Convert the direct speech sentence “The driver said, ‘‘I have been waiting here at the airport since two hours for my master.’’” into correct indirect (reported) speech.

Introduction / Context:
This grammar question tests your understanding of converting direct speech into indirect (reported) speech, especially when dealing with the present perfect continuous tense and changes in time and place references. The original sentence is: “The driver said, ‘‘I have been waiting here at the airport since two hours for my master.’’” You need to select the correct reported-speech version from the options. The task involves tense backshifting, pronoun adjustment and replacing “here” with “there” in accordance with standard rules of reported speech.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Reporting clause: “The driver said,” with a reporting verb in the past tense (“said”). • Reported clause in direct speech: “I have been waiting here at the airport since two hours for my master.” • The speaker is the driver himself, so “I” will change to “he” when reported by someone else. • “here” in direct speech typically changes to “there” in indirect speech, as the place is referred to from the reporter’s viewpoint.

Concept / Approach:
When converting from direct to indirect speech with a past tense reporting verb (“said”), the usual rule is to shift the tense of the reported speech one step back in time. Present perfect continuous (“have been waiting”) normally changes to past perfect continuous (“had been waiting”). Also, first-person pronouns like “I” change to third person (“he”) to match the subject of the reporting clause (“the driver”). Adverbs of place and time may also change: “here” usually becomes “there” because the point of reference changes. Therefore, the correct reported speech should read “The driver said that he had been waiting there at the airport since two hours for his master.” Among the options, that is option (a).

Step-by-Step Solution:
1. Remove the quotation marks and introduce “that” after the reporting verb: “The driver said that ...”. 2. Change the pronoun “I” to “he” because the speaker is the driver: “he ...”. 3. Backshift the tense from present perfect continuous (“have been waiting”) to past perfect continuous (“had been waiting”). 4. Replace “here” with “there” to reflect the change in viewpoint: “there at the airport”. 5. Keep the rest of the sentence structure the same: “since two hours for his master.”

Verification / Alternative check:
Compare the final sentence with each option:

Thus, option (a) is the only sentence that applies all standard transformations correctly.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
• Option (b): Although it backshifts the tense correctly, it retains “here”, which is inconsistent with the change of deictic reference expected in indirect speech. • Option (c): It uses “has been waiting” instead of “had been waiting”, so the tense is not properly shifted to past perfect continuous. • Option (d): It has both an unshifted tense (“has been waiting”) and the unchanged “here”, making it doubly incorrect.

Common Pitfalls:
Students often remember to change pronouns but forget to backshift the tense or adjust words like “here” and “now”. Another common mistake is to over-focus on one rule (for example, pronoun change) and ignore others (like tense backshift). In questions like this, always systematically check all three areas: pronouns, tense, and time/place adverbs. If the reporting verb is in the past tense and the original statement is not a universal truth, a backshift is usually necessary.

Final Answer:
The correct indirect speech form is: The driver said that he had been waiting there at the airport since two hours for his master.