Select the correct direct form of the given sentence.
The teacher asked the students if they could prepare for the debate by the following week.

Correct option is C

The correct direct form of the given sentence is (c) The teacher said to the students, “Can you prepare for the debate by next week?”
Direct speech- Direct speech, also known as quoted speech or direct quotation, is a way of reporting someone's exact words.
Indirect speech- Indirect speech, also known as reported speech or indirect quotation, is a way of reporting someone's words or thoughts indirectly, without using their exact words.
The following rules should be followed while converting an indirect speech to direct speech:
· Use the reporting verb such as (say, said to) in its correct tense.
· Put a comma before the statement and the first letter of the statement should be in capital letter.
· Insert question mark, quotation marks, exclamation mark and full stop, based on the mood of the sentence.
· Remove the Conjunctions like (that, to, if or whether) wherever necessary.
· Where the reporting verb is in past tense in indirect, change it to present tense in the direct speech.
· Change the past perfect tense either into present perfect tense or past tense, as necessary.
· Pronouns will be changed accordingly.
· The reported question in indirect speech should be converted to a direct question, retaining the original tense and the word 'next week.'