reported speech questions b2 exercises

Reported questions – Exercise

Task no. 2323.

Finish the sentences using Reported speech. Always change the tense, although it is sometimes not necessary.

Peter, "Did John clean the black shoes?" Peter asked me  

Peter asked me if John had cleaned the black shoes .

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Reported questions in English

• Christopher, "Do you want to dance?" Christopher asked me .
• Betty, "When did you come?" Betty wanted to know .
• Mark, "Has John arrived?" Mark asked me .
• Ronald, "Where does Maria park her car?" Ronald asked me .
• Elisabeth, "Did you watch the latest film?" Elisabeth asked me .
• Mandy, "Can I help you?" Mandy wanted to know .
• Andrew, "Will Mandy have lunch with Sue?" Andrew asked me .
• Justin, "What are you doing?" Justin asked me .
• Frank, "How much pocket money does Lisa get?" Frank wanted to know .
• Anne, "Must I do the shopping?" Anne asked .
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Reported Speech – Free Exercise

Write the following sentences in indirect speech. Pay attention to backshift and the changes to pronouns, time, and place.

• Two weeks ago, he said, “I visited this museum last week.” → Two weeks ago, he said that   . I → he|simple past → past perfect|this → that|last …→ the … before
• She claimed, “I am the best for this job.” → She claimed that   . I → she|simple present→ simple past|this→ that
• Last year, the minister said, “The crisis will be overcome next year.” → Last year, the minister said that   . will → would|next …→ the following …
• My riding teacher said, “Nobody has ever fallen off a horse here.” → My riding teacher said that   . present perfect → past perfect|here→ there
• Last month, the boss explained, “None of my co-workers has to work overtime now.” → Last month, the boss explained that   . my → his/her|simple present→ simple past|now→ then

Rewrite the question sentences in indirect speech.

• She asked, “What did he say?” → She asked   . The subject comes directly after the question word.|simple past → past perfect
• He asked her, “Do you want to dance?” → He asked her   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you → she|simple present → simple past
• I asked him, “How old are you?” → I asked him   . The subject comes directly after the question word + the corresponding adjective (how old)|you→ he|simple present → simple past
• The tourists asked me, “Can you show us the way?” → The tourists asked me   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you→ I|us→ them
• The shop assistant asked the woman, “Which jacket have you already tried on?” → The shop assistant asked the woman   . The subject comes directly after the question word|you→ she|present perfect → past perfect

Rewrite the demands/requests in indirect speech.

• The passenger requested the taxi driver, “Stop the car.” → The passenger requested the taxi driver   . to + same wording as in direct speech
• The mother told her son, “Don’t be so loud.” → The mother told her son   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The policeman told us, “Please keep moving.” → The policeman told us   . to + same wording as in direct speech ( please can be left off)
• She told me, “Don’t worry.” → She told me   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The zookeeper told the children, “Don’t feed the animals.” → The zookeeper told the children   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t

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• English Grammar Exercises for B2 – Reported speech

English Grammar Exercises for B2

1. Change the direct speech to reported speech. The people are/were talking to you.

1   ‘You should read my news blog.’

      Emma says …………………………………………… .

2   ‘I’ll be working at home tomorrow.’

      My mum said …………………………………………… .

3   ‘I hate watching the news on TV.’

       Anna says …………………………………………… .

4   ‘You haven’t been working hard enough.’

       Ben complained …………………………………………… .

5   ‘I hadn’t expected the broadcast to be live.’

      Ian explained …………………………………………… .

6   ‘I’d like to borrow your newspaper.’

      Fred said …………………………………………… .

7   ‘I don’t want to go to the theatre.’

      Amy has said …………………………………………… .

1   (that) I / we should read her newsblog

2   (that) she would be working at home the next / following day

3   (that) she hates watching the news on TV

4   (that) I / we hadn’t been working hard enough

5   that he hadn’t expected the broadcast to be live

6   (that) he would like to borrow my newspaper

7   (that) she doesn’t want to go to the theatre

2. Choose the correct answers.

1   Sam said / told her to leave.

2   ‘This article is really interesting,’ said / told Harry.

3   ‘I’m hungry,’ she said / told to her dad.

4   They said / told me he was a reporter.

5   Jake says / tells that he wants to study journalism.

1 told   2 said   3 said    4 told   5 says

3. Read the dialogue and complete Imogen’s report of the conversation.

Imogen     What are you doing?

Ed             I’m writing a letter to the newspaper.

Imogen     What’s the letter about?

Ed             It’s about crime rates in our town. There should be more police!

Imogen     You should mention that recent bank robbery.

Ed             I will, if I can find the name of the bank.

Imogen     Have you looked online?

Ed             I can’t. Somebody has stolen my laptop!

I asked Ed what 1 …………………………… . He explained that 2 …………………………… . I asked 3 …………………………… , and Ed replied 4 …………………………… . He said that 5 …………………………… . I said 6 …………………………… and Ed said 7 …………………………… if 8 …………………………… . I asked 9 …………………………… . He said 10 …………………………… because 11 …………………………… !

1   he was doing

2   he was writing a letter to the newspaper

3   (him) what the letter was about

4   (that) it was about crime rates in our town

5   there should be more police

6   he should mention the recent bank robbery

7   he would

8   he could find the name of the bank

9   (him) if he had looked online

10   he couldn’t

11   someone had stolen his laptop

4. Listen to a woman carrying out a survey about newspapers. Report the questions.

1    She asked him if he read ……………………………………………… .

2    She asked him ……………………………………………… .

3    She asked him ……………………………………………… .

4    She asked him ……………………………………………… .

5    She asked him ……………………………………………… .

6    She asked him ……………………………………………… .

1   newspapers

2   how many papers he had bought in the previous week.

3   which his favourite newspaper was.

4   why he liked it.

5   how it could be made even better.

6   if he trusted newspaper journalists to tell the truth.

Woman     I’m carrying out a survey about newspapers. Do you have a spare minute to answer some questions?

Man          Sure. Fire away.

Woman    Do you read newspapers?

Man          Yes, I read the newspaper every day.

Woman    How many papers have you bought in the last week?

Man          I’ve bought a paper every day.

Woman    Which is your favourite newspaper?

Man          I like The Times.

Woman    Why do you like it?

Man          There’s a good mix of serious news and human-interest stories.

Woman    How could it be made even better?

Man          There should be more sport.

Woman    Finally, do you trust newspaper journalists to tell the truth?

Man          Yes, I do. Most of the time.

5. Match the answers (a-f) with the questions in exercise 4.

a   There should be more sport.

b   I’ve bought a paper every day.

c   Yes, I do. Most of the time.

d   Yes, I read the newspaper every day.

e   I like The Times.

f   There’s a good mix of serious news and human-interest stories.

a 5   b 2   c 6   d 1   e 3   f 4

6. Now complete the woman’s report.

The man told her he read ………………………………… and that ………………………………… every day that week. He said ………………………………… The Times and that he liked it ………………………………… .

However, he told her ………………………………… . In answer to the final question, he said that ………………………………… .

(The man told her he read) the newspaper every day (and that) he had bought a paper (every day that week. He said) (that) he liked ( The Times and that he liked it) because there was a good mix of serious news and human-interest stories. (However, he told her) (that) there should be more sport. (In answer to the final question, he said that) he trusted journalists to tell the truth most of the time.

Report a conversation that you had recently with a friend or a member of your family.

……………………………………………………………

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Reported speech structures with exercises

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Reported speech

Daisy has just had an interview for a summer job. 

Instructions

As you watch the video, look at the examples of reported speech. They are in  red  in the subtitles. Then read the conversation below to learn more. Finally, do the grammar exercises to check you understand, and can use, reported speech correctly.

Sophie:  Mmm, it’s so nice to be chilling out at home after all that running around.

Ollie: Oh, yeah, travelling to glamorous places for a living must be such a drag!

Ollie: Mum, you can be so childish sometimes. Hey, I wonder how Daisy’s getting on in her job interview.

Sophie: Oh, yes, she said she was having it at four o’clock, so it’ll have finished by now. That’ll be her ... yes. Hi, love. How did it go?

Daisy: Well, good I think, but I don’t really know. They said they’d phone later and let me know.

Sophie: What kind of thing did they ask you?

Daisy: They asked if I had any experience with people, so I told them about helping at the school fair and visiting old people at the home, that sort of stuff. But I think they meant work experience.

Sophie: I’m sure what you said was impressive. They can’t expect you to have had much work experience at your age.

Daisy:  And then they asked me what acting I had done, so I told them that I’d had a main part in the school play, and I showed them a bit of the video, so that was cool.

Sophie:  Great!

Daisy: Oh, and they also asked if I spoke any foreign languages.

Sophie: Languages?

Daisy: Yeah, because I might have to talk to tourists, you know.

Sophie: Oh, right, of course.

Daisy: So that was it really. They showed me the costume I’ll be wearing if I get the job. Sending it over ...

Ollie: Hey, sis, I heard that Brad Pitt started out as a giant chicken too! This could be your big break!

Daisy: Ha, ha, very funny.

Sophie: Take no notice, darling. I’m sure you’ll be a marvellous chicken.

We use reported speech when we want to tell someone what someone said. We usually use a reporting verb (e.g. say, tell, ask, etc.) and then change the tense of what was actually said in direct speech.

So, direct speech is what someone actually says? Like 'I want to know about reported speech'?

Yes, and you report it with a reporting verb.

He said he wanted to know about reported speech.

I said, I want and you changed it to he wanted .

Exactly. Verbs in the present simple change to the past simple; the present continuous changes to the past continuous; the present perfect changes to the past perfect; can changes to could ; will changes to would ; etc.

She said she was having the interview at four o’clock. (Direct speech: ' I’m having the interview at four o’clock.') They said they’d phone later and let me know. (Direct speech: ' We’ll phone later and let you know.')

OK, in that last example, you changed you to me too.

Yes, apart from changing the tense of the verb, you also have to think about changing other things, like pronouns and adverbs of time and place.

'We went yesterday.'  > She said they had been the day before. 'I’ll come tomorrow.' >  He said he’d come the next day.

I see, but what if you’re reporting something on the same day, like 'We went yesterday'?

Well, then you would leave the time reference as 'yesterday'. You have to use your common sense. For example, if someone is saying something which is true now or always, you wouldn’t change the tense.

'Dogs can’t eat chocolate.' > She said that dogs can’t eat chocolate. 'My hair grows really slowly.' >  He told me that his hair grows really slowly.

What about reporting questions?

We often use ask + if/whether , then change the tenses as with statements. In reported questions we don’t use question forms after the reporting verb.

'Do you have any experience working with people?' They asked if I had any experience working with people. 'What acting have you done?' They asked me what acting I had done .

Is there anything else I need to know about reported speech?

One thing that sometimes causes problems is imperative sentences.

You mean like 'Sit down, please' or 'Don’t go!'?

Exactly. Sentences that start with a verb in direct speech need a to + infinitive in reported speech.

She told him to be good. (Direct speech: 'Be good!') He told them not to forget. (Direct speech: 'Please don’t forget.')

OK. Can I also say 'He asked me to sit down'?

Yes. You could say 'He told me to …' or 'He asked me to …' depending on how it was said.

OK, I see. Are there any more reporting verbs?

Yes, there are lots of other reporting verbs like promise , remind , warn , advise , recommend , encourage which you can choose, depending on the situation. But say , tell and ask are the most common.

Great. I understand! My teacher said reported speech was difficult.

And I told you not to worry!

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