Maria said, "I was dialing your number, and you called."
Correct answer: C. Maria said that she had been dialing my number and I had called.
- A. Maria said that she was dialing my number and I called.
- B. Maria told that she had dialed my number and she had called.
- C. Maria said that she had been dialing my number and I had called.
- D. Maria told that Maria has been dialing my number and I had called.
Explanation
Maria said that she had been dialing my number and you had called.The original sentence is in the past continuous tense, indicating an action that was in progress at a specific point in the past. The correct reported speech should maintain the same tense and pronouns.
Last updated
About Direct and Indirect Speech
Direct speech gives a speaker’s exact words, whereas indirect speech reports the meaning without quotation marks. Questions cover reporting verbs, pronoun changes, tense backshift, time and place expressions, punctuation, and the transformation of questions, commands and requests, including cases where backshift is not required.
Practise Grammar
6,178 free Grammar MCQs from English, each with the correct answer and an explanation. Unlimited attempts, no account needed.
Exams that ask English questions like this
English is on 83 papers prepared for on TestUstad, and all of them draw the same bank, so this question is worth knowing for every one of them.
Related questions
Choose the correct form: He said that he ____ to Lahore the previous week.
Change to indirect speech: He said, "I am reading a book."
Change to indirect speech: She asked, "Where do you live?"
The traveler enquired to the farmer if he could tell him the way to the nearest inn.
Mother said, "Where are you going? "