EnglishClub ESL Forums

So, I wanted to ask about this because a few days ago I was at school and my English teacher said that I had done the exercise incorrectly, although I was sure that I had done it correctly. I tried to argue with her, but she explained it so strangely that I can't even remember her explanation right now. The topic of discussion was "Reported speech", and the sentence was: "He said that he is now ____ (study) at school." The exercise required me to open the brackets, which I did, saying, "He said that now he was studying at school," and she corrected me, saying, "He said that now he studied at school." I was humiliated because everyone in my class was looking at me since I was always the best at English, so could you guys please help me prove my point and tell who is right and who is wrong?

Although it is possible to use 'now' with either the past simple or the past continuous tense, your version of the sentence is perfectly acceptable, and actually the more idiomatic of the two.

(N.B. You never need to begin any story with the word 'so'!)