Reported Speech

Mike said that the train ... at

Birmingham for an hour which was why he was late.

• had stopped

• has stopped

• stopped

• was stopped

They told us that the theatre ... open

until 7.15 pm.

• won’t

• wouldn’t

• doesn't

You said that the book ... very good, but

I found it very boring.

• was

• has been

• had been

• is

We said that we ... our homework in

the library.

• are doing

• were doing

• will do

• would do

Becky told Ron that she ... busy because

she didn’t want to go to the cinema with him.

• was being

• is

• had been

• was

He .... with us that the play wasn’t very good.

• admitted

• agreed

• promised

The actor .... that he was retiring after his next film.

• agreed

• announced

• reminded

When the reporting verb (e.g. say, tell) is in the past, the tense of the verb in reported speech usually changes, going one tense 'back'.

• True

• False

When the reporting verb (e.g. say, tell) is in the present, the tense of the verb in reported speech usually changes, going one tense 'back'.

• True

• False

When the reporting verb (e.g. say, tell) is in the past but the statement is something which is still true, the tense of the verb in reported speech usually stays the same.

• True

• False