Question

Change into reported speech. The boy said, "I like sweets”.

• A. The boy says that he liked sweets.
• B. The boy said that he had liked sweets.
• C. The boy said that he liked sweets.
• D. The boy says that he has liked sweets.

Answer 1

Answer:

C. The boy said that he liked sweets.

• In reported speech, the verb tense often shifts back in time.
• "Said" is the past tense of "say," so the direct speech verb "like" changes to "liked" in reported speech.
• The pronoun "I" changes to "he" to match the subject in the reported speech.
• "The boy says that he liked sweets.": Incorrect because it uses "says" (present tense) instead of "said" (past tense).
• "The boy said that he had liked sweets.": Incorrect because the past perfect tense "had liked" is not needed; simple past "liked" is sufficient.
• "The boy says that he has liked sweets.": Incorrect because it uses "says" (present tense) and "has liked" (present perfect tense), which do not match the past tense context of the original statement.