Narration — direct & indirect speech MCQ - Practice Questions with Answers

In indirect speech after a past reporting verb, the past simple passive 'was restored' normally becomes the past perfect passive 'had been restored'. The time phrase 'last year' is also adjusted to 'the previous year' because the reporting point has shifted. However, 'remains disputed' expresses a continuing present status, so it is best reported as 'remained disputed' rather than as the past perfect 'had remained'. Option A preserves the passive form, the time shift, and the intended contrast.

'Let us' in direct speech commonly expresses a proposal, suggestion, or joint invitation. It is therefore reported with verbs such as 'suggested', 'proposed', or 'urged', followed by a that-clause with 'should' or a gerund construction. For example, 'He said, "Let us reconsider the proposal"' becomes 'He suggested that they should reconsider the proposal.' It does not always become 'ordered them to', because an order is normally directed from one person to another, not framed as a shared action.

The direct speech contains a negative imperative and a reason: the listener should not walk on snow because it is not safe. The best reported form uses “warned us not to” and backshifts “is not safe” to “was not safe.” “He said us” is ungrammatical, and “not walk” lacks the required “to.” “He told us that it is not safe” reports only the information, not the warning command. “He warned them how unsafe” changes the object from us to them and does not report the original instruction faithfully.

In reported questions, the question form is not carried over mechanically. A yes/no question takes 'if' or 'whether': 'She asked whether I had submitted the form.' A wh-question keeps the wh-word: 'He asked why I had objected.' In both types, the word order becomes assertive, so we write 'I had submitted' or 'I had objected', not 'had I submitted' or 'had I objected'. Therefore Statements 1 and 3 are correct, while Statement 2 is incorrect.

Ordinary reported speech often backshifts tense after a past reporting verb, but universal truths, habitual facts and established scientific statements need not be backshifted. The direct sentence states a general scientific property: mercury expands when heated. Reporting it as 'The professor said that mercury expands when heated' is therefore correct, because the truth of the statement is not limited to the professor's past utterance. Thus both the assertion and the reason are true, and the reason explains the assertion.