Question

A sentence is provided in direct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding indirect speech. He said to me, “You ought to study harder.”

• A. He said me that I ought to study harder.
• B. He told me that I ought to study harder.
• C. He told me that you ought to study harder.
• D. He told that I ought to study harder.

Answer 1

Answer:

B. He told me that I ought to study harder.

Rules for Indirect Speech Conversion

• Reporting Verb: When the reporting verb is followed by an object (e.g., 'said to me'), it changes to 'told' in indirect speech. The word 'to' is omitted after 'told'.
• Conjunction: In assertive sentences, the comma and quotation marks are removed, and the conjunction 'that' is used to join the reporting clause and the reported speech.
• Pronoun Change: The pronoun 'You' in the direct speech refers to the object of the reporting verb ('me'). Therefore, it changes to 'I' in the reported clause to maintain the reference.
• Modals: The modal verb 'ought to' expresses moral obligation or strong recommendation. Unlike other modals like 'will' (would) or 'can' (could), 'ought to' remains unchanged when converting from direct to indirect speech.
• Tense Consistency: Because 'ought to' signifies a general truth or duty rather than a specific future action relative to the past, the tense within the reported clause typically remains consistent with the modal.

Summary of transformation:

• Direct: He said to me, “You ought to study harder.”
• Indirect: He told me that I ought to study harder.