Which of the following statements related to C++ is FALSE?

In C++, every member function carries one of three access specifiers - public (callable from anywhere), protected (callable from the class and its derived classes), or private (callable only from inside the class itself or its friends) - exactly like a data member. A member function can also be written either inside the class body, where it is implicitly inline, or outside it using the ClassName::function scope-resolution syntax.

Checking each option against this rule: marking a function public, defining it inside the class body, and defining it outside the class with ClassName::function are all standard, permitted patterns. Marking a function private is equally permitted - private is one of the three specifiers a member function can carry, not an excluded one - so the option claiming a member function cannot be private is the one that contradicts the rule.

• Public: class C { public: void f(); }; compiles, and f() is callable from outside the class.

• Defined inside the class: class C { void f() { /* body */ } }; is allowed, and the definition is implicitly inline.

• Private: class C { private: void f(); }; also compiles - a member function can be private; the specifier only restricts who may call it to the class and its friends.

• Defined outside the class: void C::f() { /* body */ } is allowed - the scope-resolution operator ties the definition back to its declaration.

So the option asserting that a member function cannot be defined as private is the false one - private is a fully valid access specifier for member functions; it only narrows who may call the function, it does not forbid it.