Reported Speech

Respuesta correcta: A) He said that he was tired.

• A) He said that he was tired.Correct. Reporting verbs trigger backshift, so 'am' becomes 'was' and the pronoun changes to match the reporter's subject.
• B) He said that he were tired.Wrong. 'Were' does not agree with the singular pronoun 'he'.
• C) He said that I was tired.Wrong. 'I' would be correct only if the reporter were the speaker of the original words.
• D) He said that he is tired.Wrong. 'Is' keeps the original tense, which is only acceptable with a present-tense reporting verb such as says.

Respuesta correcta: B) She said that she would call me later.

• A) She said that she will call me later.Wrong. 'Will' does not shift, and retaining it would require a present-tense reporting verb.
• B) She said that she would call me later.Correct. 'Will' shifts to 'would' in reported speech, and the pronouns are adjusted to the new speaker and listener.
• C) She said that she would called me later.Wrong. 'Would called' double-marks the future, which is not correct in reported speech.
• D) She said that I would call her later.Wrong. 'I would call her' reverses the roles of speaker and listener.

Respuesta correcta: C) He said that he didn't understand that rule.

• A) He said that I don't understand this rule.Wrong. 'I' would only be right if the reporter had spoken those words.
• B) He said that he doesn't understand that rule.Wrong. 'Doesn't' keeps the present negative, which is only correct with a present reporting verb.
• C) He said that he didn't understand that rule.Correct. The auxiliary 'do' shifts to 'did' with the base form, and demonstratives may adjust to match the reporting situation.
• D) He said that he not understood this rule.Wrong. 'Not' cannot stand alone before a past participle; the auxiliary is required.

Respuesta correcta: D) She asked if I was coming that night.

• A) She asked whether are I coming that night.Wrong. 'Whether' requires subject-auxiliary order, so 'whether are I' is not a correct inversion.
• B) She asked that I was coming that night.Wrong. 'That' introduces a statement, not a question, so the meaning changes to an assertion.
• C) She asked if I am coming tonight.Wrong. 'Am' and 'tonight' both remain unshifted, which requires a present reporting verb.
• D) She asked if I was coming that night.Correct. A yes/no question becomes an if-clause in reported speech, with tense backshift and adjusted time expression.

Respuesta correcta: A) She asked where I lived.

• A) She asked where I lived.Correct. The wh-word stays in front, the auxiliary and the subject are reordered, and the tense shifts back.
• B) She asked that where I lived.Wrong. 'That' introduces a statement and cannot precede a wh-question.
• C) She asked where lived I.Wrong. 'Where lived I' does not follow the subject-before-auxiliary order of indirect questions.
• D) She asked where do I live.Wrong. 'Where do I live' keeps the original question order, which is only acceptable with a present reporting verb.

Respuesta correcta: B) She said that she had seen him the day before.

• A) She said that she saw him the day before.Wrong. 'Saw' keeps the past simple, which is sometimes possible but the question sets a shifted reporting context.
• B) She said that she had seen him the day before.Correct. Past simple shifts to past perfect and 'yesterday' becomes 'the day before' to match the new time of speaking.
• C) She said that she has seen him yesterday.Wrong. 'Has seen' is the present perfect and cannot be combined with 'yesterday'.
• D) She said that I saw him yesterday.Wrong. 'I' would only be correct if the reporter had been the original speaker.

Respuesta correcta: C) He said that he hadn't finished the report.

• A) He said that I hadn't finished the report.Wrong. 'I' would only be correct if the reporter had spoken those words.
• B) He said that he hasn't finished the report.Wrong. 'Hasn't' shifts the aspect to the present perfect, which changes the temporal meaning of the report.
• C) He said that he hadn't finished the report.Correct. 'Hadn't' already marks a past perfect, and reporting a past event keeps that aspect, so no further shift is needed.
• D) He said that he had not finished the report yet now.Wrong. 'Yet now' is contradictory, since yet and now cannot refer to the same moment.

Respuesta correcta: D) He says that he is too busy to help today.

• A) He said that he is too busy to help today.Wrong. A past reporting verb with a present complement normally signals a quotation rather than an indirect report.
• B) He says that he was too busy to help today.Wrong. A present reporting verb with a past tense complement is odd unless the past content is intended to remain in the past.
• C) He said that he was too busy to help today.Wrong. 'Said' combined with 'was' performs backshift, which is also possible but is not the version being asked for here.
• D) He says that he is too busy to help today.Correct. A present reporting verb such as says keeps the original tense and time expression, which is entirely correct.

Respuesta correcta: A) I don't know whether the results have been published.

• A) I don't know whether the results have been published.Correct. Whether is preferred in formal writing and before an 'or' alternative or after a preposition.
• B) I don't know the results have been published whether.Wrong. 'Whether' cannot be stranded at the end of a clause like that.
• C) I don't know that whether the results have been published.Wrong. 'That' and 'whether' cannot both introduce the same clause.
• D) I don't know if the results have been published.Wrong. 'If' is acceptable informally, but the item asks for the more suitable formal conjunction.

Respuesta correcta: B) She said, 'I can't wait to see the results.'

• A) She said, 'I can't wait to see the results.Wrong. The sentence lacks the closing quotation mark, which leaves the direct speech unfinished.
• B) She said, 'I can't wait to see the results.'Correct. Direct speech keeps the original words and is marked by a reporting verb followed by a comma and quotation marks.
• C) She said 'I can't wait to see the results.'Wrong. Direct speech normally requires a comma after the reporting verb when it follows it in the same sentence.
• D) She said that I can't wait to see the results.Wrong. After 'that' the sentence is reported speech and the original pronouns are not normally kept.

Respuesta correcta: C) She said that she could help me the next day.

• A) She said that I could help her the next day.Wrong. 'I could help her' reverses the speaker and listener of the original statement.
• B) She said that she can help me the next day.Wrong. 'Can' does not shift with the reporting verb 'said'.
• C) She said that she could help me the next day.Correct. 'Can' shifts to 'could', the pronouns are adjusted and 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day'.
• D) She said that she could helped me the next day.Wrong. 'Could helped' adds a past participle where the modal already carries the tense.

Respuesta correcta: D) He said he would arrive here the following day.

• A) He said he would arrive the following day here.Wrong. Placing 'here' at the end is not a standard English word order.
• B) He said he will arrive here the following day.Wrong. 'Will arrive' does not shift with the past reporting verb 'said'.
• C) He said he would arrive here the next day.Wrong. 'Here' still points to the original speaker's location, which is wrong in indirect report.
• D) He said he would arrive here the following day.Correct. 'Here' refers to the speaker's location, so in a report made elsewhere it becomes 'there', and 'tomorrow' becomes 'the following day'.

Respuesta correcta: A) She asked what time the library closed.

• A) She asked what time the library closed.Correct. The wh-question keeps its word and takes statement order with the tense shifted back one step.
• B) She asked at what time was the library close.Wrong. 'Was the library close' lacks the participle and reverses the correct order.
• C) She asked what time the library closes.Wrong. 'Closes' does not shift after the past reporting verb 'asked'.
• D) She asked what time did the library close.Wrong. 'Did the library close' keeps the question order and the auxiliary, which is only acceptable with a present reporting verb.

Respuesta correcta: B) She said that she had never seen anything like that before.

• A) She said that she has never seen anything like that before.Wrong. 'Has' does not shift with the past reporting verb.
• B) She said that she had never seen anything like that before.Correct. 'Have' shifts to 'had', the participle stays, and 'this' becomes 'that' as the reference point changes.
• C) She said that she had never saw anything like that before.Wrong. 'Had never saw' uses a simple past form where the participle is required.
• D) She said that I had never seen anything like that before.Wrong. 'I' would only be right if the lawyer had spoken those words.

Respuesta correcta: C) She said that she had finished the report before I arrived.

• A) She said that she had finish the report before I arrived.Wrong. 'Had finish' lacks the past participle after the auxiliary.
• B) She said that she has finished the report before I arrived.Wrong. 'Has finished' shifts the past perfect forward to the present perfect, which changes the meaning.
• C) She said that she had finished the report before I arrived.Correct. The past perfect has no further step back, so it stays, and the pronoun 'you' becomes 'I' to match the reporter.
• D) She said that she had finished the report before I did not arrived.Wrong. 'Did not arrived' is not a valid structure and 'before' already makes the sequence clear.

Respuesta correcta: D) She asked whether I would like to join them.

• A) She asked whether would I like to join them.Wrong. 'Whether would I' reverses the word order that indirect questions require.
• B) She asked that I would like to join them.Wrong. 'That' introduces a statement and would change the meaning of the question into an assertion.
• C) She asked if I would like to join them.Wrong. 'If' is acceptable informally, but the item asks for the more suitable formal conjunction.
• D) She asked whether I would like to join them.Correct. 'Whether' is appropriate for a formal report of a yes/no question, and 'us' becomes 'them' for the reporter's perspective.

Respuesta correcta: A) The present tense is justified because the content is still true at the time of reporting, which is a common use with certain verbs.

• A) The present tense is justified because the content is still true at the time of reporting, which is a common use with certain verbs.Correct. Reporting a fact that remains true in the present, as with arrangements, commonly retains the original tense.
• B) The sentence works only because said can be understood as a present-tense reporting verb.Wrong. 'Said' is unambiguously past, so the tense of the reporting verb is not the explanation.
• C) The sentence is wrong because arriving is not a permitted form after the present tense.Wrong. 'Is arriving' is perfectly grammatical with an arrival scheduled for the near future.
• D) The sentence is wrong because said always requires backshift in every clause.Wrong. Backshift is a strong tendency rather than an absolute rule, so said does not require it in every clause.

Respuesta correcta: B) He asked me whether I had finished the work.

• A) He asked me that I had finished the work.Wrong. 'That' introduces a statement and removes the question force of the original sentence.
• B) He asked me whether I had finished the work.Correct. Whether suits the formal register and the past perfect is preserved because no further backshift is available.
• C) He asked me whether I did finish the work.Wrong. 'Did finish' replaces the perfect with a simple past, which changes whether the completion was still relevant.
• D) He asked me if I finish the work.Wrong. 'Finish' shifts the past perfect to the present, which loses the earlier completion.

Respuesta correcta: C) She asked me what I had said to the director.

• A) She asked me what I said what to the director.Wrong. 'What I said what' repeats the question word and is not a well-formed clause.
• B) She asked me what did I say to the director.Wrong. 'Did I say' keeps the original question order and does not shift the tense.
• C) She asked me what I had said to the director.Correct. The wh-word is retained, statement order is used and the past simple shifts to the past perfect.
• D) She asked me that what I had said to the director.Wrong. 'That' cannot introduce an embedded wh-question.

Respuesta correcta: D) She told me that her sister had left. / She asked whether our manager would sign it.

• A) She told me that their sister had left. / She asked whether our manager would sign it.Wrong. 'Their' signals a plural referent and does not match a singular sister.
• B) She told me that her sister had left. / She asked whether your manager would sign it.Wrong. 'Your' is used for the person being addressed, so it is wrong for a manager shared by both speakers.
• C) She told me that his sister had left. / She asked whether our manager would sign it.Wrong. 'His' would refer to a male speaker and the second clause is the one correctly adjusted.
• D) She told me that her sister had left. / She asked whether our manager would sign it.Correct. 'My' becomes 'her' when the speaker changes and 'our' is retained because it includes the person addressed.