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.
I said, 'Let us start early.'
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The correct answer is option 3 i.e. I suggested that we should start early.
Changes required:
- Reporting Verb: When a sentence starts with 'Let us' and expresses a proposal or suggestion, the reporting verb 'said' is changed to 'suggested' or 'proposed'.
- Conjunction: The inverted commas are removed, and the conjunction 'that' is used to introduce the reported speech.
- Pronoun: The phrase 'Let us' is replaced by 'we should' or 'they should'. Since the reporting subject is 'I', we use 'we should' to maintain the first-person perspective.
- Structure: The structure for suggestions in indirect speech follows: Subject + suggested + that + we/they + should + verb (1st form).
Converted sentence: I suggested that we should start early.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.