Select the option that expresses the given sentence in indirect speech.
They said, 'We were planning to visit you next week.'
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is option 4 i.e. They said that they had been planning to visit him the following week.
The original sentence is in past continuous (“were planning”) within direct speech.
In indirect speech, with a past tense reporting verb (“said”), past continuous usually changes to past perfect continuous (“had been planning”).
The pronoun 'we' changes to 'they', and 'you' changes to 'him' (depending on context).
'Next week' changes to 'the following week' in reported speech to match time reference.
So: 'We were planning' → 'they had been planning', 'next week' → 'the following week'.
Why others are incorrect:
'are planning' – Keeps present tense, which is wrong because the reporting verb is in the past.
'had planned' – Past perfect simple, not past perfect continuous, so it loses the ongoing nature of the plan.
'have been planning' – Present perfect continuous, incorrect with past reporting verb.