Direct And Indirect Speech - English Aptitude MCQ Questions and Answers

Original Sentence (Direct Speech):
He said, "I cannot help you at present because I am myself in difficulty."

Step-by-step Conversion:
1. Sentence type: This is a statement, so we will use “said that” in indirect speech.
2. Pronoun changes:
“I” becomes “he” (referring to the speaker)
“you” becomes “me” (since the speaker is talking to “me”)
3. Tense changes (as reporting verb 'said' is in past):
“cannot” becomes “could not”
“am” becomes “was”
4. Time expression: “at present” becomes “at that time” (to indicate a past reference)

Correct Sentence:
He said that he could not help me at that time because he was himself in difficulty.

However, since none of the options mention “at that time” and only Option B has the correct tense and pronouns (even though it uses “at present”), it is the best available answer.

Correct Answer: Option B

Why other options are incorrect:
Option A: “I cannot help you…” — ❌ Incorrect tense and pronouns are not changed.
Option C: “told” without an object — ❌ Incorrect structure. We say “told me” or “told him”, but not just “told”.
Option D: “asked” — ❌ Incorrect reporting verb. The sentence is a statement, not a question.

Final Answer: Option B – He said that he could not help me at present because he was himself in difficulty.

Original Sentence (Direct Speech):
He told her, "I want to meet your father."

Step-by-step Conversion:
1. Sentence Type: This is a statement, so we use “told her that…” in indirect speech.
2. Pronoun Changes:
“I” becomes he (because the speaker is “he”)
“your” becomes her (because the listener is “her”)
3. Tense Change:
“want” changes to “wanted” (as the reporting verb “told” is in past tense)

Correct Sentence:
He told her that he wanted to meet her father.

Correct Answer: Option B

Why other options are incorrect:
Option A: Uses “I want” and “your father” — ❌ Wrong pronouns, not changed into indirect form.
Option C: Uses “your father” — ❌ The word “your” should change to “her” (listener is female).
Option D: Says “she wanted” — ❌ Incorrect subject. “She” refers to the listener, but the speaker is “he”.

Final Answer: Option B – He told her that he wanted to meet her father.

Understanding Direct and Indirect Speech
This question tests your knowledge of changing direct speech (the exact words someone said) into indirect speech (reporting what someone said).

The Original Sentence (Direct Speech):
"I don't want to play any more," he says.

What Changes When We Go Indirect?
When we report speech indirectly, a few things usually change:
1. We often use a reporting verb like "says," "said," "tells," etc. We have that in all the options.
2. We usually add a conjunction like "that." Again, all options include this.
3. Pronouns often change. Since "he" is speaking, "I" in the original sentence should change to "he" in the indirect speech.
4. The tense of the verb *might* change, but not always. In this case, "don't want" is present tense and it often stays present tense when changing to indirect speech.

Looking at the Options:
Option A: He says that he doesn't want to play any more. This is correct! It correctly changes the pronoun and keeps the tense.
Option B: He says that I don't want to play any more. This is incorrect. The pronoun "I" should change to "he".
Option C: He says that I didn't want to play any more. This is incorrect. The pronoun "I" should change to "he", and the tense is unnecessarily changed to past.
Option D: He says that he didn't want to play any more. This is incorrect. The tense is unnecessarily changed to past.

Therefore, the correct answer is A.

The sentence is in direct speech: "The government has announced, 'Taxes will be raised.'"

To convert it into indirect speech, we observe the tense of the reporting verb — "has announced", which is in the present perfect tense.

Rule: When the reporting verb is in the present, present perfect, or future tense, the tense in the reported speech does not change.

Since "will be raised" is a future tense construction and the reporting verb is not in the past, we keep "will be raised" as it is.

Option C correctly follows this rule: "The government has announced that taxes will be raised."

Option A is incorrect because it unnecessarily changes "will" to "would", which should only occur when the reporting verb is in the past tense.

Option B is grammatically incorrect because "would raised" is not a valid construction — it should be "would be raised".

Option D is incorrect because it omits the conjunction "that", making the sentence grammatically informal and incomplete for reported speech.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option C.

Original Sentence (Direct Speech):
Mohan said, "We shall go to see the Taj in the moonlit night."

Step-by-step Conversion:
1. Sentence Type: This is a statement, so we use “said that…” in indirect speech.
2. Pronoun Change:
“We” becomes they (when the speaker is not including the listener).
3. Tense Change:
“Shall” changes to should in indirect speech (future tense changes when reporting verb is in past tense).
4. Time & Place:
No change needed for "in the moonlit night" as it's already specific and doesn't fall under usual time changes like "today → that day".

Correct Sentence:
Mohan said that they should go to see the Taj in the moonlit night.

Correct Answer: Option D

Why other options are incorrect:
Option A: Uses “we shall” — ❌ Wrong pronoun and tense not changed.
Option B: “told that” — ❌ We use “told” only when an object (person) is mentioned. Also “shall” not changed.
Option C: Uses “told that” — ❌ Same issue as above. Also unclear if “we” includes listener or not, and “we” not changed to “they”.

Final Answer: Option D – Mohan said that they should go to see the Taj in the moonlit night.

The teacher congratulated Ram and wished him success in life.

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

I asked where he would be the next day in case I had to ring him.

Seeta asked me if I could give her my pen.

The father warned his son, "beware of him !"