Indirect speech

[Luca Nicola]

 

Hello Minoo;
How are you feeling today?

A question about 'Indirect speech' topic.

He explained: 'I'm too busy now to speak to her.'

He explained that he was too busy then to speak to her. (correct answer)

Can I say ...... ?

- He explained that he was too busy at that moment to speak to her.

- He explained that he was too busy at the moment to speak to her.

- He explained that he was too busy at that time to speak to her.

 

Thanks in advance
Best regards,
Luca

 

[Minoo]

Hello Luca,

The first and the third sentence would work, but I would avoid the second one as 'at the moment' is really a synonym for 'now'. However, you could use 'at the time', which is a synonym for 'at that time'.