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 met him yesterday morning.”

Correct Answer: She said she had met him the previous morning.

To convert a sentence from direct speech to indirect (reported) speech, we follow specific grammatical rules regarding tense changes and time expressions:

1. Identify the Reporting Verb and Tense:
The reporting verb is "said", which is in the past tense. This means the tense in the reported clause must shift back (backshifting).

2. Change of Tense:
The verb in direct speech is "met" (Simple Past Tense).
Rule: Simple Past Tense changes to Past Perfect Tense ("had" + past participle of the verb).
The past participle of "meet" is "met", so "met" changes to "had met".

3. Change of Time Expression:
The word "yesterday" in direct speech changes to "the previous day" or "the day before".
Therefore, "yesterday morning" changes to "the previous morning".

4. Combining the Changes:
Direct: She said, “I met him yesterday morning.”
Indirect: She said she had met him the previous morning.

Thus, the option that correctly applies all these rules is: "She said she had met him the previous morning."