Change to indirect speech: He said, "I am reading a book."
Correct answer: B. He said that he was reading a book.
- A. He said that he is reading a book.
- B. He said that he was reading a book.
- C. He said that I was reading a book.
- D. He said that he has been reading a book.
Explanation
The reporting verb is in the past, so the present continuous shifts back to the past continuous, and the first person pronoun changes to the third person to match the speaker being reported. Keeping is would only be correct if the reporting verb were says. Pronoun and tense must both be adjusted.
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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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