A sentence is provided in dirct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding indirect speech.
He said, 'I bought a new laptop.'
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is option 1 i.e. He said that he had bought a new laptop.
Changes required:
Conjunction: The inverted commas (“__”) are removed and the conjunction “that” is used to connect the reporting verb and the reported speech.
Verb: The reporting verb “said” remains “said” in indirect speech as it is not followed by an object.
Tense: As the reporting verb is in the past tense (said), the Simple Past tense (bought) changes to the Past Perfect tense (had bought).
Pronoun: The first person pronoun (I) changes to the third person pronoun (he) based on the subject of the reporting verb.
Converted sentence: He said that he had bought a new laptop.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.