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Question

Difficulty: EasyDirect and Indirect (Reported) Speech

Which of the following options represents the correct indirect speech form of the sentence: "I will submit my project tomorrow," said Ngozi?

  1. Ngozi said that she would submit her project the following day.Answer
  2. B
    Ngozi said that she will submit her project tomorrow.
  3. C
    Ngozi said that she would submit her project tomorrow.
  4. D
    Ngozi said that she will submit her project the following day.

Answer

Ngozi said that she would submit her project the following day.
The correct indirect speech form accurately backshifts the modal verb 'will' to 'would', updates the first-person possessive pronoun 'my' to 'her', and shifts the temporal adverb 'tomorrow' to 'the following day'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the reporting verb tense
The reporting verb 'said' is in the past tense, requiring backshift of tenses and changes to pronouns and time expressions.
Past reporting verbs mandate shifting direct speech elements to their corresponding past or indirect forms.
2
Backshift the modal auxiliary verb
'will' becomes 'would'.
In indirect speech after a past reporting verb, future modal 'will' shifts to conditional/past modal 'would'.
3
Adjust the possessive pronoun and temporal adverb
'my' changes to 'her', and 'tomorrow' changes to 'the following day'.
Pronouns shift to align with the perspective of the reporter (Ngozi), and time references shift relative to the past point of reporting.

Key Concept

Tense Backshift and Adverbial Adjustments in Reported Speech
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Topics

Direct and Indirect (Reported) Speech

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