Select the most appropriate indirect form of the given sentence.
Sushma said to Mohit, “You have always been the cleverest in the family.”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The most appropriate indirect form of the given sentence is:
Sushma told Mohit that he had always been the cleverest in the family.
The other answer choices are incorrect for the following reasons:
- Sushma asked Mohit whether he had always been the cleverest in the family. - This is incorrect because the original sentence is a statement, not a question.
- Sushma complimented Mohit and said that you are the cleverest in the family. - This is incorrect because the reporting verb "complimented" suggests that Sushma was praising Mohit, but the original sentence is a simple statement of fact.
- Sushma said to Mohit that you have always been the cleverest in the family. - This is incorrect because the pronoun "you" in the reported speech refers to the speaker, which is Sushma.