In formal business meeting minutes, which sentence correctly uses reported speech with a backshift of tenses to record a director's statement?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. The director stated that sales had exceeded initial quarterly forecasts
- Step 1: In reported speech with a reporting verb in the past ('stated'), an earlier past or completed action backshifts to the past perfect: 'had exceeded'. Answer: The director stated that sales had exceeded initial quarterly forecasts. Why not the others: 'have exceeded' retains present perfect without backshift, 'will exceeded' is grammatically impossible, and 'would had' is an ungrammatical modal auxiliary construction.
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