Select the option that expresses the given sentence in direct voice.
The environmentalist said that although the governments had been discussing the issue for years, they had not yet implemented any effective measures, and he believed that time was running out.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
To convert an indirect speech sentence to direct speech, several changes are necessary, primarily in the tense of the verbs and the pronouns used.
The reporting verb 'said' indicates the original statement was in the past tense.
The original reported clause 'had been discussing' (past perfect continuous) reverts to 'have been discussing' (present perfect continuous) in direct speech.
The original reported clause 'had not yet implemented' (past perfect) reverts to 'have not yet implemented' (present perfect) in direct speech.
The pronoun 'he' changes to 'I' as the environmentalist is speaking in the first person.
The original reported clause 'believed' (past simple) reverts to 'believe' (present simple) in direct speech.
The original reported clause 'time was running out' (past continuous) reverts to 'time is running out' (present continuous) in direct speech.
Option B correctly applies all these tense and pronoun changes.