Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
My friend said, "I can't believe it." He said _________ it.

• A. he can't believe
• B. I couldn't believe
• C. he couldn't believe
• D. he didn't believe

Answer 1

The correct option is C he couldn't believe

The given sentence is a statement.

According to the rules of narration and reporting, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, the tense of the reported verb is changed into its corresponding past form. The reporting verb in the given sentence, 'said', is in the past form. Therefore, the reported verb, 'can't' will change into 'couldn't'. The first person pronoun 'I' will change into the person of the speaker.

Thus, in indirect speech the sentence must be,

He said he couldn't believe it.

Thus option C is the correct answer.

Options A,B,D are incorrect as they do not follow the rules of Narration and Reporting.