Choose the correct direct speech form of the following sentence.
He told that when they had reached the station, the train had already left.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The original indirect speech sentence is:
"He told that when they had reached the station, the train had already left."
The correct direct speech form is:
He said, "When we reached the station, the train had already left."
Explanation:
Tense Backshift: In indirect speech, the past simple ("reached") typically shifts to the past perfect ("had reached"). Therefore, when converting back to direct speech, "had reached" reverts to "reached."
Pronoun Change: The third-person plural pronoun "they" in indirect speech changes to the first-person plural "we" in direct speech to reflect the speaker's original perspective.
Static Past Perfect: The phrase "had already left" remains in the past perfect in both forms because it describes an action that was already completed before another past action (reaching the station).