Narrate the following : Maria said, "I was dialing your number, and you called."
Correct answer: C. Maria said that she had been dialing my number, and I had called.
- A. Maria said that she was dialing my number, and I called.
- B. Maria told that she had dialed my number, and she had called.
- C. Maria said that she had been dialing my number, and I had called.
- D. Maria told that Maria has been dialing my number, and I had called.
Explanation
The original sentence is in past continuous ("was dialing") and simple past ("called"). In reported speech, past continuous changes to past perfect continuous ("had been dialing") and simple past changes to past perfect ("had called") to show the sequence of events.
Report an error
The more specific you are, the faster it gets fixed. A source beats an opinion.
Prefer email? [email protected]
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.
Practise Grammar
6,178 free Grammar MCQs from English, each with the correct answer and an explanation. Unlimited attempts, no account needed.
Discussion
Stuck on an option, or know a faster way to get there? Ask or explain it here.
No comments yet. Be the first to explain this one.
Exams that ask English questions like this
English is on 133 papers prepared for on TestUstad, and all of them draw the same bank, so this question is worth knowing for every one of them.
More Direct and Indirect Speech questions
Narrate the following: "How much do the tickets cost?" asked Meg.
Narrate the following: "Would you pass my suitcase, please?", he said.
The commander said to the soldiers, "Fire".
Narrate the following : She said, "When I was enjoying youth, I watched movies".
Narrate the following : "It's time we began planning our holidays", he said.
Narrate the following : Juliet said, "They had better stay at home."