Question

A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech.

The judge said that justice must be served at any cost.

• A. "Justice should be served at any cost," said the judge.
• B. "Justice must be served at any cost," the judge said.
• C. "We serve justice at any cost," said the judge.
• D. "One must serve justice," the judge said.

Answer 1

Answer:

B. "Justice must be served at any cost," the judge said.

• Step 1: Identifying the Modal Verb

  • The indirect sentence contains the modal verb "must".

  • When expressing an unchanging truth, a universal necessity, a permanent law, or a strong moral obligation, the modal verb "must" remains completely unchanged when switching between direct and indirect speech. Therefore, "must be served" in indirect speech points directly back to "must be served" in direct speech.

• Step 2: Structural and Punctuation Restoration

  • The conjunction "that" is dropped.

  • The exact spoken words are placed inside quotation marks: “Justice must be served at any cost,” followed by a comma before closing the quote, and then the reporting phrase (the judge said or said the judge).