The correct answer is OPTION 1 - He said that I had been making excuses.
To convert the direct speech "He said, 'You were making excuses.'" into indirect speech, we need to follow certain rules regarding pronouns, verb tenses, and sentence structure.
Let's break down the transformation:
Original Sentence (Direct Speech):
-Speaker: He
Reported Speech: "You were making excuses."
Steps for Conversion to Indirect Speech:
1. Change the Pronoun:
- The pronoun "you" in direct speech (addressing someone) changes to "I" in indirect speech, as the speaker (he) is now referring to the person he was addressing.
2. Adjust the Verb Tense:
- The past continuous tense "were making" changes to the past perfect continuous tense "had been making."
3. Structure:
- The sentence will take the form: "He said that [new pronoun] [new verb]."
Applying These Rules:
From "You were making excuses," we change:
- "You" to "I" (since he is now reporting what he said).
- "Were making" to "had been making" (to reflect the shift in tense).
Final Indirect Speech:
Correct Indirect Sentence: He said that I had been making excuses.
Evaluation of Other Options:
1.He said that you were making excuses. (Incorrect; pronoun "you" should change to "I.")
2. He said that you had been making excuses.** (Incorrect; "you" should change to "I," and the tense does not match the context of the reported speech.)
3. He said that I was making excuses. (Incorrect; the tense is not appropriately changed to reflect the past continuous.)
Therefore, the correct indirect form is: He said that I had been making excuses |
