Choose the correct Indirect form of the following sentence from the given options:
She said, "How can I do such a work!"
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → She wondered how she could do such a work.
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| She said, "How can I do such a work!" | She wondered how she could do such a work. |
Exclamatory question in indirect speech:
- Reporting verb: "said" changes to a verb that suits the feeling of surprise or doubt: wondered.
- Joining word: the question word how itself joins the two parts; no "that" or "if" is added.
- Word order: it becomes a statement, subject before verb: she could.
- Pronoun changes: I → she.
- Tense change: can → could, because the reporting verb is in the past.
- Words of nearness (time and place): the sentence has none.
Example: He said, "How can I forget her!" → He wondered how he could forget her.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: She asked that how she can do such a work. — Incorrect.
- "That" cannot come before the question word "how".
- "Can" has not been changed to "could".
Option 2: She said that she can do such a work. — Incorrect.
- It turns her doubt into the opposite statement, that she can do it.
- "Can" has not been changed to "could".
Option 4: She wondered if how she could do such a work. — Incorrect. It uses two joining words, "if" and "how"; only "how" is needed.