Identify the correct Indirect Speech form of the sentence given below:
Rohan says, "I shall visit the Red Fort"
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Rohan says that he will visit the Red Fort.
Indirect speech with a present reporting verb:
Reporting verb: says is in the present tense, so the tense of the reported words does not change.
| Change | Direct | Indirect | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tense kept | shall | will | The tense does not change. “Shall” with the first person becomes “will” with the third person (“he will”). It is not moved to the past. |
| Pronoun change | I | he | “I” becomes “he”, for Rohan. |
| Full sentence | Rohan says, “I shall visit the Red Fort” | Rohan says that he will visit the Red Fort. |
Example: Meena says, “I shall help you.” → Meena says that she will help me.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Rohan said that he will be visiting the Red Fort. — Incorrect.
- The reporting verb "says" is wrongly changed to "said".
- "Will be visiting" changes the simple future to the future continuous.
Option 3: Rohan says that he will be visiting the Red Fort. — Incorrect. "Shall visit" should become "will visit". The future continuous changes the tense of the original.
Option 4: Rohan said that he shall visited the Red Fort. — Incorrect.
- "Says" is wrongly changed to "said".
- A modal is followed by the base form: "shall visited" is ungrammatical.