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Direct and Indirect Speech Practice Questions with Detailed Solutions – Level 3

Hard narration practice on polite requests, questions with modals such as must, and the word order, tense and pronoun changes needed to report them correctly in indirect speech.

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Questions, answer key and solutions.

Questions
50
Duration
60 min
Marks
50

Negative marking

Attempts
100
Access
Free
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Normal practice, or a Simulated test

Both use the same questions. Normal practice is untimed and needs no account: choose an option and the answer and solution appear at once. The Simulated test is the real computer-based format, with one 60-minute clock, a question palette and full screen, and your score, the key and the solutions arrive when you submit.

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Every question on one page, loading as you scroll. Choose an option and see straight away whether it was right.

  • No timer. Nothing to start and nothing to submit. Stop whenever you like.
  • Answered as you choose. Tap an option and it is marked at once, with the correct answer shown.
  • Solutions in place. The explanation, and the video where one has been added, sit under the question.
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Simulated

Timed CBT

The computer-based test format: one clock, a question palette, and a score the moment you submit.

  • A clock that does not pause. 60 minutes from the moment you begin, and the paper is submitted for you when it reaches zero.
  • Question palette. Answered, not answered and marked for review, section by section, as the real interface has it.
  • Full screen, proctored. The test takes over the screen; leaving it three times submits the paper.
  • Answers hidden until you submit. The key, the explanations and your score all arrive together at the end.

About this test

Direct and Indirect Speech Level 3 Practice: Requests and Reported Questions

This Level 3 Aptitude360 set builds the skill of converting direct speech into indirect speech at a harder level. It includes polite requests made with please and questions that use modals such as must, along with fill-in-the-blank items on reported question word order. Every question has a solution.

Narration skills tested in this Level 3 set

  • Converting polite requests with please into indirect speech using a verb such as requested
  • Reporting questions that contain modals such as must
  • Choosing the correct indirect speech version of a given sentence
  • Filling in the blank in a reported question with the correct word order

Key concepts in direct and indirect speech

  • Choosing a reporting verb that matches the sentence type, such as told, asked or requested
  • Backshift of tenses when the reporting verb is in the past
  • Changing pronouns, time words and place words to suit the reporter
  • Statement word order in reported questions, with the subject before the verb
  • Turning please into a reporting verb such as requested, followed by an infinitive

Revision tips for hard narration questions

  • Identify whether the sentence is a statement, question or request first, because it decides the reporting verb and the connector
  • In reported questions, check that the subject comes before the verb and that the sentence ends with a full stop
  • Confirm each pronoun change by asking who is speaking and who is being spoken to

Who should take this Level 3 set

This set suits English language learners who already know the basic narration rules and want practice with trickier conversions.

FAQs about Direct and Indirect Speech Practice Questions with Detailed Solutions – Level 3

What is direct and indirect speech?
Direct speech quotes a speaker's exact words inside inverted commas. Indirect speech reports what was said in the reporter's own words, without inverted commas, usually with changes in tense and pronouns.
What are the rules of tense change in indirect speech?
When the reporting verb is in the past tense, the tense of the reported speech usually moves one step back. For example, simple present becomes simple past and present continuous becomes past continuous. If the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, the tense does not change.
How to change interrogative sentences into indirect speech?
Use asked or enquired as the reporting verb and put the question in statement word order, ending with a full stop. Yes or no questions use if or whether, and wh-questions keep their question word as the connector.
Does tense change for universal truth in indirect speech?
No. A universal truth keeps its present tense even when the reporting verb is in the past, as in: The teacher said that the earth revolves around the sun.

Test structure

How the paper is split, and how long each part runs. A section you have finished cannot be returned to.

SectionQuestionsTime
Direct and Indirect Speech Level 35060 min

Marking & rules

Total marks
50 across 50 questions.
Negative marking
A wrong answer costs marks. Leaving a question unanswered costs nothing.
Attempts
100 in total. An attempt is spent the moment you begin one.

What you get when you submit

The analysis is ready the moment you submit the paper.

Score and accuracy

Marks, percentage, right, wrong and skipped, and the time you took.

Section by section

The same figures for each section, so a weak one cannot hide in an average.

The full answer key

Every question with your answer, the right one, the working, and the video where there is one.

Where you stand

Your score against the spread of everyone else who has sat this test.

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