Select the alternative that correctly converts the following sentence…

The correct answer is Option (2) → My mother asked me what I had eaten the previous night.

Wh-question in indirect speech:

Change	Direct	Indirect	Why
Reporting verb	asked	asked me	“Asked” is kept, with the person spoken to: asked me.
Word order	What did you eat	what I had eaten	The question becomes a statement, subject before verb: “what I had eaten”, not “what had I eaten”.
Tense change	did ... eat	had eaten	Simple past “did ... eat” becomes the past perfect “had eaten”.
Pronoun change	you	I	“You” becomes “I”.
Words of nearness (time and place)	last night	the previous night	“Last night” becomes “the previous night”.
Full sentence	“What did you eat last night?” asked my mother.	My mother asked me what I had eaten the previous night.

The question word what itself joins the two parts.

Example: “Where did you go?” he asked me. → He asked me where I had gone.

Why the Other Options are Incorrect?

Option 1: My mother said to me what did I eat last night. — Incorrect.

• "Said to" is not used to report a question. It should be asked.
• The question order "did I eat", the tense and "last night" are all left unchanged.

Option 3: My mother said what did you eat last night. — Incorrect. It is the direct question without inverted commas: "said", "you", "did ... eat" and "last night" are all unchanged.

Option 4: My mother questioned me what I ate last night. — Incorrect.

• The simple past "ate" is not changed to the past perfect "had eaten".
• "Last night" is not changed to "the previous night".
• "Questioned me what" is not the usual reporting pattern. A question is reported with asked.