Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

English

Chapter

Direct/indirect

Question:

Select the correct indirect form of the given sentence.

Ravi asked, “Ritu, how many sets of class 12 practice papers have you finished?”

Options:

Ravi asked Ritu how many sets of class 12 practice papers she had finished.

Ravi asked Ritu how many sets of class 12 practice papers was she finishing.

Ravi asked Ritu how many sets of class 12 practice papers had she been finishing.

Ravi asked Ritu how many sets of class 12 practice papers she has been finishing.

Correct Answer:

Ravi asked Ritu how many sets of class 12 practice papers she had finished.

Explanation:

The correct indirect form of the given sentence is: Ravi asked Ritu how many sets of class 12 practice papers she had finished.

When changing from direct speech to indirect speech, there are a few rules that must be followed. One of these rules is that the tense of the reported speech must be changed to the past tense. In this case, the direct speech is in the present perfect tense ("have you finished"), so the indirect speech must be in the past perfect tense ("had finished").

The other options are incorrect because they use the wrong tense.

  • Ravi asked Ritu how many sets of class 12 practice papers was she finishing. This is in the past continuous tense, which is incorrect for a question about something that has already happened.
  • Ravi asked Ritu how many sets of class 12 practice papers had she been finishing. This is also in the past continuous tense, and it is also incorrect.
  • Ravi asked Ritu how many sets of class 12 practice papers she has been finishing. This is in the present perfect continuous tense, which is incorrect for a question about something that happened in the past.