reported speech past simple to past perfect exercises

Reported Speech Exercises

Perfect english grammar.

Here's a list of all the reported speech exercises on this site:

( Click here to read the explanations about reported speech )

Reported Statements:

• Present Simple Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here)
• Present Continuous Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here)
• Past Simple Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here)
• Present Perfect Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here)
• Future Simple Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here)
• Mixed Tense Reported Statement Exercise (intermediate) (in PDF here)
• 'Say' and 'Tell' (quite easy) (in PDF here)

Reported Questions:

• Present Simple Reported Yes/No Question Exercise (intermediate) (in PDF here)
• Present Simple Reported Wh Question Exercise (intermediate) (in PDF here)
• Mixed Tense Reported Question Exercise (intermediate) (in PDF here)

Reported Orders and Requests:

• Reported Requests and Orders Exercise (intermediate) (in PDF here)
• Reported Speech Mixed Exercise 1 (difficult) (in PDF here)
• Reported Speech Mixed Exercise 2 (difficult) (in PDF here)

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Reported speech – Simple Past – Sentences – Exercise

Task no. 2333.

Finish the sentences using Reported speech. Always change the tense, although it is sometimes not necessary.

Layla, "They landed on a little island." Layla said (that)  

Layla said (that) they had landed on a little island .

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Reported speech

• Emma, "The train left at eight." Emma said (that) .
• Sophia, "Dan forgot his keys." Sophia said (that) .
• Alexander, "I had a meeting at four." Alexander remarked (that) .
• Jackson and Leo, "We visited Aunt Elisabeth." Jackson and Leo said (that) .
• Mum, "William repaired the printer." Mum remarked (that) .
• Toby, "Jeff didn't like the food in the restaurant." Toby mentioned (that) .
• Hannah, "I walked to the museum." Hannah told me (that) .
• Nick, "She went home late." Nick said (that) .
• Alisha, "Lucas lost my money." Alisha told me (that) .
• Dad, "Emily didn't eat potatoes as a child." Dad told me (that) .
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• Grammar Exercises
• Reported Speech

Reported Speech – Free Exercise

Write the following sentences in indirect speech. Pay attention to backshift and the changes to pronouns, time, and place.

• Two weeks ago, he said, “I visited this museum last week.” → Two weeks ago, he said that   . I → he|simple past → past perfect|this → that|last …→ the … before
• She claimed, “I am the best for this job.” → She claimed that   . I → she|simple present→ simple past|this→ that
• Last year, the minister said, “The crisis will be overcome next year.” → Last year, the minister said that   . will → would|next …→ the following …
• My riding teacher said, “Nobody has ever fallen off a horse here.” → My riding teacher said that   . present perfect → past perfect|here→ there
• Last month, the boss explained, “None of my co-workers has to work overtime now.” → Last month, the boss explained that   . my → his/her|simple present→ simple past|now→ then

Rewrite the question sentences in indirect speech.

• She asked, “What did he say?” → She asked   . The subject comes directly after the question word.|simple past → past perfect
• He asked her, “Do you want to dance?” → He asked her   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you → she|simple present → simple past
• I asked him, “How old are you?” → I asked him   . The subject comes directly after the question word + the corresponding adjective (how old)|you→ he|simple present → simple past
• The tourists asked me, “Can you show us the way?” → The tourists asked me   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you→ I|us→ them
• The shop assistant asked the woman, “Which jacket have you already tried on?” → The shop assistant asked the woman   . The subject comes directly after the question word|you→ she|present perfect → past perfect

Rewrite the demands/requests in indirect speech.

• The passenger requested the taxi driver, “Stop the car.” → The passenger requested the taxi driver   . to + same wording as in direct speech
• The mother told her son, “Don’t be so loud.” → The mother told her son   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The policeman told us, “Please keep moving.” → The policeman told us   . to + same wording as in direct speech ( please can be left off)
• She told me, “Don’t worry.” → She told me   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The zookeeper told the children, “Don’t feed the animals.” → The zookeeper told the children   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t

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• Reported Speech — Past Simple — Exercise 1
• 1. Andrew, “I saw a puppy in the street.” Andrew said (that) . he had seen a puppy in the street
• 2. Sara and Emily, “We finished the report.” Sara and Emily said (that) . they had finished the report
• 3. Kevin, “They were at the party with me.” Kevin said (that) . they had been at the party with him
• 4. Amelia, “My friend gave me a watch.” Amelia said (that) . her friend had given her a watch
• 5. Nathan, “The exam was difficult.” Nathan said (that) . the exam had been difficult
• 6. Ian, “Emma drank six cups of coffee.” Ian said (that) . Emma had drunk six cups of coffee
• 7. Kate, “I didn’t see Mary at the event.” Kate said (that) . she hadn’t seen Mary at the event
• 8. Milana and William, “We bought a yacht.” Milana and William said (that) . they had bought a yacht
• 9. Sandra, “Chris went to the gym.” Sandra said (that) . Chris had gone to the gym
• 10. Helen, “They arrived before you.” Helen said (that) . they had arrived before me
• 11. Lucas, “She left the house at 2 pm.” Lucas said (that) . she had left the house at 2 pm
• 12. George, “I missed the last bus.” George said (that) . he had missed the last bus
• Reported statements — mixed tenses — Exercise 1
• Reported statements — mixed tenses — Exercise 2
• Reported statements — mixed tenses — Exercise 3
• Reported statements — mixed tenses — Exercise 4
• Reported statements — mixed tenses — Exercise 5

• Grammar & vocab

Intermediate grammar exercise: past perfect vs. past simple

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English grammar practice exercise, for pre-intermediate and intermediate level.

In this exercise you will practise the difference between the past simple and past perfect tenses.

Exercise instructions

Put the verb in brackets into either the past simple or past perfect simple .

Win Sandar Htay - September 30, 2015, 9:02 am Reply

I would like to take this exam and i want to know that the difference between past simple and past perfect, must and have to, don’t have to and mustn’t. not only these but also i would like to know all about of English grammar structure and how to write the witting essay. Thanks a lot.

Bombo - June 30, 2016, 2:48 pm Reply

There is a mistake in the fifth example, the correct version is supposed to be: I had gone to Ireland in 2008 and then to Sweden 2009, so he was first in Ireland, right? While the suggested version on the website is: I went to Ireland. . .

Stuart Cook - June 30, 2016, 8:20 pm Reply

The word ‘then’ explains the order of events very clearly in this example, so it’s fine to use past simple + ‘then’ + past simple. The past perfect isn’t necessary.

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• Intermediate grammar exercise (B1 level): past simple and present perfect questions with ‘how long’
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Reported Speech Past to Past Perfect

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This is a worksheet on reported speech going from past to past perfect. It includes time and place changes.

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Reported speech - 1

Reported speech - 2

Reported speech - 3

Worksheets - handouts

Reported speech

Worksheets - pdf exercises.

• Reported statements - worksheet
• Worksheet - reported questions
• Reported yes/no questions
• Worksheet - reported speech
• Reported speech - exercises pdf
• Indirect speech - exercises
• Reported speech - exercises
• Mixed reported speech 1
• Mixed reported speech 2
• Reported speech 1 
• Reported speech 2  
• Reported speech 3 
• Reported speech 4
• Reported speech 5
• Reported wh- questions
• Reported speech - worksheet 
• Reported commands
• Reported questions
• Reported speech 1
• Reported speech 2
• Reported requests and orders
• Reported speech exercise
• Reported questions - worksheet
• Indirect speech - worksheet
• Worksheets pdf - print
• Grammar worksheets - handouts

Grammar - lessons

• Reported speech - grammar notes
• How to use reported speech - lesson
• Tense changes - grammar

https://first-english.org

Reported speech - indirect speech

• English year 1
• English year 2
• English year 3
• English year 4
• You are learning...
• Reported Speech
• 01 Reported Speech rules
• 02 Pronouns change
• 03 Pronouns change
• 04 Change place and time
• 05 Simple Present
• 06 Introduction Simple Pres.
• 07 Backshift
• 08 Backshift Tenses
• 09 Simple Past negative
• 10 Simple Past negative
• 11 Questions
• 12 Questions
• 13 Past - Past Perfect
• 14 Past - Past Perfect
• 15 Past Perfect negative
• 16 Past Perfect negative
• 17 with-out question word
• 18 with-out question word
• 19 Perfect Past Perfect
• 20 Perfect - Past Perfect
• 21 Perfect - Past Perfect
• 22 Perfect - Past Perfect
• 23 Questions without qw.
• 24 Questions with qw.
• 25 will - would
• 26 Will-Future
• 27 Will-Future negative
• 28 Will-Future negatives
• 29 Will-Future Questions
• 30 Will-Future will - would
• 31 Commands
• 32 Commands Reported
• 33 Commands negative
• 34 Commands negative
• 35 Mixed exercises
• 37 Questions all tenses
• 38 Questions all tenses
• 39 Commands all tenses
• 40 Commands all tenses
• 41 all forms all tenses
• 42 all forms all tenses
• 43 Change place and time
• 44 Change place and time
• 45 Test Reported Speech
• English Tenses
• Simple Present Tense
• Simple past Tense
• Present perfect
• Past Perfect
• Simple Future
• Future Perfect
• Going-to-Future
• Continuous Tenses
• Present Continuous
• Past Continuous
• Present perfect Progr.
• Past Perfect Continuous
• Simple Future Continuous
• Future 2 Continuous
• Comparison of Tenses
• Passive exercises
• If clauses - Conditional

Reported speech present p. - past p.

Change of tenses.

The tenses , word-order, pronouns may be different from those in the direct speech sentence. The Past Perfect Tense does not change in the Reported Speech.

English Reported speech exercises

Reported speech - indirect speech with free online exercises, Reported speech - indirect speech examples and sentences. Online exercises Reported speech - indirect speech, questions and negative sentences.

Online exercises English grammar and courses Free tutorial Reported speech - indirect speech with exercises. English grammar easy to learn.