They said, "Alas! We lost the match."
Correct answer: D. They exclaimed with sorrow that had lost the match.
- A. They exclaimed with sorrow that they lost the match.
- B. They exclaimed with sorrow we had lost the match.
- C. They exclaimed with sorrow that they have lost the match.
- D. They exclaimed with sorrow that had lost the match.
Explanation
When converting direct speech to indirect speech:- "They said" becomes "They exclaimed with sorrow" to indicate the strong emotions expressed.- "Alas!" is an interjection that conveys sadness or regret, which is captured by "exclaimed with sorrow".- "We" becomes "they" to maintain the correct pronoun perspective.- "lost" becomes "had lost" to change the verb tense from simple past to past perfect, which is necessary in indirect speech.
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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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