Change the sentence where a foreman tells his workers that he cannot pay them higher wages into indirect speech and select the correct reported form.

Introduction / Context:
Direct and indirect speech questions assess the ability to change a quoted sentence into reported form while maintaining sense, tense, and pronoun reference. Here, a foreman speaks to his workers and says that he cannot pay them higher wages. We must convert this direct speech into indirect speech in a grammatically correct and meaning preserving way.

Given Data / Assumptions:

The reporting verb is said to, with the object his workers.

The reported clause is I cannot pay you higher wages.

The speaker is the foreman, and the listeners are the workers.

The sentence is a statement, not a question or command.

There is no time marker forcing present tense; usual backshift rules apply.

Concept / Approach:
When we change a present tense statement in direct speech to indirect speech with a past reporting verb such as said or told, we usually backshift the tense. Present forms move to past forms, and modal verbs like can change to could. Pronouns also change according to the speaker and listener. The reporting verb said to is normally changed to told when there is an object, because told must have a listener as its object in correct English usage.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Change said to into told because the foreman is speaking to his workers, so he told his workers is more appropriate. Step 2: Remove the quotation marks and introduce the reported clause with that, giving told his workers that. Step 3: Change the first person pronoun I into he because in the reported form we refer to the foreman in third person. Step 4: Backshift the modal verb can into could because the reporting verb is in past tense. Step 5: Change the second person pronoun you into them so that the sentence correctly refers to the workers as the recipients of the action. Step 6: Combine the parts to form the sentence The foreman told his workers that he could not pay them higher wages.

Verification / Alternative check:
Check that the new sentence is a complete statement with subject, verb and object correctly placed. Confirm that all tense changes follow standard backshift rules and that there is no unnecessary change in time or meaning. Read the original and the reported sentence side by side and ensure they convey the same message from a narrative perspective.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A keeps cannot instead of could not and therefore fails to apply the correct backshift of can to could. Option C uses they could not be paid higher wages, which is grammatically possible but shifts the focus from the foreman paying them to their being paid, which is a subtle but real change in structure. Option D is wrong because forbid his workers to pay higher wages completely changes the meaning, as it now refers to the workers paying higher wages to others. Option E uses was not paying, which indicates an ongoing action and does not accurately reflect the general inability expressed by cannot in the original sentence.

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners forget to change said to to told when an object is present, or they change pronouns inconsistently, leaving you unchanged even though the subject has changed. Another error is to mix up tense backshift, using can instead of could or changing it into a continuous or perfect form without justification. Careful attention to tense and pronoun reference avoids these problems.

Final Answer:
The correct indirect speech form is The foreman told his workers that he could not pay them higher wages.