SSC CHSL 2022 · Question 72 of 92
English Comprehension
The correct answer is 'Miranda told her teacher that she had been sick for a day'. Key Points The correct indirect form of the sentence "Miranda said to her teacher, 'I was sick for a day.'" is"Miranda told her teacher that she had been sick for a day." When converting direct speech into indirect speech, the tense of the verbs usually shifts back (this is known as "backshifting"). In this case, the past simple tense "was" changes to the past perfect tense "had been." This shift accurately conveys the timing of the events in the indirect speech. Therefore, the correct sentence is: 'Miranda told her teacher that she had been sick for a day.' Additional Information Let's look at the other options: "Miranda told her teacher that she has been sick for a day." - This is incorrect because the present perfect "has been" doesn't accurately convey the timing of past events in indirect speech. "Miranda told her teacher that she is sick for a day." - This is incorrect because the present tense "is" doesn't accurately represent the past events conveyed in the original direct speech. "Miranda told her teacher that she was sick for a day." - Although it might seem correct in some contexts, in proper English grammar, while changing from direct to indirect speech, the tense usually shifts back. Therefore, "was" should become "had been."
Source: SSC CHSL 2022 (Tier-I) Previous Year Paper (21-Mar-2023) (Shift 2) — prepp.in solved paper · reliable-secondary
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