reported speech questions byjus

• B1-B2 grammar

Reported speech: questions

Do you know how to report a question that somebody asked? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how we can tell someone what another person asked.

direct speech: 'Do you work from home?' he said. indirect speech: He asked me if I worked from home. direct speech: 'Who did you see?' she asked. indirect speech: She asked me who I'd seen. direct speech: 'Could you write that down for me?' she asked. indirect speech: She asked me to write it down.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar B1-B2: Reported speech 2: 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

A reported question is when we tell someone what another person asked. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech.

direct speech: 'Do you like working in sales?' he asked. indirect speech: He asked me if I liked working in sales.

In indirect speech, we change the question structure (e.g. Do you like ) to a statement structure (e.g. I like ).

We also often make changes to the tenses and other words in the same way as for reported statements (e.g. have done → had done , today → that day ). You can learn about these changes on the Reported speech 1 – statements page.

Yes / no questions

In yes / no questions, we use if or whether to report the question. If is more common.

'Are you going to the Helsinki conference?' He asked me if I was going to the Helsinki conference. 'Have you finished the project yet?' She asked us whether we'd finished the project yet.

Questions with a question word

In what , where , why , who , when or how questions, we use the question word to report the question.

'What time does the train leave?' He asked me what time the train left. 'Where did he go?' She asked where he went.

Reporting verbs

The most common reporting verb for questions is ask , but we can also use verbs like enquire , want to know or wonder .

'Did you bring your passports?' She wanted to know if they'd brought their passports. 'When could you get this done by?' He wondered when we could get it done by.

Offers, requests and suggestions

If the question is making an offer, request or suggestion, we can use a specific verb pattern instead, for example offer + infinitive, ask + infinitive or suggest + ing.

'Would you like me to help you?' He offered to help me. 'Can you hold this for me, please?' She asked me to hold it. 'Why don't we check with Joel?' She suggested checking with Joel.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar B1-B2: Reported speech 2: 2

Language level

Hello, dear teachers and team!

Could you please help me with the following: 

• She asked me "Does the Earth turn around the Sun?"

  Does it have to be: "She asked me if the Earth TURNED around the Sun" ? 

Do we have to change the question into the past form here as well? 

2. She asked: "Was coffee originally green"?

Is "She asked me if the coffee HAD BEEN originally  green" correct option? Can I leave WAS in an inderect speech here? 

3. Is "She asked me if I knew if the Sun IS a star" or  "She asked me if I knew if the Sun WAS / HAD BEEN a star" (if any)  correct?  

I'm very very grateful for your precious help and thank you very much for your answering this post in advance!!! 

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Hello howtosay_.

1. She asked me "Does the Earth turn around the Sun?"  Does it have to be: "She asked me if the Earth TURNED around the Sun" ?

No, you can use the present here as well. The verb for this context would be 'go' rather than 'turn':

She asked me if the earth goes around the sun.

She asked me if the earth went around the sun.

Do we have to change the question into the past form here as well? 2. She asked: "Was coffee originally green"? Is "She asked me if the coffee HAD BEEN originally  green" correct option? Can I leave WAS in an inderect speech here?

You can use either 'had been' or 'was' here. The adverb 'originally' removes any ambiguity.

3. Is "She asked me if I knew if the Sun IS a star" or  "She asked me if I knew if the Sun WAS / HAD BEEN a star" (if any)  correct?

You can use 'is' or 'was' here but not 'had been' as that would suggest the sun is not a star any more.

The LearnEnglish Team

She offered me to encourage studying English. She asked us if we could give her a hand.

He said, "I wished she had gone."

How to change this sentence into indirect speech?

Hello bhutuljee,

'He said that he wished she had gone.'

Best wishes, Kirk LearnEnglish team

He said, "I wish she went."

How to change the above sentence into indirect speech?

Hi bhutuljee,

It would be: "He said that he wished she had gone."

LearnEnglish team

He said , "She wished John would succeed."

This is the third sentence you've asked us to transform in this way. While we try to offer as much help as we can, we are not a service for giving answers to questions which may be from tests or homework so we do limit these kinds of answers. Perhaps having read the information on the page above you can try to transform the sentence yourself and we will tell you if you have done it correctly or not.

Hi, I hope my comment finds you well and fine. 1- reported question of "where did he go?"

Isn't it: She asked where he had gone?

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/b1-b2-grammar/reported-…

2- how can I report poilte questions with( can I, May I) For example: She asked me" Can I borrow some money?"

Your reply will be highly appreciated.

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Reported Speech: Dialogue Writing Practice Questions CBSE Class 10 Grammar

• Post last modified: 25 February 2024
• Post category: Grammar Exercises / School Grammar

Reporting the narration is done two ways – Direct or Indirect. The CBSE Class 10 Gramar syllabus includes this reporting in dialogue forms. After that an exercise with blanks to be filled to transform the whole conversation in indirect form. Here are given practice exercises to help practice Dialogue reporting.

Click here for more such grammar study materials

Dialogue Reporting Practice Questions

Q. read the conversation between a teacher and student and complete the passage that follows. (cbse set 2, 2022) .

Neha: I’m really looking forward to the class picnic tomorrow. Namita: Yes, after a long time we will be meeting our friends and teachers.

Neha told Namita (1) ______________ looking forward to the class picnic _____________. Namita agreed that after a long time (2) ______________ friends and teachers.

(1) that she was really, the next day (2) they would be meeting their

Q. Read the conversation and complete the passage that follows: (OD 2022)

Ritika: Can I borrow your Math book for a couple of days? Mohit: Yes certainly, I have already studied for the test tomorrow. Ritika asked Mohit (1) ……………. for a couple of days. Mohit agreed and said that (2) ……………. .

(1) if she could borrow his Math book (2) he had already studied for the test the next day.

Q. Read the conversation between a teacher and student and complete the passage that follows. (Term 2 SQP 2021-22) 

Biology Teacher: I instructed you to draw the diagram of bacteria. Why did you submit a blank sheet?   Sameer: Sir, I had drawn the diagram of bacteria, but you can’t see it because it is not visible to the naked eye 

The biology teacher had instructed Sameer to draw the diagram of a bacterial cell and asked him (a) ……..… a blank sheet. Sameer respectfully answered that he had drawn the diagram but (b) …….…. to the naked eye. 

(a) why he had submitted (b) he/ the teacher couldn’t see it because it is not visible

Q. Read the following dialogue between a mother and her son. Complete the paragraph that follows by filling in the gaps appropriately. (2012)

Marie: Did you see my new umbrella? Isn’t it fine? Tony: Yes, it is! Did you buy it from the mall? Marie: No, your father has brought it for me.

Marie asked her son Tony (a) …………… and she wanted to know whether it was a fine one. Tony agreed and asked his mother (b) …………… His mother replied in the negative and added that (c) ……………

(a) if he had seen her new umbrella (b) if she had bought it from the mall (c) his father had brought it for her.

Note: A sentence in Simple Past (verb 2nd form or Did + Verb 1st form) need not always be converted to Past Perfect (had + Verb 3rd form) . But it is safe to convert to Past Perfect as others (evaluators) may not be knowing it. Even CBSE marking schemes seem to follow the safe rule i.e. Changing Past Tense to past Perfect tense. An example is given below.

Direct: He said, “I saw the thief myself.”

Indirect: he said that he had seen the thief himself. (The safe rule to follow) OR He said that he saw the thief himself. (It is also correct – but mostly not followed)

Q. Read the following dialogue between Garima and Karan. Complete the paragraph that follows by filling in the gaps appropriately. [AI 2011]

Garima: So, after a decade in the industry, are you truly ‘satisfied’? Karan: I love the film industry. It has its flaws though. Garima: What do you mean by this statement? Karan: We are a bunch of competitive, ambitious, sometimes petty people. But the passion cements us together.

Garima asked Karan if after a decade in the industry (a) _________. Karan told her (b) _________ although it had its flaws. Garima then enquired (c) _________. Karan explained that they were a bunch of competitive, ambitious, sometimes petty people but the passion cemented them together.

(a) he was truly ‘satisfied’ (b) that he loved the film industry (c) what he meant by that statement

Q. Choose the correct options to fill in the blanks to complete Venu’s narration. [SQP 2020]

I saw Supanddi standing in the field. When I -(A)- doing there, he -(B)- he was trying to win a Nobel prize. I was confused and enquired how standing in the rice field would help him do so. He stumped me by saying that he -(C)- won Nobel prizes had all been outstanding in their fields!

(A) (a) exclaimed what he was (b) told him what he was (c) asked him what he was (d) says to him about what (B) (a) ordered that (b) refused that (c) questioned that (d) replied that (C) (a) has heard that people who has (b) was hearing that people who were (c) had heard that people who had (d) did hear that people who had

(A) – (c) (B) – (d) (C) – (c)

Q. Choose the correct options to fill in the blanks to complete the narration of Patty’s conversation with Charlie. [SQP 2020]

Charlie: Dear Santa, here is a list if what I want. Patty: How do you suppose Santa Claus can afford to give away all those toys? Charlie: Promotion! Don’t kid yourself……Everything these days is promotion! I will bet if the truth were brought about, you will find that he’s being financed by some big eastern chain!

While making the list of what Charlie wanted from Santa Claus, he asked Patty how …..(A)….. all those toys. She said that …..(B)….. and that it was possible as Santa …..(C)….. big eastern chain.

(A) (a) Santa Claus could afford to give away    (b) will give away (c) gave away (d) giving away

(B) (a) everything these days were promotion (b) everything these days was promotion (c) everything those days was promotion (d) everything these days was going to be promotion

(C) (a) was financing by some big eastern chain (b) had been financed by some big eastern chain (c) was being financed by some big eastern chain (d) will be financed by some big eastern chain

(A) – (a) (B) – (c) (C) – (c)

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Analytical paragraph practice questions class 10 english grammar, letter writing – grammar for cbse/icse and state boards, determiners english grammar practice questions, story writing class 10 english grammar, this post has 66 comments.

Thank you for question These were excellent and also improved my spech

It’s speech not spech

clapings it is speech

thank you it will help with my exam preparation

Thanks. New questions are also added from time to time.

Thanks a lot for these questions it helped me to be thorough with the exam pattern.

Are you from India:)

thanks for those questions

Why are there so many mistakes in the given questions?The names of the people in the conversation and the names of the people in the related question are completely different.Pls chk and rectify.It is confusing the kids and the purpose of these practice questions is totally defeated.

Thank you for informing us of the mistakes. We have done the required corrections. I hope all is well now.

page 2 question 3 there is a name error plz rectify it as soon as possible to avoid more confusion

Thank you for informing us of the mistake. The required correction has been done- ‘Mohan’ has been replaced by ‘Vinnet’ in the last line of the question.

Please add more questions

In the second question (page 1) , answer to the first part is wrong as Did changes to had + verb’s 3rd form.

Thank you for referring to the issue. We have updated the post and added a ‘note’ section.

Thanks a lot! These were truly of great help! Excellent questions!

It was very helpful ☺️. Thanks ncert tutorials

Really, it was very helpful.

Sir, i wanted to know where “it” is changed to “that” . I have this confusion as there are many questions where it is changed to that..but in many questions there is “it” only.

Sir, In Question no. 4 , please check the answers of option (c) , (f) , (h) why there is “been”

‘Had been’ is used in place ‘was and were’.

Sir, In question 7 (a), How could ‘may’ change into ‘could’?

Thanks for pointing out the error. We have made the required correction.

It was nice to have such a exercise to practice….

Sir, In question 8(d), It should be ‘ she had been talking’ instead of ‘ she has been talking’

The correction done. Thank You Ayush for sparing time to help us clean the exercises out of mistakes.

Why are you using Wrong English ?

Why are you using Wrong English ? Please use correct English to teach. Thank you.

Please give proper reference. I would do required corrections or elaborate upon your issue.

Thank you for this. Please add more. And I think there are some mistakes please do check and correct them. Thanks again🙌

thank you, Elena, and after reports of some errors corrections also have been done. If future reports received, required corrections will be done.

in the fifth page 4th ques there will be what he had been reading as past progressive changes to past perfect progressive

Thank you Sarthak for informing us of the error. Corrections done and the question has also been modified with one more filling gap (d).

thank u for giving a lot of questions this was useful for my class 10 board term 2 exam

thank you so much

Tomorrow is board

Yess all the bestt

I have my english board exam tomorrow, and this helped me a lot

thank you soo much. this site is the only one that consists of grammar questions based on the format of the board exams

it helped me a lot to prepare for my term 2 board exam of english. LOOKING FORWARD TO SCORE 40/40

Best of Luck Aishwarya 👍👍

best of luck to me to plz saaaayyyyy Subscribe to Jonja hi Jonja

Ok, Best of luck to you also 👍👍

Thank you sir , Your questions on reported speech have helped me a lot to study for my exam.

EXCELLENT QUESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KEEP IT UP………………..

Sir in question no. 3(b) the past tense of buy should be bought and not brought.Pls make the changes.

Correction done 😊.

I love the lessons for they are smart enough to learn personally.

I would like to show my gratitude …….this website was really good and helpful 👍 and more comfortable

Very nice examples They helped me a lot in my exam preparation

thanks for sharing this information

Questions were very helpful and amazing also… Thanks for such practice question..

Good questions thank you

sir on page 1 Q 2 it should be “for tomorrow’s test” instead of “the test tomorrow”.

Hi Arnav, it is written as ‘for the test tomorrow’ so no problem.

Thanks too much this is awesome for my test this help me more

Thank you admin blog. Very good

Please add longer questions

there some questions with mistakes arun and rohit question pls rectrfy the mistakes thanks it helped me a lot because it was my todays homework i referred and completed it Thank you

We revisited the question mentioned by you but did not find any error. May be you have any doubt. Feel free to ask us about that.

Pls take a look at the first question Isnt ‘will’ supposed to be changed to ‘would’

Correction done

THANKS, IT WAS AWESOME…

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Sentences in Reported Speech

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• Reported Speech

Reported Speech How does it Work?

Indirect speech or Reported speech is just a way of expressing your intent in questions, statements or other phrases, without essentially quoting them outrightly as the way it is done in indirect speech.

Reported Speech Rules

To understand Reported Speech Grammar and Reported Verbs, you need to first understand reported speech rules and how it works. Here are some types of reported speech:

Reported Statements

Reported speech is used when someone says a sentence, like, "I'm going to the movie tonight". Later, we want to tell a 3rd person what the first person is doing.

It works like this:

We use a reporting verb i.e 'say' or 'tell'. In the present tense, just put in 'he says.

Direct Speech: I like burgers.

Reported Speech: He says (that) he likes burgers.

You don't need to change the tense, but you do need to switch the 'person' from 'I' to 'he’. You also need to change words like 'my' and 'your'.

But, in case the reporting verb is in the past tense, then change the tenses in the reported speech itself.

Reported Questions

Reported questions to go like 

Direct Speech: Where do you reside?

We make the change to reported speech by-

It is similar to reported statements. The tense changes are exact, and we keep the question’s word. But we need to change the grammar of that normal sentence into positive. For eg:

Reported Speech: He asked me where I resided.

The direct speech question is in the present simple tense. We make a present simple question with 'do' or 'does'. For that, I need to take that away. Then change the verb to the past simple. 

Direct Speech: Where is Jolly?

Reported Speech: He asked me where Jolly was.

The direct question is the present simple of 'be'. We change the question form of the present simple of being by changing the position of the subject and the verb. So, change them back before putting the verb into the past simple.

Here Are Some More Examples

Reported Requests

The reported speech goes a long way. What if a person asks you to do something politely or make a request? It’s called a reported request. For example

Direct Speech: Close the door, please / Could you close the door please? / Would you mind closing the door, please?

All these requests mean the same, so we don't need to report every word there when we tell a 3rd person about it. 

We can simply use 'ask me + to + infinitive':

Reported Speech: They asked me to close the door.

Direct Speech: Please be punctual.

Reported Speech: They asked us to be punctual.

Reported Orders

And lastly, how about when someone doesn't ask that politely? This is known as an 'order' in English, which is when someone tells you to do something pretty much directly. This is called a reported order. For example

Direct Speech: Stand up right now!

We make this into a reported speech in the same way as that for a request. Just use 'tell' rather than 'ask':

Reported Speech: She told me to stand up right now.

Time Expressions within the Ambit of Reported Speech

Sometimes when we want to change the direct speech into reported speech, we will have to change the time expressions too. We don't necessarily always have to do that. However, It depends on when we heard the speech in indirect form and when we said the speech in reported form. 

For Example,

It's Sunday. Kiran Ma’am says "I'm leaving today".

If You tell someone on Sunday, You will say "Kiran Ma’am said she was leaving today".

If you tell someone on Tuesday, You will say "Kiran Ma’am said she was leaving yesterday".

If you tell someone on Friday, you will say "Kiran Ma’am said she was leaving on Sunday ".

If you tell someone a month later, you will say "Kiran Ma’am said she was leaving that day".

So, technically there's no easy way to convert. You need to put in real effort and have to think about it when the direct speech is said.

Here's a Table of How Some Conversions can be Made 

now can be converted to then / at that time

today can be converted to yesterday / that day / Tuesday / the 27 th of June

yesterday can be converted to the day before yesterday / the day before / Wednesday / the 5th of December

last night can be converted to the night before, Thursday night

last week can be converted to the week before / the previous week

tomorrow can be converted to today / the next day / the following day / Friday

Now Let us Check our Understanding Through this Table

This is all about reported speech. English grammar is a tricky thing given both the rules and practice. Reading these rules solely will not help you to get a strong grasp of them. You also have to practice reported speech sentences in practical life to know how and when they can be used.

FAQs on Reported Speech

1. How to convert present tenses to reported speech and give some examples.

There are certain rules to follow while converting sentences to reported speech. We need to manage tenses also.

Usually, the present sentences change to simple past tense.

Ex: I do yoga every morning

She said that she did yoga every morning.

I play cricket a lot

He said that he played cricket a lot 

Usually The present continuous tense changes to the past continuous tense. 

Ex: My friend is watching a movie.

She said that her friend was watching a movie.

We are eating dinner

They said that they were eating dinner.

Usually, the  Present Perfect Tense changes into Past Perfect Tense

Ex: I have been to the USA

She told me that she had been to the USA.

She has finished her task.

She said that she had finished her task.

Usually the Present Perfect Progressive Tense changes into Past Perfect Tense

2. How to convert present tenses to reported speech and give some examples.

Usually the Past Simple Tense changes into the Past Perfect Tense.

Ex: He arrived on Friday

He said that he had arrived on Friday.

My mom enjoyed the stay here

He said that his mom had enjoyed the stay there.

Usually, the Past Progressive Tense changes into the Perfect Continuous Tense

Ex: I was playing the cricket

He said that he had been playing cricket.

My husband was cooking

She said that her husband had been cooking.

Usually, the Past Perfect Tense doesn’t change.

Ex: She had worked hard.

She said that she had worked hard.

And also the Past Perfect Progressive Tense doesn’t change.

3. State the rules for conversion of future tenses into reported speech

There are rules to follow while converting the future tenses to reported speech.

In general, the Future Simple Tense changes into would. And also the future Progressive Tense changes into “would be”. The Future Perfect Tense changes into “would have”. The Future Perfect Progressive Tense changes into “would have been”.

Ex: I will be attending the wedding.

She said that she would be attending the wedding.

4. Give examples for conversion of  ‘can ‘, ‘can’t’ and ‘will’,’’won’t’ 

5. Give some examples for reported requests and reported orders.  

Reported Questions

Reported questions are one form of reported speech .

We usually introduce reported questions with the verb "ask":

• He asked (me) if / whether ... (YES/NO questions)
• He asked (me) why / when / where / what / how ... (question-word questions)

As with reported statements , we may need to change pronouns and tense (backshift) as well as time and place in reported questions.

But we also need to change the word order . After we report a question, it is no longer a question (and in writing there is no question mark). The word order is like that of a normal statement (subject-verb-object).

Reported YES/NO questions

We introduce reported YES/NO questions with ask + if :

Note that in the above example the reported question has no auxiliary "do". But there is pronoun change and backshift.

Note that we sometimes use "whether" instead of "if". The meaning is the same. "Whether" is a little more formal and more usual in writing:

• They asked us if we wanted lunch.
• They asked us whether we wanted lunch.

Reported question-word questions

We introduce reported question-word questions with ask + question word :

Note that in the above example the reported question has no auxiliary "do". But there is pronoun change and backshift.

• YES/NO questions: Do you want tea?
• Question Word questions: Where did you drink tea?
• Choice questions: Do you prefer tea or coffee?

Look at these example sentences:

Contributor: Josef Essberger