Choose the correct form of reported verb when the following sentence is changed to indirect speech:
She says, "I enjoy walking".
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → She enjoys
Reporting verb in the present tense:
| Change | Direct | Indirect | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pronoun change | I | she | The speaker’s I becomes she, the person being reported. |
| Tense kept | enjoy | enjoys | Says is in the present tense. After a present reporting verb the tense of the reported speech does not change: “enjoy” stays in the simple present. With the third-person singular subject “she”, the verb takes -s: enjoys. |
| Full sentence | She says, “I enjoy walking”. | She says that she enjoys walking. |
Example: He says, “I like tea.” → He says that he likes tea.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: I enjoy — Incorrect. The pronoun I must change to "she" in indirect speech.
Option 2: I enjoyed — Incorrect. The pronoun is not changed, and the tense is wrongly moved back although the reporting verb "says" is in the present.
Option 4: She enjoyed — Incorrect. The pronoun is right, but enjoyed is a backshift that applies only after a past reporting verb (She said ...).
Contrast: after a present reporting verb the tense stays (She says that she enjoys walking). Only after a past reporting verb does it move back (She said that she enjoyed walking).