Convert the following sentence from Direct Speech to Indirect Speech:
He said, "I have worked so hard for this."
Choose the correct options:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → He said that he had worked very hard for that.
Statement: direct to indirect speech:
| Change | Direct | Indirect | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting verb | said, “ | said that | “Said” is kept, and the conjunction “that” joins the reported words. |
| Pronoun change | I | he | “I” becomes “he”. |
| Tense change | have worked | had worked | After a past reporting verb, the present perfect becomes the past perfect: “have worked” becomes “had worked”. |
| Words of nearness (time and place) | this | that | “This” becomes “that”. |
| Emphatic word | so | very | The emphatic “so” of speech is usually reported as “very”. |
| Full sentence | He said, “I have worked so hard for this.” | He said that he had worked very hard for that. |
Example: She said, “I have finished this book.” → She said that she had finished that book.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: He said that he has worked so hard for. — Incorrect. The tense is not changed ("has worked" should be "had worked"), and the sentence ends without an object after "for".
Option 3: He said that he was going to work so hard for that. — Incorrect. "was going to work" speaks of a future plan. The original is about work already done.
Option 4: He said that he had worked very hard for this. — Incorrect. The tense is right, but "this" should change to "that".