Reported Speech – English Grammar Exercises for B1

1 (B)

• Correct (B) wasn’t working: The direct speech (“My laptop isn’t working”) backshifts from Present Continuous to Past Continuous.
• Common Mistake (A) isn’t working: Forgetting to backshift the tense.
• Structural Error (C) wasn’t work: Requires the “-ing” form.
• Strong Distractor (D) hadn’t working: Grammatically invalid combination.

2 (C)

• Correct (C) had restarted: The direct speech (“I have restarted”) backshifts from Present Perfect to Past Perfect.
• Common Mistake (D) restarted: The reporter used Past Simple instead of Past Perfect, losing the emphasis that the action happened before the call.
• Structural Error (B) was restarting: Changes the meaning to an interrupted action.
• Strong Distractor (A) has restarted: Failed to backshift the auxiliary verb “has”.

3 (B)

• Correct (B) went: Present Simple (“goes”) backshifts to Past Simple (“went”).
• Common Mistake (A) goes: Failing to apply the backshift rule.
• Structural Error (D) go: Incorrect subject-verb agreement for the third person singular.
• Strong Distractor (C) has gone: Present perfect does not follow the backshifting rule from present simple.

4 (A)

• Correct (A) she had installed: To report a Wh- question, use the Wh- word + Statement Word Order (Subject + Verb) + Backshifted Tense (Past Simple -> Past Perfect).
• Common Mistake (B) did she install: Keeping the original question word order and auxiliary “did”.
• Structural Error (D) she had install: Requires the past participle (“installed”).
• Strong Distractor (C) has she installed: Wrong word order and wrong tense.

5 (C)

• Correct (C) lasted: Present Simple (“lasts”) backshifts to Past Simple (“lasted”).
• Common Mistake (A) lasts: Forgetting to backshift the verb.
• Structural Error (B) was lasted: “Last” is an intransitive verb here; it cannot be passive.
• Strong Distractor (D) had last: Requires the past participle “lasted” to be grammatically correct as past perfect.

6 (A)

• Correct (A) had crashed: The time marker “the day before” indicates the direct speech was in the Past Simple (“crashed yesterday”). This must backshift to the Past Perfect (“had crashed”).
• Common Mistake (B) crashed: Failing to backshift from Past Simple to Past Perfect.
• Structural Error (C) did it crash: Question word order cannot be used in a reported statement.
• Strong Distractor (D) has crashed: Present Perfect is incorrect when reporting an action that was already in the past during the conversation.

7 (D)

• Correct (D) hadn’t had: The Past Simple (“I didn’t have”) backshifts to the Past Perfect (“she hadn’t had”).
• Common Mistake (B) didn’t have: Forgetting to backshift.
• Structural Error (A) didn’t had: “Didn’t” must be followed by a base verb (“have”).
• Strong Distractor (C) hasn’t had: Present perfect does not follow the backshift rule.

8 (B)

• Correct (B) we could: To report a Yes/No question (“Can you send…?”), use “if” + Statement Word Order + Backshifted Modal (“can” -> “could”).
• Common Mistake (A) could we: Kept the question word order (verb before subject).
• Structural Error (D) that we could: You cannot use “that” to report a question; you must use “if” or “whether”.
• Strong Distractor (C) can we: Question word order and no backshift.

9 (D)

• Correct (D) had been: Present Perfect (“has been”) backshifts to Past Perfect (“had been”).
• Common Mistake (B) has been: Failing to backshift the tense.
• Structural Error (A) is: Fails to backshift and doesn’t match the “since” clause.
• Strong Distractor (C) was being: “Be” is a stative verb; “was being” sounds unnatural here compared to the perfect tense needed for “since”.

10 (A)

• Correct (A) hadn’t spilled: Past Simple (“I didn’t spill”) backshifts to Past Perfect (“she hadn’t spilled”).
• Common Mistake (B) didn’t spill: Forgetting to backshift from past simple.
• Structural Error (D) hadn’t spill: Requires the past participle (“spilled”).
• Strong Distractor (C) wasn’t spilling: Past Continuous changes the meaning from a completed action to an ongoing one.

11 (D)

• Correct (D) was appearing: Present Continuous (“is appearing”) backshifts to Past Continuous (“was appearing”). Statement word order is required.
• Common Mistake (A) is appearing: Failing to backshift.
• Structural Error (B) does appear: Uses auxiliary “does” which belongs to direct questions, not reported statements.
• Strong Distractor (C) appearing: Missing the “to be” verb (“was”).

12 (B)

• Correct (B) would leave / that day: The modal “will” shifts to “would”, and the time word “today” shifts to “that day”.
• Common Mistake (A) will leave / today: Forgetting to shift both the verb and the time word.
• Structural Error (C) would leave / today: Half-shifted; forgot to change “today”.
• Strong Distractor (D) will leave / that day: Half-shifted; forgot to change “will”.

13 (C)

• Correct (C) it would take: Question reporting needs statement word order (“it would”) and a tense backshift (“will” -> “would”).
• Common Mistake (A) will it take: Kept the question word order and forgot to backshift.
• Structural Error (D) it will take: Statement word order is correct, but failed to backshift “will”.
• Strong Distractor (B) would it take: Backshifted correctly, but kept the wrong question word order.

14 (B)

• Correct (B) had read: The Past Simple (“I read”) backshifts to the Past Perfect (“he had read”).
• Common Mistake (C) read: Failing to backshift.
• Structural Error (D) had reading: Grammar requires the past participle (“read”), not a gerund.
• Strong Distractor (A) has read: Present perfect does not follow the proper backshift rule here.

15 (B)

• Correct (B) to me: The reporting verb “complain” must be followed by “to” before an object pronoun.
• Common Mistake (A) me: You cannot say “complain someone”. Unlike “tell me”, it must be “complain TO me”.
• Structural Error (D) that to me: Wrong word order. It should be “complained to me that…”.
• Strong Distractor (C) at me: We complain “to” a person “about” a thing.

16 (A)

• Correct (A) not to turn on: To report negative advice or commands, use: advised + object + not to + base verb.
• Common Mistake (B) to not turn on: While sometimes used informally, standard B1 grammar rules prefer “not to turn on”.
• Structural Error (C) don’t turn on: Keeping the direct negative imperative inside a reported sentence.
• Strong Distractor (D) didn’t turn on: Commands require the infinitive structure, not a past tense clause.

17 (D)

• Correct (D) to call: “Request” follows the pattern: request + object + to + base verb.
• Common Mistake (A) call: Missing the “to” infinitive.
• Structural Error (B) calling: “Request” is not followed by a gerund when an object is present.
• Strong Distractor (C) called: Incorrect tense for an instruction/request.

18 (C)

• Correct (C) who was: The direct question (“Who is responsible?”) backshifts “is” to “was”. When “who” is the subject, the word order remains the same.
• Common Mistake (A) who is: Failing to backshift the verb.
• Structural Error (B) is who: Completely reversed word order.
• Strong Distractor (D) that who was: You cannot use “that” to report a question.

19 (D)

• Correct (D) had disappeared: Past Simple (“disappeared”) backshifts to Past Perfect (“had disappeared”).
• Common Mistake (B) disappeared: Failing to backshift.
• Structural Error (C) had disappear: Requires the past participle (“disappeared”).
• Strong Distractor (A) have disappeared: Present Perfect is incorrect here.

20 (B)

• Correct (B) would never: The future intention “will never buy” backshifts to “would never buy”.
• Common Mistake (A) will never: Failing to backshift the modal “will”.
• Structural Error (C) won’t never: Double negative, which is grammatically incorrect.
• Strong Distractor (D) would never to: Modals (“would”) must be followed by a bare infinitive, not “to”.

When working in a professional environment (such as Customer Service or Sales) and needing to report an incident, Reported Speech is a highly effective tool. It helps you filter out the customer’s emotions (such as anger or yelling) and retain only the core information (facts) from an objective perspective.

1 Backshifting (Stepping Back in Time):

Because the customer’s complaint happened in the past, all events must be shifted one tense back:

• Present Simple → Past Simple: “It crashes” → He complained it crashed.
• Past Simple → Past Perfect: “I restarted it” → She said she had restarted it.
• Future (Will) → Would: “I will leave a bad review” → He warned he would leave a bad review.

2 Reporting Complaints & Requests:

Instead of just using “said”, we often use stronger reporting verbs in professional settings to accurately summarize the customer’s attitude:

• Complain to someone that…: He complained to me that the wifi was slow. (Note: Always use “to” before the object).
• Warn someone that…: She warned us that she would leave.

To report imperatives or requests, use the To-Infinitive structure:

• Advise/Request/Ask + Object + to + Verb (Asking someone to do something): She requested us to call her back.
• Advise/Request/Ask + Object + not to + Verb (Asking someone NOT to do something): I advised him not to turn it on.

3 Reported Questions:

When reporting a question the customer asked, it is no longer a question. It becomes an affirmative statement. You must use Subject + Verb word order and apply the backshifting rule. Never keep the question word order (Verb + Subject).

• Incorrect: He asked why did it crash.
• Correct: He asked why it had crashed.