Choose the correct indirect (reported) speech for: He said, “I am reading a book.”

Explanation

When the reporting verb ‘said’ is in the past tense, the tense of the direct speech generally shifts back by one step, so the present continuous ‘am reading’ becomes the past continuous ‘was reading.’ The pronoun ‘I’ also changes to ‘he,’ since the sentence is now reporting what he said about himself rather than quoting him directly. This tense-shifting pattern, called backshift, is the foundation of nearly all narration questions. Explore more English MCQs on mcqstutor to keep practicing.