Converting Direct Speech to Indirect Speech

This question asks us to convert a sentence from direct speech into its indirect form. Direct speech uses the exact words of the speaker, while indirect speech reports what the speaker said without using their exact words.

The original sentence in direct speech is:

"His father said to him, "I cannot allow you to waste my hard-earned money."

To convert this into indirect speech, we need to follow several rules:

• Reporting Verb Change: "said to him" usually changes to "told him" in indirect speech when reporting a statement.
• Conjunction: For statements, we typically use the conjunction "that" to connect the reporting clause and the reported speech.
• Pronoun Changes: Pronouns in the reported speech change according to the subject and object of the reporting verb.
  • "I" (the speaker, which is the father) changes to "he".
  • "you" (the person being spoken to, which is the son) changes to "him".
  • "my" (referring to the father's possession) changes to "his".
• Tense Changes: If the reporting verb is in the past tense ("said"), the tense in the reported speech usually changes to its corresponding past tense.
  • "cannot" (present modal) changes to "could not" (past modal).

Applying these rules to the given sentence:

• "His father said to him," becomes "His father told him that"
• "I cannot allow you to waste my hard-earned money" becomes "he could not allow him to waste his hard-earned money."

Combining these parts, the indirect speech form is:

His father told him that he could not allow him to waste his hard-earned money.

Let's examine the given options based on these changes:

• Option 1: His father told him that he could not allow him to waste his hard-earned money. (Matches our conversion)
• Option 2: His father told him that he cannot allow you to waste his hard-earned money. (Incorrect tense "cannot" and pronoun "you")
• Option 3: His father told him that I cannot allow you to waste my hard-earned money (Incorrect pronouns "I", "you", "my" and tense "cannot")
• Option 4: His father told him that he could not allow you to waste his hard-earned money. (Incorrect pronoun "you")

Therefore, Option 1 is the correct indirect form of the given sentence.

Revision Table: Direct vs. Indirect Speech Changes

Additional Information on Reported Speech

Converting direct speech to indirect speech involves changes in tense, pronouns, and sometimes time/place references. These changes ensure that the reported sentence makes sense from the perspective of the reporter, not the original speaker.

• Questions: If the reported speech is a question, the reporting verb changes (e.g., "asked"), and "if" or "whether" is used for yes/no questions, while wh-words (what, why, where, etc.) are kept. The sentence structure changes to assertive (subject + verb).
• Commands/Requests: If the reported speech is a command or request, the reporting verb changes (e.g., "ordered," "requested," "advised"), and the infinitive form (to + verb) is used.
• Exclamations: Exclamations are usually reported using reporting verbs like "exclaimed," "shouted," etc., converting the exclamation into an assertive statement.
• No Tense Change: Tense does not change if the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, or if the reported speech talks about a universal truth or a habitual action.

Mastering these rules is essential for correctly converting sentences between direct and indirect speech in English grammar.