Reported Speech – Questions MCQs Quiz | Class 10
This quiz for Class X, Subject Communicative English (Code 101), Unit Grammar, focuses on Reported Speech – Questions MCQs Quiz | Class 10, specifically covering Indirect questioning. Test your knowledge by attempting the questions below. Once done, click ‘Submit Quiz’ to see your score, and optionally ‘Download Answer PDF’ for a detailed review.
Understanding Reported Speech for Questions
Reported speech (also known as indirect speech) is used to tell someone what another person said, but without using the exact words. When reporting questions, the structure changes significantly compared to reporting statements.
Key Rules for Reporting Questions:
- Reporting Verbs: Instead of verbs like ‘said’ or ‘told’, we use reporting verbs such as asked, enquired, wondered, wanted to know, demanded, requested.
- No Question Mark: The reported question changes into an assertive sentence, so the question mark (?) is replaced by a full stop (.).
- Sentence Structure: The structure becomes Subject + Verb, just like a statement, not Verb + Subject (as in direct questions). For example, “What is your name?” becomes “He asked what my name was.” (not “what was my name”).
- Connectives:
- For Yes/No questions (questions that can be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’), we use if or whether as the connective.
- For Wh-questions (questions starting with who, what, where, when, why, how), the wh-word itself acts as the connective.
- Tense Changes: Tenses usually shift back in time (e.g., present simple to past simple, present continuous to past continuous, past simple to past perfect).
- Pronoun Changes: Pronouns change according to the speaker and listener.
- Time and Place Expressions: Words indicating time and place often change (e.g., ‘now’ to ‘then’, ‘here’ to ‘there’, ‘today’ to ‘that day’).
Tense Changes in Reported Questions:
| Direct Speech Tense | Reported Speech Tense |
|---|---|
| Present Simple | Past Simple |
| Present Continuous | Past Continuous |
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect |
| Past Simple | Past Perfect |
| Past Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous |
| Future Simple (will) | Conditional (would) |
| Modals (can, may, must) | (could, might, had to) |
Examples of Indirect Questioning:
- Direct: He said to me, “Do you like coffee?”
- Indirect: He asked me if I liked coffee.
- Direct: She asked, “Where did you go yesterday?”
- Indirect: She enquired where I had gone the previous day.
- Direct: The teacher asked, “Who broke the window?”
- Indirect: The teacher asked who had broken the window.
Quick Revision Points:
- Reported questions use ‘asked’, ‘enquired’, etc.
- No question marks in reported questions.
- Use ‘if’ or ‘whether’ for Yes/No questions.
- Use the ‘wh-word’ for Wh-questions.
- Reported questions always follow Subject + Verb order (like a statement).
- Remember to change tenses, pronouns, and time/place expressions.
Practice Questions:
- He said, “Where are you going?”
- She asked him, “Did you finish your work?”
- The doctor said to me, “How are you feeling?”
- My friend asked, “Can I borrow your pen?”
- The principal asked the students, “Have you submitted your assignments?”
