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.
She said that she was feeling better after rest.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Correct Answer
She said, "I am feeling better after rest."
Explanation
To convert a sentence from indirect speech back into direct speech, you must reverse the standard backshifting rules.
The third-person pronoun "she" inside the reported clause reverts to the first-person pronoun "I" to match the original speaker's perspective. The Past Continuous tense verb phrase "was feeling" shifts forward into the Present Continuous tense, becoming "am feeling." Finally, the subordinate conjunction "that" is removed and replaced with standard quotation marks and a comma to isolate the direct quote.
Key Points
Core Definition Direct speech conversion restores a reported statement back to the speaker's original words by reversing pronoun changes and advancing the grammatical tense.
Grammatical Role Correct application of the present continuous tense to restore a past continuous reported clause into its original spoken format.