Choose the correct direct sentence of the following sentence.
He said that they had not been given any clear instructions.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
When converting indirect speech back to direct speech, we look at the tense of the reported clause.
Identify the Tense: The indirect sentence uses "had not been given," which is the Past Perfect Passive.
Tense Rule: In English grammar, when a sentence is in the Past Perfect, it does not change its tense when moving between direct and indirect speech because there is no "further back" tense to move to.
Therefore, "had not been given" in indirect speech maps directly back to "had not been given" in direct speech.
Formatting: We remove the conjunction "that," add a comma after the reporting verb, and place the spoken words inside quotation marks.