Convert the following sentence from Indirect Speech to Direct Speech:
She said that the amount of work was unreasonable.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) - She said, "The amount of work is unreasonable."
When converting from Indirect Speech to Direct Speech, the verb tense and pronouns are adjusted to match the original speaker's perspective.
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Indirect Speech: "She said that the amount of work was unreasonable."
- The verb "was" is in the past tense because it reflects reported speech.
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Direct Speech: To restore the original words, the verb should revert to its present tense, "is," because the statement likely reflects a current truth when spoken.
OTHER OPTIINS
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"She said, 'That is an unreasonable amount of work.'"
- Incorrect because "that" changes the structure unnecessarily.
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"She said, 'This is too much work!'"
- Incorrect because "this is too much work" paraphrases the statement rather than being a direct conversion.
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"She said, 'The amount of work was unreasonable.'"
- Incorrect because "was" remains in the past tense, which is not typical when converting to direct speech unless explicitly required by context.