Select the correct indirect form of the given sentence.
Pallavi said, “My father was repairing the leaking roof three days ago.”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Pallavi said that her father had been repairing the leaking roof three days before.
Changing the past continuous into indirect speech:
| Change | Direct | Indirect | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joining word | “ ” (quotation marks) | that | A statement is joined with “that”. |
| Pronoun change | My | her | Pallavi is the speaker, so “my father” becomes “her father”. |
| Tense change | was repairing | had been repairing | “Was repairing” is in the past continuous. The past continuous is formed with was / were + V-ing. After the past “said” it becomes the past perfect continuous “had been repairing”. The past perfect continuous is formed with had been + V-ing. |
| Time word | ago | before | “Ago” counts back from the moment of speaking. In a later report it becomes “before”. |
| Full sentence | Pallavi said, “My father was repairing the leaking roof three days ago.” | Pallavi said that her father had been repairing the leaking roof three days before. |
“Were” + -ing changes in the same way. Example: Ravi said, “We were playing carrom at noon.” → Ravi said that they had been playing carrom at noon.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Pallavi said that her father had been repairing the leaking roof three days ago. — Incorrect. “Ago” is left unchanged. In the report it becomes “before”.
Option 2: Pallavi said that her father has been repairing the leaking roof three days before. — Incorrect. “Has been repairing” is in the present perfect continuous. After the past “said” the verb must be “had been repairing”.
Option 3: Pallavi said that my father had been repairing the leaking roof three days before. — Incorrect. “My” is left unchanged. Pallavi is the speaker, so it must become “her”.