Exams › SSC CGL (Prelims) › General

Select the correct option for the direct speech conversion of the sentence below: The economist contended that the recession would have been averted had the central bank intervened decisively.

1. The economist said, "If the central bank intervenes decisively, the recession will be averted."
2. The economist said, "The recession would be averted if the central bank had intervened decisively."
3. The economist said, "Had the central bank intervened decisively, the recession would have been averted."
4. The economist said, "The recession must have been averted had the central bank intervened."

Correct answer: The economist said, "Had the central bank intervened decisively, the recession would have been averted."

Solution

The given sentence is in indirect speech and expresses a third conditional idea: a past condition that did not happen and its past result. In direct speech, this is best converted using "Had + subject + past participle" followed by "would have been".

Related SSC CGL (Prelims) General questions

• A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech. The supervisor told the staff that the submission deadline had been pushed back by two days.
• A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech: The manager said that the employees were adapting to the new system quickly.
• A sentence is provided in direct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding indirect speech: He said to her, “Please shut the door.”
• A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech. The coach said that they had played well and would win the match.
• A sentence is provided in direct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding indirect speech. Meera said, "I can finish the task today."
• A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech: She said that she wanted to meet the principal.

⚔️ Practice SSC CGL (Prelims) General free + battle 1v1 →