John said he __________to play at home.
Correct answer: A. would prefer
- A. would prefer
- B. prefer
- C. will prefer
- D. had prefered
Explanation
After the past reporting verb “said,” “will” normally changes to “would” in indirect speech. Thus, “John said he would prefer to play at home” is correct.
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About Direct and Indirect Speech
Direct speech gives a speaker’s exact words, whereas indirect speech reports the meaning without quotation marks. Questions cover reporting verbs, pronoun changes, tense backshift, time and place expressions, punctuation, and the transformation of questions, commands and requests, including cases where backshift is not required.
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