Question

The reported speech of “Mary said, I am watching television" is :

• A. Mary said that she is watching Television
• B. Mary said that she has been watching Television
• C. Mary said that she watches Television
• D. Mary said that she was watching Television

Answer 1

Answer:

D. Mary said that she was watching Television

The original direct speech is: Mary said, "I am watching television."

• When converting direct speech into reported (indirect) speech, we must consider tense changes and pronoun changes because the reporting verb "said" is in the past tense. For a present continuous tense ("I am watching"), the standard backshift is to past continuous:

  • "I am watching" becomes "she was watching" (the pronoun "I" changes to "she" when Mary is being referred to).

  • The reporting clause uses "said that" to introduce the reported statement.

• Putting these together gives: Mary said that she was watching television.

• Thus Option D ("Mary said that she as watching Television") is the correct reported speech form.