Fill in the blanks.
1"She is my best friend," he said. He said that she ............... his best friend.
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb, "is" usually changes to "was" in reported speech.
2"She is waiting for us," he said. He said that she ............... for them.
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb, "is waiting" usually changes to "was waiting" in reported speech.
3"I have visited all the continents," he said. He said that he ............... all the continents.
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb, "have visited" usually changes to "had visited" in reported speech.
4"She has been living alone for years," he said. He said that she ............... alone for years.
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb, "has been living" usually changes to "had been living" in reported speech.
5"She will help us," he said. He said that she ............... help them.
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb, "will" usually changes to "would" in reported speech.
6"I want to go," he said. He said that he ............... to go.
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb, "want" usually changes to "wanted" in reported speech.
7"I don't want to go," she said. She said that she ............... to go.
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb, "don't want" usually changes to "didn't want" in reported speech.
8"I have watched that movie," he said. He said that he ............... that movie.
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb, "have watched" usually changes to "had watched" in reported speech.
9"She must leave now," he said. He said that she ............... leave then.
Wrong!
For reported obligation in the past, "must" often changes to "had to"; "has to" is not backshifted.
10"I can't help you," he said. He said that he ............... help me.
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb, "can't" usually changes to "couldn't" in reported speech.
11"They will have gone," he said. He said that they ...............
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb, "will have gone" usually changes to "would have gone" in reported speech.
12"I am busy," he shouted. He shouted that he ............... busy.
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb, "am" usually changes to "was" in reported speech.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- “She is my best friend,” he said. He said that she was his best friend.
- “She is waiting for us,” he said. He said that she was waiting for them.
- “I have visited all the continents,” he said. He said that he had visited all the continents.
- “She has been living alone for years,” he said. He said that she had been living alone for years.
- “She will help us,” he said. He said that she would help them.
- “I want to go,” he said. He said that he wanted to go.
- “I don’t want to go,” she said. She said that she didn’t want to go.
- “I have watched that movie,” he said. He said that he had watched that movie.
- “She must leave now,” he said. He said that she had to leave then.
- “I can’t help you,” he said. He said that he couldn’t help me.
- “They will have gone,” he said. He said that they would have gone
- “I am busy,” he shouted. He shouted that he was busy.