Choose the correct option to change the following sentence into Direct Speech.
The supervisor confirmed that the office memo was an original one.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → The supervisor said, "the office memo is an original one."
Statement: indirect to direct speech:
| Change | Indirect | Direct | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting verb | confirmed | said, “ | “Confirmed” becomes “said”, followed by a comma and quotation marks. |
| Linking word | that | – (dropped) | “That” is dropped. |
| Tense change | was | is | The past “was” goes back to the present “is”, the words the supervisor actually spoke. |
| Full sentence | The supervisor confirmed that the office memo was an original one. | The supervisor said, “the office memo is an original one.” |
Example: She said that she was busy. → She said, “I am busy.”
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: The supervisor said, "the office order was an original one." — Incorrect.
- It changes "memo" to "order".
- It keeps the past "was" inside the quotation.
Option 3: The supervisor said, "the office order has been an original one." — Incorrect.
- It changes "memo" to "order".
- "Has been" is the wrong tense. "Was" goes back to "is".
Option 4: The supervisor said, "the office order is an original one." — Incorrect. The tense is right, but "memo" has been changed to "order", which changes what was reported.