In this reported speech question, you are given the indirect sentence "He said that she was coming that year" and must choose the direct speech sentence which, when converted into indirect speech, would correctly produce this statement.

Introduction / Context:
This question tests your understanding of the rules of reported speech, especially how tense and time expressions change when going from direct to indirect speech. You are given an indirect statement "He said that she was coming that year" and asked to identify the original direct quote that would produce this exact indirect form when reported.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Indirect sentence: He said that she was coming that year.
• Reporting verb: "said", which is in the past tense.
• Reported clause verb: "was coming", a past continuous form.
• Time expression: "that year", which corresponds to "this year" in direct speech.

Concept / Approach:
When converting from direct to indirect speech with a past tense reporting verb like "said", tenses in the reported clause usually shift back one step: present continuous becomes past continuous, present simple becomes past simple, and so on. In addition, time words like "this" change to "that". Therefore, "She is coming this year" in direct speech becomes "He said that she was coming that year" in indirect speech. Our task is to match this rule to the correct direct sentence.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Notice that "was coming" in indirect speech suggests that the original tense was present continuous "is coming".Observe that "that year" in indirect speech usually corresponds to "this year" in direct speech.Combine these clues to infer the original direct sentence: "She is coming this year."Attach the reporting verb and punctuation: He said, "She is coming this year."Match this with the options and select the identical one.

Verification / Alternative check:
Convert option B back to indirect speech: "He said, 'She is coming this year.'" becomes "He said that she was coming that year." This is exactly the given sentence in the question, so we can be confident that option B is the correct choice.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A: "He said, 'She will come this year.'" would normally change to "He said that she would come that year", using "would" instead of "was coming". Option C: "He said, 'Come this year.'" is an imperative and would be reported as a request or command, not as the given statement. Option D simply repeats the indirect form as if it were direct speech, which is not how direct quotes are written and does not fit the standard transformation pattern.

Common Pitfalls:
Students often ignore the time expression when working with reported speech and focus only on verb tense. However, words like "this", "that", "today", "tomorrow", "yesterday", "now", and "then" regularly change in reported speech and are vital clues for identifying the original form. Always check both the tense and the time expressions before choosing your answer.

Final Answer:
The correct corresponding direct speech is He said,"She is coming this year."