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English Grammar - Narration: 138 MCQs with Answers

Narration - English Grammar
English Grammar - Narration

English Grammar- Narration

Learn Narration (Direct and Indirect Speech) in English Grammar with complete explanations, reporting verbs, tense changes, pronoun changes, time and place expressions, punctuation rules, sentence transformation, examples, exercises, and multiple-choice questions (MCQs). This comprehensive guide is ideal for school students and candidates preparing for HTET, CTET, TET, SSC, Banking, UPSC, NDA, CDS, and other competitive examinations.

49 min read 138 Questions

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Q41. A sentence is provided in direct speech. Choose the option that most accurately conveys it in indirect speech: He said, "I am not feeling well."

Right Answer: He said that he was not feeling well.

Explanation:

When the reporting verb is in the past tense, as in 'He said', the tense of the reported speech must be moved one step back. The present continuous 'am not feeling' therefore changes to the past continuous 'was not feeling'. The first person pronoun 'I' also changes to the third person 'he', since the speaker is being reported by someone else. Option two applies both rules correctly. Option one keeps the present tense, option three uses the ungrammatical form 'didn't felt', and option four omits the verb altogether. Hence option two is correct.
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Q42. A sentence is provided in indirect speech. Choose the option that most accurately conveys it in direct speech: The manager told the staff that deadlines must be followed strictly.

Right Answer: "Deadlines must be followed strictly," said the manager.

Explanation:

While converting indirect speech into direct speech, the exact words of the speaker must be reproduced within quotation marks, and the modal verb and voice of the original statement should be preserved. The reported clause here is 'deadlines must be followed strictly', which uses the modal 'must' in the passive voice. Option one keeps this wording unchanged, so it conveys the message most accurately. Option two replaces 'must' with the weaker 'should' and changes the voice, option three turns the statement into an imperative command, and option four drops the modal completely. Hence option one is correct.
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Q43. A sentence is provided in direct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding indirect speech: She said, "He doesn't listen to me."

Right Answer: She said that he didn't listen to her.

Explanation:

Converting direct speech to indirect requires the conjunction 'that', a pronoun shift and a back-shift of tense. Since the reporting verb 'said' is in the past, the present simple 'doesn't listen' must move back to the past simple 'didn't listen'. The pronoun 'me' becomes 'her' because the speaker is now referred to in the third person. Option three applies all three changes correctly. Option one keeps the non-standard 'don't'. Options two and four wrongly add '-ed' to 'listen' after an auxiliary that already carries the tense. Hence option three is correct.
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Q44. A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech.

A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech:

The manager informed the employees that the deadline for submission had been extended by two days.

Right Answer: "The deadline has been extended by two days," said the manager.

Explanation:

This task reverses the usual conversion, moving from reported speech back to the speaker's actual words. The reported clause says the deadline for submission 'had been extended by two days'. In direct speech the past perfect back-shift is undone, giving the present perfect 'has been extended', and the words are placed inside quotation marks with a suitable reporting clause. Option two does precisely this and keeps the passive structure of the original intact. The other options paraphrase the message, recasting it as permission, an ongoing action or an obligation. Hence option two is correct.
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Q45. A sentence is provided in direct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding indirect speech. Ravi said, "I like this pen."

Right Answer: Ravi said he liked that pen.

Explanation:

When converting direct speech into indirect speech, the reporting verb 'said' (without an object) requires the tense of the reported clause to shift backward: present simple 'like' becomes past simple 'liked'. Additionally, the demonstrative pronoun 'this' typically changes to 'that' in reported speech, since the reference point shifts away from the immediate moment of speaking. Option 2 has a grammatically incorrect verb form 'like' instead of 'liked'. Option 3 incorrectly retains 'this' instead of changing it to 'that'. Option 4 fails to shift the tense backward at all. Only option 1 correctly applies both the tense shift and the pronoun change. Therefore, the correct answer is option 1.
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Q46. A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech. The judge said that justice must be served at any cost.

Right Answer: "Justice must be served at any cost," the judge said.

Explanation:

The modal verb 'must' when used to express obligation, necessity, or a strong rule generally remains unchanged when converting indirect speech back into direct speech, unlike 'can' or 'may' which typically shift. The indirect sentence uses 'must be served', so the direct speech version should also retain 'must be served at any cost' exactly, enclosed in quotation marks. Option 1 incorrectly changes 'must' to 'should', altering the degree of obligation. Options 3 and 4 completely change the sentence structure and wording, deviating from the original meaning and phrasing. Only option 2 preserves the exact wording 'Justice must be served at any cost' within quotation marks. Therefore, the correct answer is option 2.
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Q47. A sentence is given in direct speech. Choose the option that most accurately conveys it in indirect speech: He said, "How long have you been waiting?"

Right Answer: He asked how long I had been waiting.

Explanation:

When converting direct speech into indirect (reported) speech, three changes are required here. First, since the reporting verb 'said' introduces a question, it must change to 'asked'. Second, the interrogative word order inverts back to normal statement order: 'how long I had been waiting', not 'how long had I been waiting'. Third, the present perfect continuous tense 'have been waiting' shifts one step back into the past perfect continuous 'had been waiting', following the standard backshift rule since the reporting verb is in the past tense. Only the option that applies all three changes together is grammatically correct indirect speech.
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Q48. A sentence is given in indirect speech. Choose the option that most accurately conveys it in direct speech: The coach said that the players were improving with each match.

Right Answer: "The players were improving with each match," the coach said.

Explanation:

To convert reported (indirect) speech back into direct speech, the reporting verb 'said' remains unchanged since the original statement was a simple assertion, not a question. Here, the past continuous tense 'were improving' used in the indirect version is retained in the direct quotation as well, since the coach's observation described an action ongoing across matches at the time referenced, rather than only the present moment of speaking. The subject stays 'the players', correctly enclosed in quotation marks. The other options wrongly alter the reporting verb, distort the wording, or shift the tense incorrectly.
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Q49. Identify the sentence written in direct speech.

Right Answer: She said, "I am tired."

Explanation:

Direct speech reports the exact words spoken, enclosed in quotation marks: "I am tired."

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Q50. Choose the correctly punctuated direct speech sentence.

Right Answer: He said, "I will come tomorrow."

Explanation:

Direct speech requires the exact words in quotation marks, with a comma before the quote and correct punctuation inside.

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Published: 16 July 2026 | Last Updated: 08 September 2026 |

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Deepak - Educational Content Creator

Written by Deepak

Educational Content Creator

I am an educational content creator dedicated to making learning simple, engaging, and accessible for students preparing for competitive exams. He specializes in creating high-quality study materials, including notes, multiple-choice questions (MCQs), previous year question papers, practice tests, and exam-oriented resources.

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