Question

He said 'I must go at once'. Change into indirect speech.

• A. He said that he had to go at once
• B. He said that he would go at once
• C. He said that he must have gone at once
• D. All of the above

Answer 1

Answer:

A. He said that he had to go at once

1. Change the pronoun: "I" changes to "he" because the reporting verb "said" indicates the speaker is male.
2. Change the tense: In indirect speech, the present tense "must" usually changes to the past tense "had to."
3. Remove the quotation marks.

• "He said that he would go at once": Incorrect because "must" does not change to "would."
• "He said that he must have gone at once": Incorrect because it changes the meaning and tense of the original sentence.