SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 18 September 2025, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 22 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

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. They said, “We shall overcome this challenge together.”

(a)They said they will overcome that challenge together.
(b)They said they should overcome this challenge together.
(c)They said they would overcome that challenge together.
(d)They said they shall overcome that challenge together.

Answer

Why

Correct — C. After the past reporting verb said, three things change:

we → they, to fit the reporter's viewpoint
shall (future) → would, the future seen from the past
this → that, as near words shift in reported speech

Option (c) makes all three changes.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
They said they will overcome that challenge together. — Changes this to that, but its will is still a present-form modal. After a past reporting verb, the future moves back to would.
(b)
They said they should overcome this challenge together. — Keeps this, which the standard conversion changes to that. Its should also reads as obligation — they ought to overcome it — not the future the speakers stated.
(d)
They said they shall overcome that challenge together. — Keeps shall unchanged. With the third-person they and the past reporting verb said, the future shall becomes would.

Concept

After a past reporting verb, modals move back like tenses: will → would, can → could, may → might. A first-person future shall reported with a third-person subject becomes would.

Words of nearness move away: this → that, these → those, today → that day, here → there.

Both kinds of change are needed; an option that makes one and skips the other is wrong.

None of the four options uses that after said. The conjunction is optional in reported statements, so it decides nothing here.

Key facts

Will becomes would after a past reporting verb.
A first-person future shall becomes would when the reported subject is third person: We shall overcome → they would overcome.
This becomes that, and these become those, in reported speech.
The conjunction that after said is optional: They said they would overcome that challenge together is complete.

Study next

Modal changes in reported speech: can → could, may → might, must → had toTime and place words: today → that day, now → then, here → thereShall and will across the three persons

Common traps

Changing this to that and stopping short of would: option (a) has will, and option (d) keeps shall.
Taking should as the past of shall here — it reads as obligation, and option (b) also keeps this.

The same future-in-the-past shift is keyed at 15 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.22: 'My parents will arrive today' becomes 'her parents would arrive that day', with today → that day doing the work this → that does here.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Narration — all 23 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.