Select the correct option for the Direct speech conversion of the sentence below.

Explanation:

Given sentence (Indirect Speech):
👉 The primatologist pointed out that grooming behaviour would diminish if the troop hierarchy were destabilised.

🔍 Key Points:

1. Tense remains the same (would → would):
   Since the sentence already uses “would”, we keep it unchanged in direct speech.

2. Conditional structure (Second Conditional):

   • would diminish if… were destabilised ✔️

   • This shows a hypothetical situation

3. Reporting verb change:

   • pointed out that → said, in direct speech

🔁 Conversion:

• Indirect: …would diminish if the troop hierarchy were destabilised

• Direct: "grooming behaviour would diminish if the troop hierarchy were destabilised." ✔️

❌ Why others are incorrect:

• missing closing quote ❌ (grammatically incomplete)

• will be diminished… is destabilised ❌ (tense changed)

• had been destabilised… would have diminished ❌ (third conditional, different meaning)

• must diminish ❌ (changes modality and meaning)

📌 Extra Facts (Exam Tips):

1. Second Conditional Pattern:

   • If + past tense → would + base verb
     👉 If X were…, Y would…

2. Backshift Rule (Indirect → Direct):

   • Don’t change tense unnecessarily ✔️

3. Formal Usage:

   • were is used instead of was in hypothetical conditions (subjunctive mood)