A sentence is provided in direct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponsing indirect speech.
She said, 'I can solve this problem.'
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The correct answer is option 3 i.e. She said that she could solve that problem.
Changes required:
Conjunction: The inverted commas are removed and the conjunction “that” is inserted to introduce the reported speech.
Pronoun: The first-person pronoun “I” changes to the third-person pronoun “she” to match the subject of the reporting verb.
Verb: The modal verb “can” changes to its past form “could” because the reporting verb (said) is in the past tense.
Others: The demonstrative pronoun “this” changes to “that” to indicate distance in indirect speech.
Converted sentence: She said that she could solve that problem.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.