Choose the best option of indirect speech for the sentence given:-
Sanjeev said, "I bought a saree for my mother."
A. Sanjeev said that he had bought a saree for his mother.
B. Sanjeev said that he was buying a saree for his mother.
C. Sanjeev said that he had been buying a saree for his mother.
D. Sanjeev said that he will be buy a saree for his mother.
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → A only
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| Sanjeev said, "I bought a saree for my mother." | Sanjeev said that he had bought a saree for his mother. |
Simple past in indirect speech:
- Reporting verb: the reported words are joined to it with that.
- Pronoun changes: I → he, my → his.
- Words of nearness (time and place): none in this sentence.
- Tense change: with a past reporting verb, the simple past moves one step back to the past perfect: bought → had bought.
Example: Meena said, "I lost my pen." → Meena said that she had lost her pen.
(A) Sanjeev said that he had bought a saree for his mother. — Correct.
- Pronouns and tense are changed by the rule.
(B) Sanjeev said that he was buying a saree for his mother. — Incorrect.
- "was buying" is the past continuous, the backshift of "am buying", not of "bought".
(C) Sanjeev said that he had been buying a saree for his mother. — Incorrect.
- "had been buying" is the past perfect continuous.
- It reports a continuing action, not a single completed purchase.
(D) Sanjeev said that he will be buy a saree for his mother. — Incorrect.
- "will be buy" is not a correct verb form, and the future tense changes the meaning.
Tip: In this question the options do not follow the order of the statements (Option 1 = D only, Option 2 = C only, Option 3 = A only, Option 4 = B only). NTA often jumbles the options in this way, so after finding the correct statement, read the options carefully and mark the one with the right letter.