Question

Convert the following statement in reported speech:
George said to you: I cannot help you in this matter.
A. George said to me I cannot help you
B. George told me that he cannot help me.
C. George told me he could not help me.
D. George told me that he cannot help me.

Answer 1

Hint:A message delivered by a person is conveyed in either direct speech or indirect speech. In direct speech, the message delivered by the person is conveyed by quoting similar words. it is mostly evident in quotations and plays. While in indirect speech the message delivered is the same but the words used to convey the message are not necessarily the same. direct and indirect speech are two ways to relate with a person.

Complete answer:
Indirect speech is a means of expressing the content of statements, questions or other utterances, without quoting them exactly as is done in direct speech. It reports something that was said, but does not use the same words that the speaker had delivered.
The given sentence is a statement.
In the indirect speech 'said to' can be converted to 'told’'.
According to the rules of narration and reporting, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, the tense of the reported verb is changed into its corresponding past form. The reporting verb in the given sentence, 'said', is in the past form so the reported verb, 'cannot' will be changed to 'could not'. The first person pronoun 'I' will change to third person 'he'. The second person is changed into the person of the speaker.
Thus, in indirect speech the sentence must be,
George told me that he could not help me.
Thus option C is the correct answer.
Options A,B,D are incorrect as they do not follow the rules of Narration and Reporting.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note:There are few exceptions where the direct speech remains the same when it is converted to indirect speech-
A. Universal/ scientific truth
Eg- water boils at 100 degree Celsius.
She said water boils at 100 degree Celsius.

B. Historical facts
Eg- the teacher said,”Kalidas is Shakespeare of India.
The teacher said that Kalidas is Shakespeare of India.

C. Proverbs
Eg- he said,” where there is a will there's a way.”
He said that where there is a will there's a way.

D. Habitual facts-
Eg- she said,” I snooze my alarm every day.
She said that I snooze my alarm every day.