Question

Convert the sentence into DIRECT SPEECH: They told us they were going to the theatre.

• A. They said, “we are going to the theatre”
• B. They said, “they are going to the theatre”
• C. They said, “we went to the theatre”
• D. They said, “we were going to the theatre”

Hint:

In direct speech conversion, change reported pronouns back to original speakers and restore the original tense.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

The question requires converting an indirect speech sentence to direct speech. The sentence given in indirect speech is: "They told us they were going to the theatre." In direct speech, this can involve several steps:

1. Identify the Reporting Verb and the Reported Speech: - The reporting verb in the sentence is "told." - The reported speech is "they were going to the theatre."
2. Convert the Reported Speech: - In direct speech, the reporting verb "told" can change to "said" because we do not need to specify "us." - The pronoun "they" changes to "we" assuming that "they" is the group reporting. - The past continuous tense "were going" is converted back to the present continuous tense "are going."
3. Structure the Direct Speech: - The sentence becomes: They said, “we are going to the theatre."
4. Conclusion: - Among the options provided, the correct conversion is: They said, “we are going to the theatre."

This process ensures that the tense and pronouns align correctly when converting indirect to direct speech. The correct answer is selected based on maintaining the timeframe of the original event in the report.