Choose the correct direct sentence of the following sentence.
He said that she had been trying to reach him for several days.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
"...she had been trying to reach him..."
Identify the Tense: The verb "had been trying" is in the Past Perfect Continuous Tense.
The "No Change" Rule: In English grammar, if a sentence is already in the Past Perfect Continuous in direct speech, the tense does not change when converted to indirect speech because there is no tense "further back" in time.
Pronoun Shift: The indirect speech uses "him" because the narrator is reporting what "He" said. In direct speech, the person speaking would refer to themselves as "me."
It keeps the Past Perfect Continuous tense and correctly uses the pronoun "me." While Option A (Present Perfect Continuous) could also turn into Past Perfect Continuous, the answer key specifically marks Option 2 (B) as correct, emphasizing the rule that Past Perfect tenses remain unchanged.