Choose the most appropriate indirect construction of the given sentence:
“I shouldn't have said that,” she whispered.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → She whispered that she shouldn't have said that.
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| "I shouldn't have said that," she whispered. | She whispered that she shouldn't have said that. |
Statement in indirect speech:
- Reporting verb: "whispered" stays, because it tells how she spoke; the reported statement is joined with that and the inverted commas go.
- Tense change: none. "Shouldn't have said" is a modal perfect; "should" has no further past form, so it stays the same.
- Pronoun changes: "I" → she.
- Words of nearness (time and place): "that" already points away from the speaker, so it stays "that".
Example: "I should have called you," he said. → He said that he should have called me.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: She whined that she shouldn't have said so. — Incorrect.
- "Whined" (complained in a high, unhappy voice) changes the way she spoke; she whispered.
- "That" is changed to "so", which alters her words without need.
Option 3: She regretted having said this earlier. — Incorrect.
- It is a summary of her feeling, not the reported form of her words; "whispered" is lost.
- "That" becomes "this" (a word of nearness in the wrong direction), and "earlier" is added.
Option 4: She whispered that she shouldn't have been saying that. — Incorrect. "Shouldn't have been saying" is the perfect continuous; it turns a single remark into an action going on over time. The modal perfect should stay unchanged.