Reported questions, commands and requests
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Reported questions, commands and requests
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Reported questions PDF exercise 1
- Change direct questions to reported questions.
"Where did you work?" - He asked me ___.
Reported questions PDF exercise 2
- Report a dialogue.
"Did you pass the exam, Sue?" - "Yes, I did."... Tim asked Sue ___.
Reported questions PDF exercise 3
- Change reported questions into direct questions.
Sam asked me why I hadn't come. - "Why didn't you come?"
Reported commands PDF exercise 4
- Complete sentences in the reported speech.
"Leave your room." - He asked me ___.
Reported commands PDF exercise 5
- Find and correct mistakes.
"Don't do it." - He told me I didn't do it.
Compare:
Reported speech exercises PDF Changes of tenses, time and place in reported statements.
Online exercises with answers:
Direct and indirect speech exercises Multiple choice and gap-filling exercises on reported statements, questions and commands.
Grammar rules PDF:
Reported speech rules PDF Changes of tenses, pronouns, time and place in reported statements, questions and commands.
English grammar PDF All PDF rules with examples on this website to download for free.
Reported questions
Direct questions become reported questions with the same word order as statements. The reporting verb say changes into ask, want to know, wonder...
"Where have you been?" he said. - He asked me where I had been.
"What time did it start?" he said. - He wanted to know what time it had started.
"Why won't he do it?" she said. - She wondered why he wouldn't do it.
In yes/no questions we use if or whether in questions. If is more common and whether is more formal.
"Will you come?" she asked me. - She asked me if/whether I would come.
"Did he marry Sue?" she said. - She wondered if/whether he had married Sue.
Reported commands and requests
The commands, requests and advice mostly have the same form in English: verb + object + infinitive (advise, ask, beg, forbid, order, persuade, recommend, tell, urge, warn etc.).
In the direct speech we do not mention the person in the imperative. In the indirect speech the person addressed must be mentioned.
"Get up!" he said. - He told me to get up.
"Please, revise for the test," he said. - He urged me to revise for the test.
"Put on your coat," I said. - I advised him to put on his coat.
Negative commands, requests and advice are made by verb + object + not + infinitive.
"Don't hesitate," he said. - He persuaded me not to hesitate.
"Don't smoke," the doctor warned my father. - The doctor warned my father not to smoke.
Tell can introduce statements, commands, requests or advice. The form is different, however.
Statements with tell
"I'm leaving," he told me. - He told me that he was leaving.
Commands, requests or advice with tell
"Leave the room," he told John. - He told John to leave the room.
"Don't give up," the teacher told her students. - The teacher told the students not to give up.
Similarly ask is used in reported questions, commands, requests or advice in different forms.
Questions with ask
"Will you make coffee?" he said. - He asked me if I would make coffee.
Commands, requests or advice with ask
"Make coffee, please," he said. - He asked me to make coffee.
"Don't park in my place," Greg told me. - Greg asked me not to park in his place.
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- All PDF exercises and grammar rules from this website.