Select the option that expresses the given sentence in indirect speech. The saint said to his followers, “Truth is rewarding.”
The saint told his followers that truth is rewarding.
Two rules decide this item, and each removes different options.
1. The reporting verb. When said to is followed by a that clause, it is replaced by told, which takes the listener as a direct object with no preposition. ‘Said to his followers that…’ is not standard.
2. Universal truth — no backshift. ‘Truth is rewarding’ is a general, timeless statement. A universal truth keeps its original tense even when the reporting verb is past, so is stays is.
Applying both gives ‘The saint told his followers that truth is rewarding.’
Checking the others:
‘Told his followers that truth has been rewarding’ — gets the reporting verb right but changes the tense to the present perfect, limiting a timeless statement to a period.
‘Said to his followers that truth had been rewarding’ — fails on both rules at once.
‘Said to his followers that truth was rewarding’ — also fails on both, turning a permanent truth into a past observation.
Remember: universal truths, scientific facts, habitual actions and proverbs are all exempt from backshift.
Similar Questions
- Choose the correct idiom for the word highlighted in bold.
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Important Questions from Direct and Indirect Speech
Select the correct indirect form of the given sentence.
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Dev said to his mother, “Don’t worry we’ll soon find a way out of this crisis.”
