Select the option that expresses the given sentence in Direct Speech.
He said that he had gone to the doctor.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Correct Answer: He said, "I had gone to the doctor."
Explanation
• To convert an indirect statement into direct speech, remove the conjunction that and place the reported words inside quotation marks preceded by a comma.
• The third-person pronoun he refers back to the subject of the reporting verb, so it shifts to the first-person pronoun I.
• The Past Perfect tense (had gone) remains unchanged when shifting between direct and indirect speech.
Quick Tip: While simple past and present perfect change to past perfect in indirect speech, past perfect itself has no further backshift and stays in the past perfect form.