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 manager told the staff that deadlines must be followed strictly.

• A. "Deadlines must be followed strictly," said the manager.
• B. "You should follow deadlines strictly," said the manager.
• C. "Follow deadlines strictly," the manager said.
• D. "Deadlines are to be followed," said the manager.

Answer 1

Answer:

A. "Deadlines must be followed strictly," said the manager.

Maintaining Modals: In the indirect sentence, the modal verb "must" is used. When converting back to direct speech, "must" usually remains "must" to preserve the sense of obligation or necessity.

Adverbial Consistency: The word "strictly" is a key part of the original statement. Only

the first option retains the exact phrasing ("must be followed strictly") found in the Indirect version.

Verb Mood: The original indirect statement is a report of a factual requirement.

Option 2 changes the mood to a suggestion ("should").

Option 3 changes it to an imperative command ("Follow...").

Option 4 weakens the instruction by removing "must" and "strictly."

Reporting Verb: The phrase "The manager told the staff" is correctly represented by the reporting clause "said the manager" in direct speech, as the "staff" is the understood audience.