reported speech problem

[Alien Girl]

Please help, I am so confused... I have a test in reported speech, and I can't get this one right

I was playing when he came in.

the possible answers follow:

He said he had been playing when he had come in.
or
He said he was playing when he came in.
or
He said he had been playing when he came in.
or....

what?

[BobK]

Originally Posted by Alien Girl

Please help, I am so confused... I have a test in reported speech, and I can't get this one right

I was playing when he came in.

the possible answers follow:

He said he had been playing when he had come in.
or
He said he was playing when he came in.
or
He said he had been playing when he came in.
or....

what?

When you report speech, you usually back-shift the verb in the speech reported, and you don't change the tense of the other verb: http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary...ed-speech.html

This rules out the first option (because the third verb is changed), and the second option - because the verb in the speech being reported isn't.

b

[rewboss]

Well, the third verb is actually part of the reported speech. The original phrase is:

"I was playing when he came in."

That's what was actually said.

But you don't normally backshift the past simple to the past perfect. That's not actually a change in tense, strictly speaking: it's a change in aspect, and you should preserve the aspect.

The rule of thumb is: Look at the first verb in the verb phrase. If it is in the present tense, change it to the past tense.

In this case, both verb phrases contain only one verb, and in both cases the verb is already in the past tense -- and so cannot be backshifted.

If the original had been this:

"I have been playing."

Then the present-tense "have" would be backshifted, giving us:

He said he had been playing.

[Alien Girl]

so, option 2 or option 3? do i shift the first verb or just leave everything as it is? sorry, but it takes me a while to understand

[BobK]

My analysis was faulty , but my conclusion was OK - the third option.

Sorry to have treated the problem as if it was more simple than it was. The sentence under question (the third option) is ambiguous:
He [Tom] said [that he {i.e. Dick} had been playing] when he [Harry] came in.

^^^REPORTED SPEECH^^^

or
He [Tom] said [that he {i.e. Tom himself} had been playing when he [Harry] came in]

^^^^^^REPORTED SPEECH^^^^^^

There's a third possibility, in which Tom talks about both Dick and Harry.

I chose the least likely option (which didn't fit the direct speech you gave). Apologies.
b

[Alien Girl]

u are very much forgiven. thanks a lot for the help