Change the following sentence into Indirect Speech. Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
The policeman said to Sujata, "Where are you going?"
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → The policeman asked Sujata where she was going.
Wh-question in indirect speech:
| Change | Direct | Indirect | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting verb | said to | asked | “Said to” becomes “asked”, because a question is reported. The question word “where” itself joins the two parts. |
| Tense change | are going | was going | The present continuous “are going” becomes the past continuous “was going”. |
| Pronoun change | you | she | “You” becomes “she”. |
| Word order | are you going | she was going | The question becomes a statement, subject before verb: “where she was going”, not “where was she going”. |
| Full sentence | The policeman said to Sujata, “Where are you going?” | The policeman asked Sujata where she was going. |
Example: He said to me, “What are you doing?” → He asked me what I was doing.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: The policeman in the night asked Sujata about the place she was going. — Incorrect. It adds "in the night", which is not in the original, and replaces the question with a vague phrase, "about the place she was going".
Option 3: The policeman asked Sujata where she is going. — Incorrect. The past reporting verb "asked" needs the tense to move back: "is going" should be "was going".
Option 4: The policeman enquired angrily why was Sujata going alone in the night. — Incorrect.
- It changes the question word from where to why.
- It adds "angrily", "alone" and "in the night".
- It keeps the question order "was Sujata going".