Select the option that expresses the given sentence in direct speech.

I said that I would go to the temple.

I said, “I will go to the temple”.

The most appropriate direct form of the given sentence is:

I said, “I will go to the temple”.

This is because the original sentence is in the simple future tense, which is the same tense as the direct speech. Additionally, the pronoun "I" in the direct speech refers to the speaker.

The other answer choices are incorrect for the following reasons:

• I said, “I can go to the temple”. - This is incorrect because the modal verb "can" is used to express possibility or permission, but the original sentence is a simple statement of what the speaker will do.
• I said, “I went to the temple”. - This is incorrect because the past tense verb "went" is used, but the original sentence is in the future tense.
• I said, “I go to the temple”. - This is incorrect because the present tense verb "go" is used, but the original sentence is in the future tense.