Expression: "She said she was seeing TV."

Question

Hi(For more feedback and learning I have asked this question somewhere else also—I hope it is not morally wrong)I am aware that according to the rules of reported speech it should be"She said she had been seeing TV."But would you say that the following expression really sounds odd or wrong to your native ears."She said she was seeing TV."Many thanks for helping me out.

Pucca · Accepted Answer

Hello Mr. Tom:),

I'm not a native but that sentence sounds fine to me..

Jhon - What are you doing Caroline?
Caroline - I'm watching TV
Cris - What is Caroline doing?
Jhon - She said she was watching TV

..hmm, it doesn't seem to be weird, does it?:P

Yankee · Answer

Hi Tom

The the past perfect is frequently not used in reported speech and many grammar books also accept this. The past perfect continuous is probably used even more rarely. Here are my thoughts:

First of all, Pucca is right about using 'watching' rather than 'seeing'.

Second, we need to know what the original "direct" speech was. Again, Pucca gave an appropriate and very typical example:

John - What are you doing, Caroline?
Caroline - I'm watching TV.

Cris - What is Caroline doing?
John - She said she was watching TV.

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For the past perfect continuous to work in your reported speech sentence, the direct speech would have to be something like this:

Scenario: Caroline's father sees Caroline. Caroline is not watching TV when her father sees her.

Caroline's father: "What have you been doing, Caroline? Your mother and I haven't seen you for hours."
Caroline: "I've been watching TV."

A few minutes later, somewhere else in the house:

Caroline's mother: "What has Caroline been doing?"
Caroline's father: "She said she'd been watching TV. / She said she's been watching TV."

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If the direct speech were the past continuous, I might also use the past continuous in the reported speech:

John: "What were you doing when the earthquake started, Caroline?"
Caroline: "I was watching TV."

Cris: "What was Caroline doing when the earquake started?"
John: "She said she was watching TV." *

* To my ear, the past perfect continuous (had been watching) would sound like overkill in this sentence. It probably would not be used (in conversation) by most native speakers. You'd be more likely to find the past perfect continuous used in written narration.

Expression: "She said she was seeing TV."

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