Change the following sentence from Direct Speech into Indirect Speech. “I…

2023

Change the following sentence from Direct Speech into Indirect Speech.

“I always take a cup of green tea in the morning,” my father said to his friends.

  1. A.

    He always took a cup of green tea in the morning my father told his friends.

  2. B.

    My father told his friends that he always took a cup of green tea in the morning.

  3. C.

    My father told his friends that he had always taken a cup of green tea in the morning.

  4. D.

    My father told his friends that he has always been taking a cup of green tea.

Attempted by 37 students.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B

Final indirect speech: My father told his friends that he always took a cup of green tea in the morning.

Explanation:

Replace the reporting verb and apply sequence of tenses. "Said to" becomes "told" because the speaker is addressing people. With a past reporting verb, present simple normally backshifts to past simple: "take" → "took."

  • Step 1: Change the reporting verb: "said to" → "told".

  • Step 2: Backshift the tense: present simple "take" becomes past simple "took" because the reporting verb is past.

  • Step 3: Retain time expressions and habitual markers: keep "always" and "in the morning" to preserve the habitual meaning.

Therefore the correct indirect form is:

My father told his friends that he always took a cup of green tea in the morning.

A video solution is available for this question — log in and enroll to watch it.

Explore the full course: Mp Cooperative Bank 2026