Indirect speech

Question

Hello,1. She said, 'Rajiv ate idlis last night.'   ("Rajiv " is the name of a boy)Indirect speech of the above sentence -a) She said that Rajiv had eaten idlis the night before.b) She said that he had eaten idlis the night before. I want to know that the usage of "Rajiv" is in (a) correct?Whic is the correct  between (a) and (b)?Thanks.

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

Hi hanuman,

Both are correct. The only difference is that in (b), the speaker assumes the listener will know that"he" refers to Rajiv.

A: What did she say about Rajiv?
B: She said that he had eaten...

Avangi · Answer

In my opinion, there's no problem with either one.   <img src="http://www.EnglishForward.com/emoticons/emotion-1.gif"/>

Lission · Answer

hanuman_2000Indirect speech of the above sentence -

a) She said that Rajiv had eaten idlis the night before.

b) She said that he had eaten idlis the night before.

I want to know that the usage of "Rajiv" is in (a) correct?

Whic is the correct between (a) and (b)?

Thanks.

You should report, using the first sentence if this is one of the questions in your exam paper.

Avangi · Answer

hanuman_2000 1. She said, 'Rajiv ate idlis last night.'
Indirect speech of the above sentence -

a) She said that Rajiv had eaten idlis the night before.

b) She said that he had eaten idlis the night before. This is a great example of the folly of taking things out of context.

When we read the OP we ask ourselves "What is it that the poster wants to know?"
It seems that the question of whether a) or b) best transforms the quote to reported speech is not on the list.

"Is this correct?" has a special meaning for us. GG addressed the (only) difference between the two versions, but neither of us suggested it might be incorrect to omit the name.

Obviously, no transformation could be complete which omits the name.

Lission's point is well taken.

Indirect speech

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