Choose the correct sentence in indirect speech for the following sentence:
She said to me, "When I met him, he was playing in the park."
A. She told me that when she met him he was playing in the park.
B. She narrated to me that he has been playing in the park when she met him.
C. She asked me to see him in the park where he was playing.
D. She told me that he had been playing in the park when she had met him.
Choose the correct sentence in indirect speech for the following sentence:
She said to me, "When I met him, he was playing in the park."
A. She told me that when she met him he was playing in the park.
B. She narrated to me that he has been playing in the park when she met him.
C. She asked me to see him in the park where he was playing.
D. She told me that he had been playing in the park when she had met him.
Solution
In reported speech the past continuous normally backshifts to past perfect continuous and the simple past to past perfect, giving sentence D. Sentence A is also accepted because when a time clause ("when she met him") fixes the sequence clearly, backshifting is optional. B wrongly uses "has been playing" and C changes the statement into a request. Hence A and D only.
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