A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech.
He said that he would join the meeting after lunch.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is option 1 i.e. “I will join the meeting after lunch,” he said.
Changes required:
Conjunction: In direct speech, the conjunction “that” used in indirect speech is removed, and quotation marks (“__”) are added around the speaker’s exact words.
Verb: The reporting verb “said” remains unchanged because no object follows it (there is no “said to”).
Tense: In indirect speech, “would join” is the past form of “will join.”
So, when converting back to direct speech, “would join” changes to “will join.”
Pronoun: The pronoun “he” in indirect speech changes back to “I” to reflect the speaker’s original words.
Others: No time expression change is needed here since “after lunch” remains the same in both direct and indirect forms.
Converted Sentence:“I will join the meeting after lunch,” he said.
Hence, the chosen option will be correct.