What would be the indirect speech form of the sentence: "She said, 'I ...
In indirect speech, the future perfect tense "will have completed" changes to "would have completed." Therefore, the correct transformation is "She said that she would have completed the task by evening."
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What would be the indirect speech form of the sentence: "She said, 'I ...
Understanding Indirect Speech
Indirect speech, also known as reported speech, involves conveying what someone has said without quoting their exact words. When converting direct speech to indirect speech, certain changes in tense, pronouns, and time expressions are made.
Analyzing the Original Sentence
The direct speech sentence is:
"She said, 'I will have completed the task by evening.'"
Here, the speaker expresses a future perfect action ("will have completed") that will be finished by a specific time ("by evening").
Applying Rules of Indirect Speech
When converting to indirect speech, the following changes apply:
- Tense Shift: Future perfect tense ("will have completed") typically shifts to conditional perfect ("would have completed").
- Pronoun Change: The pronoun "I" changes to "she" as it's being reported by another person.
- Time Expression: "By evening" remains unchanged since it indicates the same time frame.
Choosing the Correct Option
Let's evaluate the options provided:
- a) She said that she would complete the task by evening. (Incorrect - tense change is wrong)
- b) She said that she will have completed the task by evening. (Incorrect - tense not changed)
- c) She said that she would have completed the task by evening. (Correct - properly shifts tense and pronouns)
- d) She said that she will complete the task by evening. (Incorrect - does not reflect the future perfect tense)
Conclusion
The correct answer is option c: "She said that she would have completed the task by evening." This correctly conveys the original meaning while adhering to the rules of indirect speech.