Question

Change the given sentence to a simple sentence:

It is said that the company is losing a lot of money. [Advanced]

• A. The company was said to be losing a lot of money.
• B. The company is said to be losing a lot of money.
• C. Lot of money is being lost by the company.
• D. Lot of money has been lost by the company.

Answer 1

The correct option is B The company is said to be losing a lot of money.

The given sentence is complex and needs to be changed to a simple sentence. The clauses are 'It is said' and 'that the company is losing a lot of money'.

One way of reducing a clause to a phrase is, by omitting the relative pronoun 'that' and the 'to-be' form after. Next, we change the verb form from 'is losing' to 'to be losing'.

Also, the subject should be modified to one. 'It is said' about the 'company'. Hence the subject 'company' will remain.

Option B: This sentence contains all the necessary elements of the complex sentence, without changing its meaning. Hence option B is correct.

Option A: 'Was said' refers to the past tense and is different from the tense of the complex sentence 'is said'.

Option C: This sentence omits the words 'is said to be'. Hence the meaning formed is slightly different.

Option D: 'Has been lost' is in the present perfect tense. It's different from the simple present tense of the given sentence.

When the tense changes, the meaning also changes.

Hence options A, C and D are wrong.