Select the option that expresses the given sentence in indirect speech.
The mother asked the daughter, "Can we buy tonight’s dinner from the restaurant?”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The most appropriate option to express the given sentence in indirect speech is:
The mother asked the daughter if they could buy that night's dinner from the restaurant.
The other options are incorrect:
- The mother asked the daughter could they buy that night’s dinner from the restaurant. - This is incorrect because the modal verb "could" should be at the beginning of the reported speech.
- The mother asked the daughter if they can buy tonight’s dinner from the restaurant. - This is incorrect because the present tense verb "can" is used, but the reporting verb "asked" is in the past tense.
- The mother asked the daughter if could they buy that night’s dinner from the restaurant. - This is incorrect because the modal verb "could" should be at the beginning of the reported speech, and the pronoun "they" should be at the end of the reported speech.