Question: Identify the error in the sentence: \'He said that he can swim.\'
Options:
No error.
Change \'can\' to \'could\'.
Change \'said\' to \'says\'.
Change \'that\' to \'if\'.
Correct Answer: Change \'can\' to \'could\'.
Solution:
In indirect speech, \'can\' should change to \'could\' to reflect the past tense.
Identify the error in the sentence: 'He said that he can swim.'
Practice Questions
Q1
Identify the error in the sentence: 'He said that he can swim.'
No error.
Change 'can' to 'could'.
Change 'said' to 'says'.
Change 'that' to 'if'.
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
Identify the error in the sentence: 'He said that he can swim.'
Step 1: Understand that the sentence is in indirect speech, which reports what someone else said.
Step 2: Identify the verb 'said' which is in the past tense.
Step 3: Recognize that when reporting speech in the past, the present tense verb 'can' should change to its past tense form 'could'.
Step 4: Replace 'can' with 'could' to correct the sentence.
Indirect Speech – Indirect speech involves reporting what someone else has said without quoting them directly, often requiring changes in verb tense.
Verb Tense Agreement – In indirect speech, the verb tense must align with the time frame of the reporting verb.
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