Competitive English (Change of Speech) 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: He said, 'I shall do it.' — Which is the correct indirect speech when 'he' is the subject?
- He said that he would do it. (Correct answer)
- He said that he should do it.
- He said that he shall do it.
- He said that he could do it.
Correct answer: He said that he would do it.
'Shall' used with first person changes to 'would' in indirect speech.
Question 2: She said to him, 'Why are you crying?' — Identify the correct indirect speech.
- She asked him why he was crying. (Correct answer)
- She asked him why was he crying.
- She told him why he was crying.
- She asked him why he is crying.
Correct answer: She asked him why he was crying.
WH-questions in indirect speech use statement word order, pronouns shift, and tense changes.
Question 3: He said, 'I could have helped if I had known.' — Which is the correct indirect form?
- He said that he could have helped if he had known. (Correct answer)
- He said that he could have helped if he knew.
- He said that he would have helped if he had known.
- He said that he could help if he had known.
Correct answer: He said that he could have helped if he had known.
Past perfect conditional structures remain unchanged in indirect speech.
Question 4: She said, 'Hurrah! We have won the match!' — Which is the correct indirect speech?
- She exclaimed with joy that they had won the match. (Correct answer)
- She exclaimed that they have won the match.
- She said hurrah that they had won the match.
- She exclaimed that they won the match.
Correct answer: She exclaimed with joy that they had won the match.
Exclamations of joy use 'exclaimed with joy' and the tense shifts from present perfect to past perfect.
Question 5: He said to his friend, 'Let me try this.' — Which is the correct indirect speech?
- He requested his friend to let him try that. (Correct answer)
- He told his friend let him try that.
- He proposed his friend to let him try that.
- He said his friend that he might try that.
Correct answer: He requested his friend to let him try that.
'Let me' expresses a personal request and is reported with 'requested + object + to + let + object + infinitive'.
Question 6: She said, 'I was reading when the lights went out.' — Identify the correct indirect form.
- She said that she had been reading when the lights had gone out. (Correct answer)
- She said that she was reading when the lights went out.
- She said that she had been reading when the lights went out.
- She said that she was reading when the lights had gone out.
Correct answer: She said that she had been reading when the lights had gone out.
Both the past continuous and simple past shift back one tense level in indirect speech.
Question 7: He said, 'I need not attend the meeting.' — Which is the correct indirect speech?
- He said that he need not attend the meeting. (Correct answer)
- He said that he did not need to attend the meeting.
- He said that he should not attend the meeting.
- He said that he must not attend the meeting.
Correct answer: He said that he need not attend the meeting.
'Need not' expressing absence of obligation remains unchanged in indirect speech as a modal expression.
Competitive English (Change of Speech) 5
He said, 'I shall do it.' — Which is the correct indirect speech when 'he' is the subject?