Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

English

Chapter

Direct/indirect

Question:

Select the option that expresses the given sentence in indirect speech.

He said to him, "Is your name not Ahmed?"

Options:

He enquired is your name not Ahmed.

He enquired whether his name was not Ahmed.

He said whether his name was not Ahmed.

He said is your name not Ahmed.

Correct Answer:

He enquired whether his name was not Ahmed.

Explanation:

The correct answer is:

He enquired whether his name was not Ahmed.

When converting direct speech to indirect speech, we need to make the following changes:

  • Remove the quotation marks.
  • Change the reporting verb to one that is appropriate for the mood of the sentence in direct speech. In this case, the reporting verb "said" is changed to "enquired" because the sentence in direct speech is an interrogative sentence.
  • Change the pronouns to match the subject and object of the reporting verb. In this case, the pronoun "you" in the direct speech sentence is changed to "his" in the indirect speech sentence because the subject of the reporting verb is "he" and the object is the person he is speaking to.
  • Change the verb tense to match the tense of the reporting verb. In this case, the verb tense in the direct speech sentence is present tense, so the verb tense in the indirect speech sentence is also present tense.