Convert the following sentence from Direct Speech to Indirect Speech.
He said, "I have forgotten the combination of my safe."
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → He said that he had forgotten the combination of his safe.
Statement in indirect speech:
| Change | Direct | Indirect | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting verb | said, “ | said that | “Said” stays, the inverted commas go, and the conjunction “that” joins the clause. |
| Tense change | have forgotten | had forgotten | The reporting verb is in the past, so the present perfect “have forgotten” becomes the past perfect “had forgotten”. |
| Pronoun change | I, my | he, his | “I” and “my” refer to the speaker, so they become “he” and “his”. |
| Full sentence | He said, “I have forgotten the combination of my safe.” | He said that he had forgotten the combination of his safe. |
Example: She said, “I have lost my pen.” → She said that she had lost her pen.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: He said that the combination of the safe was forgotten by him. — Incorrect. It changes the sentence into the passive voice, uses the wrong tense ("was forgotten") and drops "his".
Option 3: He had forgotten the combination of his safe. — Incorrect. The reporting part "He said that" is missing, so it is no longer reported speech.
Option 4: He said that I have forgotten the combination of his safe. — Incorrect. The pronoun "I" is not changed to "he", and the tense "have forgotten" is not changed to "had forgotten".