Objects of prepositions are the elements preceded by a preposition which add the necessary information to complete them.
<em>New factories used machines and electricity in place of </em><em>horses</em><em>.</em>
Explanation: in this sentence, there is only one preposition (in place of) and its object cannot be other than what follows it (horses). In general, objects of prepositions are nouns.
"She said she could play the piano"
Indirect speech isn't quoting the character's exact words but instead reporting what they/she/he said- It is also sometimes called reported speech
reported speech
[reported speech]
a speaker's words reported in subordinate clauses governed by a reporting verb, with the required changes of person and tense (e.g. he said that he would go, based on I will go).Also called indirect speech. Contrasted with direct speech.
