Fill in the blank with a suitable option: Edison said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." Edison said that genius ___________ one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
A
Is
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B
Was
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C
Be
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D
Will be
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Solution
The correct option is A Is As the given sentence is a universal fact/truth, it should always remain in the simple present tense even in the indirect speech.
Option B - 'Was' is an auxiliary which is used to form the sentence in the simple past tense. Hence, option B is incorrect.
Option C - 'Be' explains 'the state of being' of a subject, it can't be used instead of an auxiliary as it doesn't represent any specific tense. Hence, option C is incorrect.
Option D - 'Will be' is used to form the sentence in the simple future tense, and if used with a verb it is used to form the sentence in the future continuous tense. Hence, option D is incorrect.
Option A - 'Is' is an auxiliary that is used to form the sentence in the simple present tense. Thus option A is the correct answer.
'Edison said that genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.'