Select the option that correctly expresses the following sentence in indirect speech.
“I am not feeling well,” said Mary.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The correct answer is option 2 i.e. Mary said that she was not feeling well.
When converting direct speech to indirect speech, the tense of the reported speech usually changes according to the rules of sequence of tenses.
Option 1 – Mary said that she is not feeling well.
This is incorrect because the tense of the direct speech ('am') should be changed to past tense ('was') in indirect speech. The present tense “is” is incorrect in this context.
Option 2 – Mary said that she was not feeling well.
This is correct. In indirect speech, the present continuous 'am not feeling' changes to 'was not feeling' to maintain the past tense.
Option 3 – Mary says that she is not feeling well.
This is incorrect because it uses the present tense “says,” but the original sentence is in the past tense (“said”). In indirect speech, the tense should match the original context.
Option 4 – Mary says that she wasn’t feeling well.
This is incorrect because the verb 'says' (present tense) is used with a past perfect verb 'wasn’t feeling.' This would be used if the sentence were a report on a past event from a more distant time.