Choose the correct indirect speech form of the following sentence.
He said to Renuka, "We must do it now and go there as soon as possible."
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
Transformation from direct to indirect speech:
Converting direct speech to indirect speech involves several key changes:
Reporting Verb: When "said to" is followed by an object (Renuka), it changes to "told".
Pronoun Change: The first-person plural pronoun "We" changes to the third-person plural "they" to match the perspective of the reporter.
Modal Verb Change: The modal "must" typically changes to "had to" in indirect speech when it expresses a necessity or obligation in the past.
Time Adverb Change: The word "now" is a time-specific adverb that must be changed to "then" to reflect the shift in time from the original statement.
Remaining Sentence: The phrase "go there as soon as possible" remains the same as "there" does not need to change (unlike "here," which would change to "there").
Indirect speech: He told Renuka that they had to do it then and go there as soon as possible.