Choose the option that is the most appropriate conversion of the following sentence into Direct Speech.
He told her that the documents had already been signed before she had called.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The original sentence is 'He told her that the documents had already been signed before she had called.'
Reporting Verb: The reporting verb 'told' in the indirect speech is converted to 'said to' when converting to direct speech to indicate who was spoken to.
Verb Tense: The past perfect tense 'had been signed' remains 'had been signed' in the direct speech because past perfect tense does not change when converting from indirect to direct speech.
Time Clause: The past perfect tense 'had called' in the indirect clause becomes simple past 'called' in the direct speech to correctly reflect the past action.
Pronouns: The pronoun 'she' changes to 'you' to address the person directly.
Final Sentence: Following these rules, the correct direct speech is 'He said to her, 'The documents had already been signed before you called.''