Concept:When converting indirect speech to direct speech, the tense inside the quotation marks remains the same as in the indirect sentence if the reporting verb is in the past tense.
Rule / Clue:The indirect sentence uses “had not been given” (Past Perfect). In direct speech, the same Past Perfect tense is retained; no tense shift is needed.
Explanation:The given indirect sentence is: “He said that they had not been given any clear instructions.”
In direct speech, we remove the conjunction “that” and place the exact words inside quotation marks.
The pronoun “they” stays unchanged because it refers to a third party.
The Past Perfect tense “had not been given” remains exactly as it is in direct speech.
Only option C keeps this tense: “He said, ‘They had not been given any clear instructions.’”
Option A uses Simple Present “are not given” — wrong tense.
Option B uses Simple Past “were not given” — would change to Past Perfect in indirect, but does not match the original indirect tense.
Option D uses Present Perfect “haven’t been given” — would require a tense shift to Past Perfect in indirect, not a direct match.
Thus, option C is the correct direct sentence.
Answer:C. He said, "They had not been given any clear instructions."