Question : Select the most appropriate indirect form of the given sentence.

Jayesh said to Diwakar, "You can top the class if you want to."

Option 1: Jayesh told Diwakar that he would top the class if he wants to.

Option 2: Jayesh told Diwakar that he could top the class if he wanted to.

Option 3: Jayesh told Diwakar that you could top the class if you wanted to.

Option 4: Jayesh told Diwakar that you can top the class if you want to.


Team Careers360 9th Jan, 2024
Answer (1)
Team Careers360 25th Jan, 2024

Correct Answer: Jayesh told Diwakar that he could top the class if he wanted to.


Solution : The second option is the correct answer.

Indirect speech, also known as reported speech or indirect discourse, is a way of reporting what someone else has said without quoting their exact words.

The changes from direct speech to indirect speech involve the following:

  • As the reporting verb is in the past tense, "can" will be changed to "could", and "want" will be changed to "wanted".
  • "Said to" changes to "told" in the indirect speech.
  • The object of reporting verbs is "Diwakar"; hence, "you" has been replaced by "he" in the reported speech.
  • "That" is used to introduce the reported clause.

Therefore, the correct answer is: Jayesh told Diwakar that he could top the class if he wanted to .

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