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Direct and Indirect Speech Questions with Answers

Reporting what was said, with the tense, pronoun and time-word shifts that follow. This page pools every direct and indirect speech question on the site (83 of them, from 17 exams, weighted towards Banking, SSC, Defence) so you can drill the topic on its own instead of meeting four of them inside a full paper.

18% of the pool is graded hard on this site’s own scale and 6% easy, which is about average for this section.

Questions
83
Practice set
25 in 25 min
Difficulty
5/63/15
Negative marking
None
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Direct and Indirect Speech questions with solutions

6 from the 83-question pool, worked in full.

  1. 1. Convert to indirect speech: The teacher said, "Submit your assignments on time."

    • A. The teacher said the students to submit their assignments on time.
    • B. The teacher told the students submitting their assignments on time.
    • C. The teacher told the students to submit their assignments on time. ✓
    • D. The teacher tells the students to submit their assignments on time.

    Solution. An imperative sentence in indirect speech is reported using "told...to" followed by the base verb.

  2. 2. Convert to indirect speech: The manager said, "I have completed the report."

    • A. The manager said that he has completed the report.
    • B. The manager says that he had completed the report.
    • C. The manager said that he had completed the report. ✓
    • D. The manager said that he completed the report.

    Solution. In indirect speech, present perfect ("have completed") changes to past perfect ("had completed") when the reporting verb is in the past tense.

  3. 3. Choose the correct indirect speech form of: He said, "I can finish it today."

    • A. He said that he can finish it today.
    • B. He said that he could finish it today.
    • C. He said that he could finish it that day. ✓
    • D. He said that he can finish it that day.

    Solution. In reported speech, "can" shifts back to "could" and "today" shifts to "that day".

  4. 4. Convert to indirect speech: He said, "I will call you tomorrow."

    • A. He said that he will call me tomorrow.
    • B. He says that he would call me tomorrow.
    • C. He said that he would call me tomorrow.
    • D. He said that he would call me the next day. ✓

    Solution. In indirect speech, "will" changes to "would" and "tomorrow" changes to "the next day" when the reporting verb is in the past tense.

  5. 5. Choose the correct indirect form: The instructor said, 'Do not open the valve until I return.'

    • A. The instructor ordered them not to open the valve until he returned. ✓
    • B. The instructor said them do not open the valve until I return.
    • C. The instructor ordered that they did not opened the valve until he returns.
    • D. The instructor asks them not opening the valve until he returned.

    Solution. A negative command is reported as 'ordered ... not to + verb', and the time/verb reference shifts appropriately.

  6. 6. Choose the correct indirect speech form of: He said, 'I will visit the branch tomorrow.'

    • A. He said that he would visit the branch the next day. ✓
    • B. He said that he will visit the branch tomorrow.
    • C. He said that he visits the branch tomorrow.
    • D. He said that he is visiting the branch tomorrow.

    Solution. In reported speech, "will" shifts to "would" and "tomorrow" shifts to "the next day".

Exams that set Direct and Indirect Speech

4 categories, led by Banking, SSC, Defence.

Also set by SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, SSC CHT, SSC CPO, SSC Stenographer. Browse all exams.

Direct and Indirect Speech: frequently asked questions

How many direct and indirect speech questions are there?

83, from the 17 exams here whose syllabus sets the topic. 6% are graded easy and 18% hard, which makes direct and indirect speech about average for this section, where the mean is 17%.

Which exams ask direct and indirect speech questions?

17 of the exams on this site, weighted towards Banking (10), SSC (5), Defence (1). Every question in this pool comes from one of their own mock tests, so the list below is the honest answer to whether the topic is worth your time.

Is direct and indirect speech hard?

18% of these 83 questions are graded hard and 6% easy, making it about average for this section, where the mean is 17%.

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