A sentence is provided in direct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding indirect speech:
She said, “I saw him last night.”

Correct option is A

The correct indirect speech is (a) “She said she had seen him the previous night.”
Explanation (Rules of conversion):
· Reporting verb “said” is in the past, so the tense in the reported speech generally shifts back.
· Direct: I saw (Simple Past) → Indirect: had seen (Past Perfect).
· Pronoun changes: I → she (because the speaker is “She”).
· Time expression changes: last night → the previous night / the night before.
· Grammatical rule used:
· Simple Past → Past Perfect when the reporting verb is in the past.
· Time words shift: last night → the previous night, yesterday → the previous day, tomorrow → the next day, etc.
· Example:
· Direct: He said, “I met her yesterday.”
· Indirect: He said that he had met her the previous day.
· Information booster / exception:
· If reporting is done immediately or the statement is still true/relevant, sometimes tense shift may be avoided in informal contexts, but competitive exams prefer standard backshifting with past reporting verbs.