My cousin said, "My room-mate had snored throughout the night."
2025
My cousin said, "My room-mate had snored throughout the night."
Answer: A. my cousin said that her room-mate snored throughout the night. — Key point: when the direct speech uses past perfect (had snored) and the reporting verb is in the past, the past perfect is retained in reported speech.…
- A.
my cousin said that her room-mate snored throughout the night.
- B.
my cousin told me that her room-mate snored throughout the night.
- C.
my cousin complained to me that her room-mate is snoring throughout the night.
- D.
my cousin felt that her room-mate may be snoring throughout the night.
Attempted by 53 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Key point: when the direct speech uses past perfect (had snored) and the reporting verb is in the past, the past perfect is retained in reported speech.
Correct reported speech:
"My cousin said that her room-mate had snored throughout the night."
Explanation:
The direct speech contains past perfect (had snored), which indicates an action completed before another past reference point.
With a past reporting verb (said), we do not shift the past perfect; it remains past perfect in reported speech.
If you want to emphasize the continuous nature of the action, you can use the past perfect continuous: "had been snoring." For example: "My cousin said that her room-mate had been snoring throughout the night."