My neighbour said to me, "I am going out for a few days".
In Reported speech the above sentence will be :
My neighbour told me that

Question

Accepted Answer

In the given sentence, "My neighbour said to me, 'I am going out for a few days'," we need to convert it into reported speech. The correct transformation involves changing the tense of the verb and adjusting pronouns as necessary.

1. **Explanation for Option 1: "he was going out for a few days."**
   - In reported speech, the present tense "am going" is typically changed to the past tense "was going" because the reporting verb "said" is in the past tense. This is known as backshifting, which is a common rule in English grammar when converting direct speech to reported speech. Additionally, the pronoun "I" changes to "he" to match the subject "my neighbour." Therefore, Option 1 correctly reflects these changes, making it the right choice.

2. **Explanation for why other options are incorrect:**

- **Option 2: "he is going out for a few days."**
     - This option incorrectly retains the present tense "is going," which does not follow the backshifting rule required in reported speech when the reporting verb is in the past tense. Therefore, it is incorrect.

- **Option 3: "he will go out for a few days."**
     - This option changes the tense to future "will go," which is not appropriate in this context. The original sentence does not imply a future action from the perspective of the reporting time; it is a past action being reported. Thus, this option is incorrect.

- **Option 4: "we are going out for a few days."**
     - This option incorrectly changes the pronoun from "he" to "we," which alters the meaning of the sentence. The original sentence is about the neighbour's actions, not a collective action involving the speaker. Additionally, it retains the present tense "are going," which is incorrect for reported speech in this context. Hence, this option is incorrect.

In conclusion, Option 1 is the correct answer because it accurately applies the rules of converting direct speech to reported speech by changing the tense and pronouns appropriately.