Question

Change the following statement into indirect speech.

The teacher said, "The Earth moves round the Sun." [Intermediate]

• A. The teacher said that the Earth moves round the Sun.
• B. The teacher asked that the Earth moves round the Sun.
• C. The teacher told that the Earth moved round the Sun.
• D. The teacher told that the Earth has moved round the Sun.

Answer 1

The correct option is A The teacher said that the Earth moves round the Sun.

A universal truth sentence is that which has:

• An accepted fact
• A general truth
• Habitual actions

For universal truth sentences, the reported speech is not changed to convert direct speech to indirect speech. Inverted commas are removed.

The given sentence in indirect speech would be: The teacher said that the Earth moves round the Sun. Here, 'the Earth moves round the Sun' is the universal truth. Thus, option A is the correct answer.