Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

English

Chapter

Direct/indirect

Question:

Select the correct indirect form of the given sentence.

The watchman said, “I did not see anyone last night.”

Options:

The watchman said that he had not seen anyone the previous night.

The watchman said that he did not see anyone last night.

The watchman said that he did not saw anyone the previous night.

The watchman said that I had not seen anyone last night.

Correct Answer:

The watchman said that he had not seen anyone the previous night.

Explanation:

The correct indirect form of the given sentence is:

The watchman said that he had not seen anyone the previous night.

The other options are incorrect:

  • The watchman said that he did not see anyone last night. This is incorrect because the reported speech is in the present tense, but the speaker is talking about something that happened in the past.
  • The watchman said that he did not saw anyone the previous night. This is incorrect because the verb "saw" is in the past tense, but it should be "seen" because the reported speech is in the passive voice.
  • The watchman said that I had not seen anyone last night. This is incorrect because the watchman is talking about himself, not the speaker.