Choose the option that correctly transforms the given sentence from direct speech to indirect speech:
The Kathvachak said to the crowd, "The sun rises every day for all of us without any expectations in return and we must cultivate the same feeling in ourselves."
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → The Kathvachak told the crowd that the sun rises every day for all of them without any expectations in return and that they must cultivate the same feeling in themselves.
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| The Kathvachak said to the crowd, "The sun rises every day for all of us without any expectations in return and we must cultivate the same feeling in ourselves." | The Kathvachak told the crowd that the sun rises every day for all of them without any expectations in return and that they must cultivate the same feeling in themselves. |
Statement in indirect speech:
- Reporting verb: "said to" becomes told (tell takes its object directly, without "to"); the statement is joined with that, and that is repeated before the second clause joined by "and".
- Deciding clue: "The sun rises every day" is a universal truth.
- Tense change: none. A universal truth keeps the present tense; "must" also stays.
- Other standard changes (when the reported words are not a universal truth): is/am → was, are → were, do/does → did, has/have → had, will → would, can → could, may → might.
- Pronoun changes: the first-person pronouns of the speaker and the crowd become third person: "us" → them, "we" → they, "ourselves" → themselves.
- Words of nearness (time and place): none in this sentence; "every day" stays.
Example: The teacher said, "Water boils at 100 °C." → The teacher said that water boils at 100 °C.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: The Kathvachak told the crowd that the sun rises everyday for all of us without any expectations in return and we must cultivate the same feeling in ourselves. — Incorrect.
- The pronouns "us", "we" and "ourselves" are not changed.
- "everyday" (one word) is an adjective (everyday life); the adverb phrase is "every day".
Option 2: The Kathvachak told to the crowd that the sun rises everyday for all of them without any expectations in return and that we must cultivate the same feeling in ourselves. — Incorrect.
- "told to the crowd" is wrong; tell takes its object without "to".
- "we" and "ourselves" are not changed, and "everyday" should be "every day".
Option 3: The Kathvachak told the crowd that the sun rises every day for all of them without any expectations in return and that we must cultivate the same feeling in themselves. — Incorrect. "we" is left unchanged while "themselves" is changed, so "we ... themselves" do not agree; it should be "they ... themselves".