Can you use reported speech correctly? Test your understanding of reported speech with this grammar exercise.
1He asked if I ............... the right person to talk to.
Wrong!
After the past reporting verb "asked", the present verb usually backshifts, so "was" is correct.
2People often wonder ............... there is a God.
Select 2 answers.
Wrong!
A reported yes/no question can use "if" or "whether" before the clause.
3The teacher asked why ............... absent the previous day.
Wrong!
In a reported question, we use statement word order, so "I was" is correct.
4He asked me if I ............... Australia.
Wrong!
The present perfect in the direct question backshifts to the past perfect, so "had ever visited" is correct.
5She ............... why I didn't listen to her.
Wrong!
We use "asked" to report a question beginning with "why".
6She asked me if I ............... do her a favor.
Wrong!
In reported speech after a past reporting verb, "will" usually backshifts to "would".
7She said that she ............... home.
Wrong!
After "said" in the past, the present continuous usually backshifts, so "was going" is correct.
8She asked me if I ............... the invitation.
Wrong!
The present perfect question "Have you received...?" becomes "had received" in reported speech.
9The mother asked the boy where he ............... all the time.
Wrong!
A past perfect form is needed to refer to an earlier time, so "had been" is correct.
10The boy asked where he ............... that book.
Wrong!
In reported speech after "asked", "can" usually backshifts to "could".
11The man asked the servant where he ............... the previous day.
Wrong!
Because the going happened before the man asked, "had gone" is correct.
12He asked me when ............... leaving for Manchester.
Wrong!
In a reported question, we use statement word order, so "I was" is correct.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- He asked if I was the right person to talk to.
- People often wonder if / whether there is a God.
- The teacher asked why I was absent the previous day.
- He asked me if I had ever visited Australia.
- She asked why I didn’t listen to her.
- She asked me if I would do her a favor.
- She said that she was going home.
- She asked me if I had received the invitation.
- The mother asked the boy where he had been all the time.
- The boy asked where he could buy that book.
- The man asked the servant where he had gone the previous day.
- He asked me when I was leaving for Manchester.