Change into indirect narration He said, "The peon had rung the bell when I reached school."
Correct answer: A. He said that the peon had rung the bell when he reached school.
- A. He said that the peon had rung the bell when he reached school.
- B. He said that the peon rung the bell when he reached school.
- C. He said that the peon had rung the bell when he had reached school.
- D. He said that the peon had rang the bell when he reached school.
Explanation
"I" is changed to "he" to maintain the third-person perspective.- The verb tense "had rung" remains the same, as it is already in the past perfect tense and indicates an action that occurred before another action in the past (reaching school).- The verb tense "reached" remains the same, as it is already in the past simple tense and indicates the second action in the past.
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About Direct and Indirect Speech
Direct speech gives a speaker’s exact words, whereas indirect speech reports the meaning without quotation marks. Questions cover reporting verbs, pronoun changes, tense backshift, time and place expressions, punctuation, and the transformation of questions, commands and requests, including cases where backshift is not required.
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