Q. Choose the indirect speech for the following direct sentence. He said, ‘I have been waiting for ages.’
a) He said that he had been waiting for ages.
b) He says that he has been waiting for ages.
c) He said that he has been waiting for ages.
d) He said that he is being waiting for ages.
Correct Answer: a) He said that he had been waiting for ages.
Question from UPPSC Prelims CSAT 2025
Explanation:
Because the reporting verb is in the past (“said”), the tense in the reported clause is backshifted. Present perfect continuous (“have been waiting”) changes to past perfect continuous (“had been waiting”). Pronoun “I” becomes “he” and the time expression “for ages” remains unchanged. Hence: “He said that he had been waiting for ages.”
– Option 1: Correct backshift to past perfect continuous.
– Option 2: Incorrect—changes the reporting verb to present (“says”), which doesn’t match the given sentence.
– Option 3: Incorrect—no backshift; retains present perfect continuous after a past reporting verb.
– Option 4: Incorrect—”is being waiting” is ungrammatical.
