Choose the correct direct speech form of the following sentence.
Robinson said that he would be planting trees along the bank of the river.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Conversion from Indirect to Direct Speech:
Tense Change: In indirect speech, "would be planting" (Future Continuous in the past) indicates that the original direct speech was in the Future Continuous tense ("shall be planting" or "will be planting").
Pronoun Change: The third-person pronoun "he" in the indirect statement refers back to the speaker, Robinson. Therefore, it reverts to the first-person pronoun "I" in direct speech.
Modal Verb: When "I" is used as the subject, "shall" is the traditional modal for the future tense, which correctly shifts to "would" when reported in the past tense.
Punctuation: Direct speech requires a comma after the reporting verb ("said") and the spoken words enclosed in quotation marks with the first letter capitalized.
Direct speech: Robinson said, "I shall be planting trees along the bank of the river."