Understanding the principle of the sequence of tenses in direct and indirect speech must not be a great challenge!

However, the devil is in the details, exceptions and rules variations, not to mention indirect sentences with modal verbs and the usage of adverbs of time and place, which in turn must be changed in a special way.

Correct Answers

Question 1

Select correct answer.

Chris said: "I was eating at a restaurant when the waiter spilled hot soup on me."

Chris said that he _________________________ at a restaurant when the waiter __________________________ hot soup on him.

The speaker wants to emphasize the specific time the two actions happen, so in the indirect speech, the two tenses do not change to report this specific time.

Question 2

Select correct answer.

Jake asked Anna: "Could you bring an umbrella to the football game as it might rain tomorrow?"

Jake asked Anna if she _________________________ bring an umbrella to the football game as it _________________________ rain the following day.

Jane asked Anna if she could bring an umbrella to the football game as it might rain the following day.

In the indirect speech, the modal verb could does not change.

Jane asked Anna if she could bring an umbrella to the football game as it might rain the following day.

In the indirect speech, the modal verb might does not change.

Question 3

Select correct answer.

Katy told me: "If I were Taylor Swift, I would hold a concert on the moon."

Katy told me that if she _________________________ Taylor Swift, she __________________________ a concert on the moon.

Had been is correct for the first clause because in indirect speech, the past simple is changed into past perfect. Would have hold is correct for the second clause because in indirect speech with a conditional sentence type 2, we use would + have + past participle verb.

Question 4

Select correct answer.

The reporter said: "The athlete had been running for 2 hours before he passed out."

The reporter said that the athlete ___________________________ for 2 hours before he _________________________ out.

In an indirect speech sentence, the past perfect progressive tense does not change. The action pass out is completed, so it does not change into past perfect but remains the past simple.

Question 5

Select correct answer.

My grandfather said: "I got married in 1990 and had children in 1991."

My grandfather said that he got married in 1990 and had children in 1991.

My grandfather said that he got married in 1990 and had children in 1991.

The time 1990 is specific in the past, so the tense does not change.

My grandfather said that he got married in 1990 and had children in 1991.

The time 1991 is a specific time in the past, so the tense in does not change in the indirect speech sentence.

Question 6

Select correct answer.

The doctor told Sarah: "You must stop eating peanuts or you will have bad allergy."

The doctor told Sarah that she had to stop eating peanuts or she would have bad allergy.

The doctor told Sarah that she had to stop eating peanuts or she would have bad allergy.

In the indirect speech, the modal verb must should be changed into had to.

The doctor told Sarah that she had to stop eating peanuts or she would have bad allergy.

In the indirect speech, the modal verb will needs to be changed into would.

Question 7

Select correct answer.

At 9 a.m, Larry's secretary said: "I am so mad this morning! I cannot work in the company anymore!"

At 9 a.m, Larry's secretary said that she is so mad _________________________ morning, and she could not work in the company anymore.

In the first clause, this morning is still true at the moment of speaking at 9 am., so the present simple tense and this morning stays the same in the indirect speech sentence.

Question 8

Select correct answer.

The teacher said: "New Delhi is the capital of India nowadays and Calcutta was the India's capital before 1911."

The teacher said that New Delhi _________________________ the capital of India nowadays and Calcutta _________________________ India's capital before 1911.

The teacher said that New Delhi is the capital of India nowadays and Calcutta was India's capital before 1911.

New Delhi being the capital of India is a fact, so there is no need to change its tense.

The teacher said that New Delhi is the capital of India nowadays and Calcutta was India's capital before 1911.

India's capital city was Calcutta is a historical fact, so the past simple tense does not change in the indirect speech sentence.

Question 9

Select correct answer.

Sophie said: "I always do the laundry and my husband always waters the plants in the morning."

Sophie said that she always _________________________ aerobics and her husband always _________________________ the plants in the morning.

When talking about a routine in the present, the tense in the indirect speech sentence does not change.

Question 10

Select correct answer.

The weatherman said: "There will be a snowstorm in the next week."

The weatherman said that there _________________________ a snowstorm in the following week.

The weatherman said that there will be a snowstorm in the following week.

The fact that there is a snowstorm in the next week might still come true at the time of speaking, so the future simple tense in the direct sentence remains the same in the indirect sentence.

Question 11

Select correct answer.

Bill said: "After I had finished writing my first book, I sold the rights to the publisher a year later."

Bill said that after he ___________________________ writing his first book, he _________________________ the rights to the publisher a year later.

In this sentence, book writing and selling the rights to the publisher are completed actions, so the tenses of these actions remain the same in the indirect speech.

Question 12

The tour guide told Sam: "You may get lost in this forest, so you should ask me before going."

The tour guide told Sam that she might get lost in that forest, so she should ask him before going.

The tour guide told Sam that she may get lost in that forest, so she should ask him before going.

The tour guide told Sam that she might get lost in that forest, so she ought to ask him before going.

The tour guide told Sam that she may get lost in that forest, so she ought to ask him before going.

The modal verb may is changed into might and should does not change in an indirect sentence.
In the indirect speech sentence, the modal verb may should be changed into might.
In the indirect speech sentence, the modal verb should does not change.
In the indirect speech sentence, the modal verb may needs to be changed into might, and the modal verb should does not change.

Question 13

Change direct speech to reported in the following sentence.

Today, John told me: "I bought a lottery ticket yesterday and I will collect my prize tomorrow."

Today, John told me that he had bought a lottery ticket the day before and he would collect his prize the following day.

Today John told me that he bought a lottery ticket yesterday and he would collect his prize the following day.

Today, John told me that he had bought a lottery ticket yesterday and he would collect his prize the next day.

Today, John told me that he bought a lottery ticket yesterday and he would collect his prize tomorrow.

"Yesterday" is still "yesterday" at the moment of speaking, so the past tense and the "yesterday" stays the same in the indirect sentence. "Tomorrow" is also still "tomorrow" at the moment of speaking so it does not change.
"Tomorrow" is still "tomorrow" at the moment of speaking, so it stays the same in the indirect speech sentence.
"Tomorrow" is still "tomorrow" at the moment of speaking so it does not change.
"Yesterday" and "tomorrow" are still correct at the moment of speaking, so they do not change in indirect speech.

Question 14

Select correct answer.

The shopkeeper told me: "If you don't keep the receipt, I won't give you a refund."

The shopkeeper told me that if I _________________________ keep the receipt, he _________________________ give me a refund.

The shopkeeper told me that if I didn't keep the receipt, he wouldn't give me a refund.

In the indirect speech with the first type conditional sentence, the "If" clause is changed into past simple tense.

The shopkeeper told me that if I didn't keep the receipt, he wouldn't give me a refund.

In the indirect speech with the first type conditional sentence, "will" in the future simple is changed into "would".

Question 15

Select correct answer.

This morning John told Michelle: "I like you and I want to invite you to dinner tonight."

This morning John told Michelle that he likes her and he wanted to invite her to dinner tonight.

This morning John told Michelle that he likes her and he wanted to invite her to dinner tonight.

The fact that John likes Michelle is still true at the moment of speaking, so the present tense stays the same.

This morning John told Michelle that he likes her and he wanted to invite her to dinner tonight.

The fact that John wanted to invite Michelle to dinner already happened at the moment of John's speaking, so invite should be changed into past simple.

Question 16

My mother said to me: "Plants grow in soil, so you should put the tree in the garden."

Select correct answer in indirect speech.

My mother said to me that plants would grow in soil, so I should put the tree in the garden.

My mother said to me that plants grow in soil, so I ought to put the tree in the garden.

My mother told me that plants grow in soil so I should put the tree in the garden.

My mother told me that plants grew in soil, so I should put the tree in the garden.

The fact that plants grow in soil is always true, so the tense remains the same.
In the reported speech with the modal verb should, this word does not change.
Plants grow in soil is a general truth, so the tense does not change in the indirect speech.
The fact that plants grow in soil is always true, so the tense remains the same.

Question 17

Select correct answer.

Piper said: "I had graduated from university a year before I decided to become a singer in 2002."

Piper said that she had graduatedfrom university a year before she decided to become a singer in 2002.

Piper said that she had graduated from university a year before she decided to become a professional singer in 2002.

A year before 2002 is 2001 - a specific time in the past, so the tense does not change in the indirect speech sentence.

Piper said that she had graduated university a year before she decided to become a professional singer in 2002.

Piper's decision of becoming a singer happened in 2002 so it is a completed action. The past simple tense stays the same in the indirect sentence.

Question 18

Select correct answer.

Jake asked Anna: "Could you bring an umbrella to the football game as it might rain tomorrow?"

Jake asked Anna if she _________________________ bring an umbrella to the football game as it _________________________ rain the following day.

In the indirect speech sentence, the modal verb can is changed into could, so can't becomes couldn't. The modal verb ought to does not change.

Question 19

Leo said: "If I had known that the yogurt was expired, I wouldn't have eaten it."

Leo said if he had known that the yogurt was expired, he wouldn't eat it.

Leo said if he had known that the yogurt had been expired, he wouldn't have eaten it.

Leo said if he knew that the yogurt was expired, he wouldn't eat it.

In the indirect speech of conditional sentence type 3, the structure in the main clause should remain the same. The past simple part the yogurt was expired should be changed into past perfect.
The conditional sentence type 3 remains the same in the reported speech.
In the indirect speech of conditional sentences type 3, the past perfect tense in the If clause and the would + have + past participle structure remain the same.

Question 20

John said: "I wish I were taller so the girls would like me."

John wished he had been taller so the girls would like him.

John wished he was taller so the girls would like him.

John wished he had been taller so the girls will like him.

John wished he were taller so the girls would like him.

In an indirect speech sentence, the clause after wish does not change the tense.
In an indirect speech sentence, the clause after wish does not change its tense and form.
In an indirect speech sentence with wish, the clause after wish does not change the tense. The modal verb will needs to be changed into would in this 2 type conditional sentence.
The wish structures do not change in the indirect speech.

Verb tense

If you've ever frozen mid-sentence wondering whether to say I worked or I have worked, I had been doing or I was doing — you've felt the weight of English's tense system. Twelve forms, each with a specific job, and the wrong choice subtly misrepresents your meaning. Mastering tenses is the longest single project in English grammar, but it's also the one with the biggest payoff.

Verb tense signals when an action happens. English has three time references (past, present, future) combined with three aspects (simple, progressive, perfect), giving twelve standard forms. Each carries a specific meaning beyond just timing.

Indirect speech

If you've ever tried to retell what someone said and ended up with a verb-tense mess (She said she will come — wait, would come?), you've hit indirect speech. The rules look intricate but reduce to one move: when the reporting verb is past, shift everything in the reported clause one step into the past. Master that and reporting other people's words stops being a guessing game.

Indirect speech reports what someone said without quoting them: "I like apples" → He said that he liked apples. The core mechanism is backshift — tenses retreat one step into the past — plus pronoun and time-expression shifts.

B2 | Upper Intermediate

If a university admissions team or visa office has ever asked you for an English test score, B2 is probably the level they had in mind. It's the threshold where your English stops being a constraint and starts being a tool — and the line between B1 and B2 is often the line between "stuck in beginner classes" and "ready to study or work in English."

B2 is the upper-intermediate level in the CEFR framework, demanding flexible control of mixed conditionals, passive voice across tenses, reported speech with backshifting, and participle clauses.

Difficulty: Hard

If easy and medium questions are clicking but you still feel exposed in real conversation or formal writing, you've outgrown the basics. Hard material is where the gaps you didn't know you had show up: the distractor that "sounds right", the rule that interacts with another rule, the case where context changes the answer. It's where genuine fluency is built.

The Hard difficulty tag marks upper-intermediate to advanced challenges — typically B2 and above. Interacting rules, edge cases, plausible distractors, and contexts that require genuine understanding rather than surface pattern-matching.