Select the option that expresses the given sentence in Direct Speech.
They said that they were supposed to arrive earlier.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct direct speech for the sentence 'They said that they were supposed to arrive earlier' is:
They said, 'We are supposed to arrive earlier.
Indirect Speech to Direct Speech Conversion Rule:
Tense Change: In indirect speech, the present tense 'are' changes to the past tense 'were' when the reporting verb ('said') is in the past. To reverse this back to direct speech, 'were' becomes 'are'.
Pronoun Change: The pronoun 'they' in the reported clause refers to the speakers, so it changes back to 'we' in direct speech.
Structure: The phrase 'supposed to' remains the same; only the auxiliary verb and pronoun are adjusted to reflect the original statement.