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 should work harder.”

Correct — B. Three changes turn the quote into a report.

Verb: said to me becomes told me, because "tell" takes the listener as its object.
Pronoun: the quote's "You" is the listener, "me", so it becomes I.
Modal: should stays should. Should, would, could, might and ought to do not change in indirect speech.

Result: "He told me that I should work harder." → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  He said me that I should work harder. — "Said me" is ungrammatical. "Say" cannot take the listener as a direct object: you say something to someone, or you tell someone.
• (c)
  He told me that you should work harder. — Keeping "you" points the advice at whoever is being addressed now. The quote's "You" was the listener, reported as "me", so it must become I.
• (d)
  He told that I should work harder. — "Told that" drops the listener. "Tell" reporting a statement needs the person told, as in told me or told him, before the that-clause.

Converting "said to + person" changes the verb and the pronouns.

The verb: said to me → told me. "Tell" takes the hearer directly, while "say" takes only the words, with "to" before any hearer.

The pronouns follow the people. A first-person pronoun in the quote means the speaker, a second-person one means the listener. The listener here is "me", so "You" becomes I.

Key facts

• "Said to" + person in direct speech becomes "told" + person in indirect speech: said to me → told me.
• A second-person pronoun in the quote changes to match the listener: here You → I, because the listener is "me".
• Should, would, could, might and ought to stay unchanged in indirect speech.

Common traps

• Keeping "said" and dropping "to" ("He said me"): say never takes the listener as a direct object.
• Copying "you" straight from the quote, which shifts the advice from the listener onto someone else.

No directly related past PYQ was found.