Choose the option that is the most appropriate conversion of the following sentence into Direct Speech.
The analyst remarked that the statistical data had evidently been misinterpreted, which might have skewed the report.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The original sentence in indirect speech is: "The analyst remarked that the statistical data had evidently been misinterpreted, which might have skewed the report."
To convert this to direct speech, we need to consider the rules of tense and modal verb changes:
The reporting verb "remarked" (past tense) indicates the reported clause needs to be shifted back to its original tense.
"had been misinterpreted" (past perfect passive) in reported speech was originally "has been misinterpreted" (present perfect passive) in direct speech.
"might have skewed" (past modal) was originally "may have skewed" (present modal) in direct speech.
Option (C) correctly applies these changes.