wrong tense shifts.
Q10 20

Question 10: In reported questions, we use the same word order as in statements (subject + verb), not inverted question order.

Question 10 options
True because indirect questions follow statement word order. For example, 'Where do you work?' becomes 'She asked where I worked,' not 'She asked where did I work.'
Q11 20

Question 11: He asked, "Are you coming to the party?" → He asked me ___ I was coming to the party.

Question 11 options
"If" is correct because yes/no questions in indirect speech are introduced by 'if' or 'whether.' 'That' introduces statements, not questions. 'What' and 'do' do not fit reported yes/no questions.
Q12 20

Question 12: The teacher said, "Open your books." → The teacher ___ us to open our books.

Question 12 options
"Told" is correct because commands in indirect speech use the pattern 'told + object + to-infinitive.' 'Said' cannot take an object directly before the infinitive. 'Spoke' and 'talked' do not fit this reporting structure for commands.
Q13 20

Question 13: "Don't touch that!" she said. → She told me ___ to touch that.

Question 13 options
In indirect speech, negative commands use 'not' before the to-infinitive: told me not to touch that.
Q14 20

Question 14: Which sentence correctly reports: "I can swim," said Lucy?

Question 14 options
"Lucy said that she could swim" is correct because 'can' shifts to 'could' in indirect speech, the pronoun 'I' changes to 'she,' and 'said that' is used. The other options fail to apply the correct modal shift or pronoun change.
Q15 20

Question 15: "I have finished my homework," he said. → He said that he ___ his homework.

Question 15 options
"Had finished" is correct because present perfect ('have finished') shifts to past perfect ('had finished') in indirect speech. 'Has finished' keeps the original tense. 'Finished' and 'was finishing' are incorrect shifts from present perfect.
Q16 20

Question 16: Put these words in the correct order to form reported speech: She / that / said / reading / she / was / a book

Question 16 options
  • she was reading
  • a book.
  • said that
  • She

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

The correct order is 'She said that she was reading a book.' In reported speech, we use subject + reporting verb + that + subject + backshifted verb + object.
Q17 20

Question 17: "I must leave early," she said. → She said that she ___ leave early.

Question 17 options
"Had to" is correct because 'must' (expressing obligation) typically shifts to 'had to' in indirect speech. 'Must' can remain in some cases but 'had to' is the standard backshift. 'Should' and 'would' are incorrect shifts for 'must.'
Q18 20

Question 18: When the reporting verb is in the present tense (e.g., 'He says...'), we do not need to change the tense of the reported words.

Question 18 options
True because tense backshift only applies when the reporting verb is in the past tense. If the reporting verb is present (e.g., 'He says he is tired'), the original tenses remain unchanged.
Q19 20

Question 19: "This place is beautiful," she said. → She said that ___ place was beautiful.

Question 19 options
"That" is correct because in indirect speech, the demonstrative 'this' changes to 'that' to reflect the shift in perspective and distance. 'This,' 'these,' and 'a' are not the correct transformations of the demonstrative 'this.'
Q20 20

Question 20: She said, "I was working when you called." → She said that she ___ working when I called.

Question 20 options
"Had been" is correct because past continuous ('was working') shifts to past perfect continuous ('had been working') in indirect speech. 'Was' keeps the original tense. 'Has been' and 'is' are incorrect shifts.

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