Genau
Topic test · B2

Indirekte Rede test

10questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
Start the test Read the topic first

One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

10 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

Der Präsident sagt, die Lage ernst.

The president says the situation is serious.

The Konjunktiv I form of sein for er/sie/es is sei.

Er behauptet, er den Fehler nicht gemacht.

He claims he didn’t make the mistake.

Reporting the past: habe + Partizip II (gemacht).

Sie meint, sie morgen in den Urlaub fahren.

She thinks she will go on holiday tomorrow.

The Konjunktiv I form of werden for er/sie/es is werde.

Er erzählte, dass er im Lotto gewonnen .

He told us he had won the lottery.

Because it is a dass-clause, the auxiliary goes to the end, and because it is a report, habe is used.

Die Zeitung schreibt, die Polizei den Dieb gefasst.

The newspaper writes that the police have caught the thief.

habe — in reported speech the verb moves to Konjunktiv I. Because die Polizei is singular, hat → habe: the newspaper passes the news on without vouching for it.

Sie sagen, sie kein Geld.

They say they have no money.

For plural sie, Konjunktiv I (haben) is identical to the Präsens, so Konjunktiv II (hätten) is used.

Er sagte, dass das Museum heute .

He said the museum was closed today.

geschlossen sei. In a dass-clause the conjugated verb goes to the very end; in written reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: … dass das Museum heute geschlossen sei.

Er versprach, er pünktlich kommen.

He promised he would come on time.

werde. In reported speech (Konjunktiv I), the future is formed with werden + infinitive. For er, the form is werde.

Build the sentence: The newspaper writes that he has resigned. (with dass)

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

dass-clause: er + Partizip II (zurückgetreten) + Konjunktiv I (sei).

When you report the past, you always use “habe” or “sei”; there are no exceptions.

False. When the forms clash (for example instead of “wir haben”), Konjunktiv II (hätten) is required. (The Konjunktiv I form of sein, “seien”, doesn’t clash with the normal conjugation, so the clash rule only applies to “haben”.)
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. sein -> sei, haben -> habe

    Memorise the most frequent Konjunktiv I forms.

    Er sagt, sie sei nett.

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Er sagt, dass er sei müde.

    Er sagt, dass er müde sei.

    When you use dass, the verb has to go to the very end.