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Question

Difficulty: EasyDirect and Indirect (Reported) Speech

Which of the following options represents the correct reported speech form of the sentence: "I am travelling to Abuja today," said Chidi?

  1. Chidi said that he was travelling to Abuja that day.Answer
  2. B
    Chidi said that he is travelling to Abuja today.
  3. C
    Chidi said that he was travelling to Abuja today.
  4. D
    Chidi said that I was travelling to Abuja that day.

Answer

Chidi said that he was travelling to Abuja that day.
The sentence 'Chidi said that he was travelling to Abuja that day' accurately applies all necessary reported speech transformations: pronoun change ('I' to 'he'), tense backshift ('am travelling' to 'was travelling'), and time word conversion ('today' to 'that day').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the reporting verb and direct quote elements.
Reporting verb is past tense ('said'). Direct speech contains pronoun 'I', present continuous verb 'am travelling', and time expression 'today'.
A past reporting verb requires changes to pronouns, tense backshifting, and adverbial adjustments.
2
Apply standard indirect speech transformation rules.
'I' becomes 'he', 'am travelling' backshifts to 'was travelling', and 'today' changes to 'that day'.
Grammatical rules of reported speech dictate shifting perspective, backshifting tense when reporting in the past, and modifying time expressions relative to the point of reporting.

Key Concept

Backshifting and adverbial adjustments in reported speech
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Topics

Direct and Indirect (Reported) Speech

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