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Question

Difficulty: MediumDirect and Indirect (Reported) Speech

Fill in the blank to complete the indirect speech transformation accurately.

Answer:Direct statement: "I shall present the updated audit report tomorrow," the accountant promised.

Reported statement: The accountant promised that he 【would present】 the updated audit report the following day.

Answer

The blank must be filled with 'would present'.
When converting direct speech into indirect speech with a past reporting verb ('promised'), the first-person modal verb 'shall' expressing a future commitment shifts to 'would' to match the third-person pronoun ('he').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the original tense and modal auxiliary in the direct statement.
The direct statement uses 'shall present' to express future action with a first-person pronoun ('I').
Determining the modal verb and reporting verb tense is essential for correct tense backshifting.
2
Apply backshift rules for modal verbs when the reporting verb is in the past tense ('promised').
'Shall' expressing future intention backshifts to 'would' when changing the subject from 'I' to 'he'.
When changing from direct to reported speech with a past reporting verb, future modals ('shall' / 'will') shift to their past conditional counterparts ('would').

Key Concept

Modal Verb Backshifting in Reported Speech
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Direct and Indirect (Reported) Speech

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