Select the option that expresses the given sentence in indirect speech.
Gita said, “I lost my umbrella.”
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is option 1 i.e. “Gita said that she had lost her umbrella.”
Tense Back‑shift
The original direct speech is “I lost my umbrella.”, which is in the simple past tense. When converting to reported speech with a past‑tense reporting verb (here “said”), the simple past shifts to past perfect tense: had lost
Pronoun Change
Because Gita is speaking about herself (“I”), when we report it, the pronoun changes to “she” to match the third person perspective.
Option 2: “Gita told me that he lost her umbrella.” – Incorrect pronouns and tense. Refers to “he” and “her” incorrectly.
Option 3: “Gita said that I lost my umbrella.” – The pronoun remains “I” incorrectly instead of changing to “she”.
Option 4: “Gita expressed that she has lost her umbrella.” – Uses present perfect “has lost”, which is wrong since with past reporting verb we need past perfect.