Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option:

Alice said, "I'm at my office."

Alice said that _____________.

• A. I'm at my office
• B. She was at her office
• C. I'm at her office
• D. You have been at your office

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

She was at her office

While changing the speech from direct to reported speech, the tense changes one tense back. For example, if the direct speech is in present tense (and the reporting verb is in the past tense) then the indirect/reported speech will be in past tense.

Also, when the speech is indirect, the point of narrative also changes (from I to she/he and from my to his/her).

Option B: The given sentence is in the simple present tense: "I'm at my office." Hence the reported speech will be in the simple past tense 'was at the office'.

So, option B is correct.

Option A: 'I'm at my office' is still in the direct speech, whereas it should be transformed to reported speech.

Option C: 'I'm at her office' has changed in meaning. The narrative of the subject 'I' must change to 'she'.

Option D: 'You have been at your office' has also changed in meaning. As the speech is reported it must be in third person. (The speaker is reporting a third person 'Alice's' speech.) Also, 'have been' indicates the present perfect tense whereas the speech must be in past.

Hence options A, C and D are incorrect.