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. She said, “I didn’t see him at the station.”

Correct — B. The reporting verb said is past, so the reported clause moves one tense back.

The spoken verb didn’t see is simple past, and it becomes had not seen, past perfect. I becomes she, and "at the station" does not change. That gives "She said that she had not seen him at the station": option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  She said that she hasn’t seen him at the station. — Hasn’t seen is present perfect, a present tense. After the past reporting verb said, the spoken simple past moves back to past perfect: had not seen.
• (c)
  She said she didn’t saw him at the station. — After didn’t, English takes the base verb: didn’t see, never didn’t saw. This option also leaves the tense unshifted.
• (d)
  She said that she was not seeing him at the station. — Was not seeing is past continuous, the backshift of a present continuous such as "I am not seeing him". The speaker used simple past, which becomes past perfect.

Backshift is the core rule of direct-to-indirect speech when the reporting verb is past (said, told). Each tense moves one step back:

present simple → past simple
present continuous → past continuous
present perfect → past perfect
past simple → past perfect

Pronouns change to fit the reporter (I → she). Time words change when the reporting moment differs (yesterday → the previous day); "at the station" has nothing to change.

Key facts

• Past reporting verb (said): the reported verb moves one tense back.
• Past simple (didn’t see) becomes past perfect (had not seen).
• After did or didn’t the verb is always the base form.
• Past continuous in reported speech comes from a present continuous in direct speech.

Common traps

• Keeping a present tense (hasn’t seen) after the past reporting verb said
• Marking the past twice, as in didn’t saw

No directly related past PYQ was found.