Reported Speech Questions

Respuesta correcta: B) was coming

• A) comesNo. 'comes' keeps the present simple and ignores the past tense of the reporting verb 'asked', which normally triggers the backshift.
• B) was comingCorrect! Present continuous 'is coming' becomes past continuous 'was coming', and the time expression 'that night' is adjusted for the report.
• C) has comeNo. 'has come' is present perfect and would claim the concert visit had already happened at the time of the question.
• D) will comeNo. 'will come' keeps a forward reference and turns the question into a request rather than an enquiry about his intentions.

Respuesta correcta: C) understood

• A) had understoodNo. 'had understood' is past perfect and would place the understanding well before the day of the lesson, which the question never claimed.
• B) was understandingNo. 'was understanding' is not a form English uses, because 'understand' does not take the progressive in this meaning.
• C) understoodCorrect! After 'do' in the direct question the verb stays in its base form, and in the report the past sense is carried by the auxiliary 'did'.
• D) will understandNo. 'will understand' promises future ability and does not report the question that was actually asked in the classroom.

Respuesta correcta: A) would open

• A) would openCorrect! 'will' shifts to 'would' after a past reporting verb, and no 'if' clause is added because the question was not a conditional one.
• B) will openNo. 'will open' keeps the original future and makes the reported question sound like a prediction rather than something already asked.
• C) had openedNo. 'had opened' asserts that the branch had already opened at the moment of the question, which is the opposite of the enquiry.
• D) opensNo. 'opens' is present simple and would claim the branch opens now, losing the forward reference of the original question.

Respuesta correcta: D) had served

• A) has servedNo. 'has served' keeps the present perfect and leaves the period of service tied to the present instead of to the past of the interview.
• B) servedNo. 'served' drops the perfect aspect and so no longer states that the service continues up to the moment of the question.
• C) will serveNo. 'will serve' moves the service into the future and says nothing about the duration already completed.
• D) had servedCorrect! Present perfect 'have served' becomes past perfect 'had served', and the duration expression 'how long' stays unchanged in the report.

Respuesta correcta: B) lived

• A) livesNo. 'lives' is the third person present simple and shows no trace of the backshift required after 'asked'.
• B) livedCorrect! Present simple 'do you live' shifts to past simple 'did you live', so 'lived' is the form that fits the reported question.
• C) is livingNo. 'is living' is the present continuous and would claim a temporary residence that the original present simple did not express.
• D) has livedNo. 'has lived' implies the living continues now and links the residence to a present result, which the question never claimed.

Respuesta correcta: C) had taken

• A) takesNo. 'takes' is present simple active and would turn the enquiry into a statement about what the patient does generally.
• B) is takingNo. 'is taking' is the present continuous active and makes no reference to the completed act of taking the medicine.
• C) had takenCorrect! Present perfect 'have taken' becomes past perfect 'had taken', and 'this morning' becomes 'that morning' in the report.
• D) would takeNo. 'would take' refers to a future action seen from the past and says nothing about whether the medicine had already been taken.

Respuesta correcta: A) had not paid

• A) had not paidCorrect! Present perfect 'have not paid' shifts to past perfect 'had not paid', and the reason word 'why' is kept with ordinary statement order.
• B) did not payNo. 'did not pay' is possible with an open time reference, but 'have not paid' with the definite 'this month' requires the perfect shift.
• C) was not payingNo. 'was not paying' is the past continuous and would describe an interrupted process rather than an unpaid obligation.
• D) has not paidNo. 'has not paid' keeps the present perfect, so the question would appear to be asked now rather than at a point in the past.

Respuesta correcta: D) could pay

• A) can payNo. 'can pay' keeps the present modal and ignores the past tense of the reporting verb 'asked'.
• B) must payNo. 'must pay' states an obligation, whereas the original question asked for permission to use the card.
• C) paidNo. 'paid' is a bare past form with no auxiliary, so the clause would have no verb group capable of expressing ability.
• D) could payCorrect! 'can' shifts to 'could' after a past reporting verb, and the demonstrative changes from 'this' to 'that'.

Respuesta correcta: B) was

• A) isNo. 'is' keeps the present simple and gives the impression that the question is being asked at the present moment.
• B) wasCorrect! Present simple 'is' shifts to past simple 'was', and the place expression 'here' normally becomes 'there' in the report.
• C) has beenNo. 'has been' would link the car to a present state and remove the reference to the past moment of the question.
• D) will beNo. 'will be' moves the parked car into the future and does not report what was actually asked.

Respuesta correcta: C) had finished

• A) finishesNo. 'finishes' is third person present simple and cannot report a past action that the auxiliary 'did' already signalled as finished.
• B) has finishedNo. 'has finished' keeps the present perfect and would place the report as finished at the present rather than at the past moment of the enquiry.
• C) had finishedCorrect! A past simple question with 'did' is reported with the same past form, since the tense already sits in the auxiliary of the original question.
• D) would finishNo. 'would finish' refers to a future action seen from the past and says nothing about whether the report was completed.

Respuesta correcta: A) had finished

• A) had finishedCorrect! A past simple question combined with a definite past time expression is reported with the past perfect, and 'yesterday' becomes 'the day before'.
• B) did finishNo. 'did finish' keeps the emphatic auxiliary of the direct question and produces the odd tone of a question repeated word for word inside a report.
• C) have finishedNo. 'have finished' would tie the survey to the present and contradict the definite time expression of the original question.
• D) will have finishedNo. 'will have finished' places the completion before a future reference point, which is much later than the survey asked about.

Respuesta correcta: D) was taking

• A) has takenNo. 'has taken' links the assignment to the present and loses the reference to the term of the conversation.
• B) will takeNo. 'will take' moves the assignment forward and would imply that she has not yet been given any class.
• C) was assignedNo. 'was assigned' is a passive form that changes the question into a statement about what the school did, so it no longer reports her own account of her load.
• D) was takingCorrect! Present continuous 'are taking' shifts to past continuous 'was taking', and the term reference 'this term' becomes 'that term'.

Respuesta correcta: B) had come

• A) comesNo. 'comes' is present simple and ignores the fact that the question was asked after the interruption had already begun.
• B) had comeCorrect! Present perfect 'has come' shifts to past perfect 'had come', and the adverb 'yet' keeps its meaning at the end of the reported clause.
• C) will comeNo. 'will come' is a prediction about the future and does not report the enquiry that was actually made.
• D) was comingNo. 'was coming' is the past continuous and would suggest the power was in the process of returning rather than asking whether it had already returned.

Respuesta correcta: C) would like

• A) will likeNo. 'will like' keeps the future and changes the polite offer into a prediction about the visitors' preferences.
• B) likeNo. 'like' alone has no modal or auxiliary and cannot express willingness inside a clause introduced by 'asked if'.
• C) would likeCorrect! 'would like' keeps the polite structure and simply replaces the reporting tense context, so the offer is reported faithfully.
• D) had likedNo. 'had liked' moves the willingness into the past perfect and would suggest the offer had already been accepted or rejected.

Respuesta correcta: A) were

• A) wereCorrect! Present simple 'are' shifts to past simple 'were', which agrees with the plural subject 'the deadlines' inside the reported clause.
• B) areNo. 'are' keeps the present and would leave the reported question anchored to the moment of this conversation.
• C) will beNo. 'will be' converts an information request about current deadlines into a statement about a future time.
• D) have beenNo. 'have been' implies the deadlines were established earlier and still stand, which is a different claim from the one the question makes.

Respuesta correcta: D) should order

• A) ordersNo. 'orders' is a bare third person present form and cannot express a proposal or a request for permission.
• B) must orderNo. 'must order' removes the politeness of the offer and turns a request for permission into an announcement of an obligation.
• C) had orderedNo. 'had ordered' states that the part had already been ordered, so nothing would be left to ask about.
• D) should orderCorrect! 'should' shifts to the past reporting context as 'should order', keeping the consultation with the driver intact.

Respuesta correcta: B) had left

• A) has leftNo. 'has left' would link the departure to the present and contradict the completed decision implied by the original past question.
• B) had leftCorrect! The past simple with 'did' is reported with the past perfect, which places the departure before the interview rather than after it.
• C) is leavingNo. 'is leaving' is present continuous active and would claim the departure is still about to happen.
• D) would leaveNo. 'would leave' expresses a hypothetical future action and does not report the reason for a decision already taken.

Respuesta correcta: C) could borrow

• A) can borrowNo. 'can borrow' keeps the present modal, so the question would appear to be asked at this moment rather than at the earlier point of the enquiry.
• B) will borrowNo. 'will borrow' turns the request about a rule into a statement about what the student will personally do.
• C) could borrowCorrect! 'can' shifts to 'could', and the indirect question keeps the order of a normal statement without the inversion of the original.
• D) had borrowedNo. 'had borrowed' would claim the books had already been taken, which answers a different question entirely.

Respuesta correcta: A) had stopped

• A) had stoppedCorrect! Reporting a past simple question with a past perfect places the stop before the power failure, which is exactly the sequence the question asks about.
• B) did stoppedNo. 'did stopped' mixes the auxiliary 'did' with a past participle, which is not a grammatical form in English.
• C) was stoppingNo. 'was stopping' is the past continuous and would suggest the machine was still slowing down when the power failed.
• D) has stoppedNo. 'has stopped' ties the event to the present and therefore cannot be compared with a past event such as the power failure.

Respuesta correcta: D) had been sleeping

• A) is sleepingNo. 'is sleeping' is the present continuous and would describe sleeping at the moment of the report rather than since the operation.
• B) was sleepingNo. 'was sleeping' is the past continuous and describes an interrupted sleep, not a period of recovery lasting since the operation.
• C) has sleptNo. 'has slept' refers to a single completed act of sleeping and loses the continuous reading that the original question conveyed.
• D) had been sleepingCorrect! Present perfect continuous shifts to past perfect continuous, keeping the duration 'since the operation' anchored before the moment of the consultation.