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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: They said, “We are leaving for a tour.”

1. They said that they are leaving for a tour.
2. They said that they were leaving for a tour.
3. They said that they left for a tour.
4. They said they had leaving for a tour.

Correct answer: They said that they were leaving for a tour.

Solution

In indirect speech, the present continuous tense “are leaving” changes to past continuous “were leaving” when the reporting verb is in the past tense. The pronoun “we” also changes to “they.”

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