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 would call me later.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Correct Answer
She said, 'I will call you later.'
Explanation
To convert the indirect statement into direct speech, the conjunction 'that' is removed, and quotation marks are introduced. The modal verb 'would' shifts back to its future form 'will' to reflect the speaker's original words. Pronouns are also adjusted accordingly: the subject 'she' reverts to the first-person pronoun 'I,' and the object 'me' reverts to 'you' to properly address the listener in the first person.
Key Points
Core Definition Direct speech quotes the exact words spoken by a person, using quotation marks and reversing the tense and pronoun shifts applied in indirect speech.
Grammatical Role Direct transformation of a past modal indirect clause requires restoring the standard first-person pronouns and the simple future tense auxiliary verb.