Change the following sentence into the Indirect speech by choosing the appropriate option :
Abdul said, "I saw this film yesterday".
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Abdul said that he had seen that film the day before.
Statement in indirect speech:
| Change | Direct | Indirect | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting verb | said, “ | said that | “Said” stays, and “that” joins the reported statement. |
| Tense change | saw | had seen | The reporting verb is in the past, so simple past “saw” becomes “had seen” (past perfect). |
| Pronoun change | I | he | “I” becomes “he”, since Abdul is speaking about himself. |
| Words of nearness | this, yesterday | that, the day before | “This” becomes “that”. “Yesterday” becomes “the day before” (or the previous day). |
| Full sentence | Abdul said, “I saw this film yesterday”. | Abdul said that he had seen that film the day before. |
Example: She said, “I met him yesterday.” → She said that she had met him the day before.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Abdul said that he seen this film the day before. — Incorrect.
- "he seen" has no helping verb. It should be "he had seen".
- "this" should change to "that".
Option 3: Abdul said that he have seen that film the yesterday. — Incorrect.
- "he have" breaks subject-verb agreement, and the tense should be past perfect "had seen".
- "the yesterday" is wrong. Yesterday becomes "the day before".
Option 4: Abdul said that you had seen that film the day before. — Incorrect. "you" changes the person. Abdul spoke about himself, so the pronoun must be "he".