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. He said that he would join the meeting after lunch.
- (a)“I will join the meeting after lunch,” he said.
- (b)“I would join the meeting after lunch,” he said.
- (c)“I shall join the meeting after lunch,” he said.
- (d)“I can join the meeting after lunch,” he said.
Answer
Why
Correct — A. Converting to direct speech undoes each change the reporting made.
Would in the reported clause is the past form of will, so the speaker's own words carry will. 'He' is the speaker himself, so it becomes I; 'that' drops out and the words go inside quotation marks.
That gives 'I will join the meeting after lunch,' he said → option (a).
Why the others are wrong
- (b)“I would join the meeting after lunch,” he said. — Leaves the backshifted would in place instead of restoring the speaker's will. Spoken directly, 'I would join' sounds conditional, which nothing in the report suggests.
- (c)“I shall join the meeting after lunch,” he said. — Swaps in shall. The reported would is the past form of will (the past form of shall is should), so undoing the backshift gives will.
- (d)“I can join the meeting after lunch,” he said. — Can backshifts to could, so a reported would does not come from it. Can also turns an intention into an ability.
Concept
Reporting shifts each modal back one step: will → would, can → could, may → might. Converting to direct speech runs that table in reverse, so a reported would points back to will.
Pronouns return to the speaker's own point of view: the reported 'he' who is the speaker becomes I, and 'that' disappears once the words are inside quotation marks.
Start from the modal, because it decides this item: the four options differ only in will, would, shall and can.
Would does not shift any further in reported speech, so an original 'I would join…' is also reported as 'he would join'. The key takes the default reading, would as the past of will, because nothing in the report signals a conditional.
Key facts
- Would is the past form of will, could of can, and should of shall.
- Reporting shifts will to would, and converting back to direct speech restores will.
- In direct speech the speaker refers to himself as I, and the conjunction that disappears.
Study next
Common traps
- Keeping would because it is already in the given sentence — direct speech restores the speaker's own tense.
- Picking shall because it sounds formal with I — the reported would is the past of will.
The forward conversion, direct to indirect, comes just before at English Q.22 of this shift, where 'have done' has to shift back to 'had done'.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.