Practice MCQ Questions and Answer on Direct and Indirect Speech

61.

Mother said to the baby, "Don't play with fire".

• (A) Mother warned the baby to play with fire.
• (B) Mother warned the baby not to play with fire.
• (C) Mother forbade the baby not to play with fire.
• (D) Mother requested the baby not to play with fire.

Show Answer

 Mother warned the baby not to play with fire.

62.

The poor examine said,"O God, take pity on me."

• (A) The poor examine prayed to God to take pity on him.
• (B) The poor examine, involving God, implored him to take pity on him.
• (C) The poor examine exclaimed that God take pity on him.
• (D) The poor examine asked God to take pity on him.

Show Answer

 The poor examine prayed to God to take pity on him.

63.

They said, "It was raining heavily,when they came out of the theatre."

• (A) They said that it was raining heavily, when they had come out of the theatre.
• (B) They said that it had been raining heavily, when they came out of the theatre.
• (C) They said that it rained when they had come out of the theatre.
• (D) They said that it had been raining heavily, when they had come out of the theatre.

Show Answer

 When transforming a sentence from direct to indirect speech, several changes are made, including adjustments in tense, pronouns, and time expressions. In this case, "It was raining heavily" needs to be changed to a past perfect continuous tense to reflect the earlier time frame implied by "when they came out of the theatre." Option A: "It was raining heavily" is changed to "it was raining heavily," but the tense remains the same, and "when they had come out of the theatre" uses the past perfect tense unnecessarily. Option B: "It was raining heavily" is correctly changed to "it had been raining heavily" to indicate past perfect continuous tense, and "when they came out of the theatre" maintains the correct tense. Option C: "It rained" simplifies the tense but does not convey the continuous aspect indicated by "was raining heavily." Option D: Similar to option A, it unnecessarily uses the past perfect tense for "when they had come out of the theatre." Therefore, the correct answer is Option B: They said that it had been raining heavily, when they came out of the theatre.

64.

He looked at the sky and said, "How beautifully the clouds are floating!"

• (A) He looked at the sky and exclaimed with joy that the clouds were floating beautifully.
• (B) Looking at the sky he told that the clouds are floating beautifully.
• (C) He looked at the sky and said that the clouds very beautifully are floating.
• (D) He looked at the sky and said that the floating clouds are beautiful.

Show Answer

 He looked at the sky and exclaimed with joy that the clouds were floating beautifully.

65.

Sitara asked me, "Have you taken your laptop?"

• (A) Sitara asked me in had taken the laptop.
• (B) Sitara asked me if we had taken the laptop.
• (C) Sitara asked me whether I had taken my laptop.
• (D) Sitara asked me if suppose I have taken my laptop.

Show Answer

 Sitara asked me whether I had taken my laptop.

66.

Manna asked Rohan, "Have you sat in a trolley bus before ?"

• (A) Manna asked Rohan had he sat in a trolley bus earlier.
• (B) Manna asked Rohan had he sat in a trolley bus before.
• (C) Manna asked Rohan if he sat on a trolley bus before.
• (D) Manna asked Rohan if he has ever sat in a trolley bus.

Show Answer

 In direct speech, the question is: "Have you sat in a trolley bus before?" To convert it into indirect speech, we use the reporting verb "asked" followed by the reporting clause "if" or "whether" and the appropriate tense. In this case, the tense remains the same as the original question, so "have" becomes "has" in the indirect speech because it's referring to the present perfect tense. Therefore, the correct conversion is: "Manna asked Rohan if he has ever sat in a trolley bus."

67.

She said, "I must have a computer to computer to prepare a powerpoint presentation."

• (A) She said that she had to have a computer to prepare a powerpoint presentation.
• (B) She said that she should have a computer to prepare a powerpoint presentation.
• (C) She said that she would have a computer to prepare a powerpoint presentation.
• (D) She said that she could have a computer to prepare a powerpoint presentation.

Show Answer

 She said that she had to have a computer to prepare a powerpoint presentation.

68.

The government has announced, "Taxes will be raised":

• (A) The government has announced that taxes would be raised.
• (B) The government has announced that taxes would raised.
• (C) The government has announced that taxes will be raised.
• (D) The government has announced taxes will be raised.

Show Answer

 In changing the given sentence from direct speech to indirect speech, we need to follow the rules of reported speech. Here, the reporting verb is "has announced," and we need to adjust the sentence accordingly: The original sentence is in direct speech: "The government has announced, 'Taxes will be raised.'" In indirect speech, the reporting verb "has announced" remains the same, and the sentence is converted to report the statement made by the government. When reporting statements about future events, we generally change the tense of the reported speech verb from "will" to "would" to make it indirect. So, "will be raised" becomes "would be raised": So, the correct transformation is: Option A: The government has announced that taxes would be raised.

69.

She asked, "Is the secretary coming to the meeting?"

• (A) She asked that the secretary was corning to the meeting.
• (B) She asked that if the secretary was coming to the meeting.
• (C) She asked if the secretary is coming to the meeting.
• (D) She asked if the secretary was corning to the meeting.

Show Answer

 She asked if the secretary was corning to the meeting.

70.

I said, "I came here yesterday."

• (A) I said that I came here that day.
• (B) I said that go here yesterday.
• (C) I said that I had come there the previous day.
• (D) I say that I went there the previous day.

Show Answer

 I said that I had come there the previous day.