Question

Rafi told Mary, "I am thinking of watching a film this weekend."
The following reports the above statement in indirect speech:
Rafi told Mary that he _________ of watching a film that weekend.

• A. thought
• B. is thinking
• C. am thinking
• D. was thinking

Hint:

Reported speech checklist: (1) backshift tense if the reporting verb is past; (2) change pronouns from speaker's point of view; (3) shift time/place words (this $\Rightarrow$ that, now $\Rightarrow$ then, here $\Rightarrow$ there); (4) remove quotes and use "that".

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Goal: Convert the direct speech to reported (indirect) speech with correct tense, pronoun, and time expression.

Step 1: Identify the reporting verb and decide on backshift
Reporting clause: Rafi told Mary.
The reporting verb told is in the simple past. For ordinary statements (not universal truths), English backshifts the tense of what was said.
Present Continuous $\Rightarrow$ Past Continuous.

Step 2: Map pronouns and deictic (time) words
Speaker in quotes = Rafi; therefore "I" $\Rightarrow$ "he".
"This weekend" is deictic (relative to the moment of speaking) $\Rightarrow$ "that weekend" in reported speech.

Step 3: Apply tense conversion
Direct: am thinking (Present Continuous) $\Rightarrow$ Past Continuous was thinking.

Step 4: Assemble the indirect sentence
Use the conjunction "that" (optional but standard in exams), remove quotation marks, keep the prepositional phrase "of watching a film":
\[ \boxed{\text{Rafi told Mary that he was thinking of watching a film that weekend.}} \]

Step 5: Eliminate distractors
(A) thought = Simple Past (loses the "continuous/ongoing" meaning) $\Rightarrow$ incorrect.
(B) is thinking keeps Present Continuous (no backshift) $\Rightarrow$ incorrect with a past reporting verb.
(C) am thinking wrong pronoun and tense ("am" with "he" is ungrammatical) $\Rightarrow$ incorrect.