Choose the most appropriate reported speech construction of the given sentence:
Sanika asked, “Are you coming to the Tech fest tomorrow?”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Sanika asked me if I was coming to the Tech fest the next day.
Yes/no question in indirect speech:
Yes/no questions: reported as "asked (someone) if/whether + statement". A reply such as "Yes, I am" is joined with "that" (she replied that she was).
Other standard changes: am/is/are → was/were, do/does → did, has/have → had, will → would, can → could, may → might, today → that day, here → there.
| Change | Direct | Indirect | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Person asked | – | me | “Asked” stays. The person asked is added as me. |
| Joining word | “ ” (inverted commas) | if | If (or whether) joins the question, since there is no question word. |
| Word order | Are you coming | I was coming | The question becomes a statement, subject before verb: “are you coming” becomes “I was coming”. The question mark is dropped. |
| Tense change | are coming | was coming | The reporting verb is in the past, so the present continuous “are coming” moves back to the past continuous was coming. |
| Pronoun change | you | I | “You” (the person asked, the one who reports) becomes I. |
| Words of nearness | tomorrow | the next day | “Tomorrow” becomes the next day. |
| Full sentence | Sanika asked, “Are you coming to the Tech fest tomorrow?” | Sanika asked me if I was coming to the Tech fest the next day. |
Example: He asked, “Do you like tea?” → He asked me if I liked tea.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Sanika asked me if she was coming to be at the Tech fest the next day. — Incorrect.
- "she" makes the question about Sanika herself. The question was about the person asked.
- "to be at" adds words that are not in the original.
Option 2: Sanika asked me to come to the Tech fest with her the following day. — Incorrect. "Asked me to come" reports a request or invitation, not a question, and "with her" is added.
Option 4: Sanika inquired if I had gone to the Tech fest the day before. — Incorrect.
- "had gone" changes the present continuous into the past perfect.
- "the day before" turns "tomorrow" into yesterday. The original asks about the next day.