Choose the option that correctly changes the narration of the following sentence:
Rahul said to his teacher,” Madam, what is the way to solve the question?”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Rahul asked his teacher what the way to solve the question was.
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| Rahul said to his teacher, "Madam, what is the way to solve the question?" | Rahul asked his teacher what the way to solve the question was. |
Wh-question in indirect speech:
- Reporting verb: the direct speech is a question, so "said to" changes to asked. "Asked" takes the person directly as its object: asked his teacher, not "asked to his teacher".
- Joining word: the question word "what" itself joins the two clauses; the inverted commas, the address "Madam" and the question mark are dropped.
- Word order: the question becomes a statement, with the subject before the verb: what the way to solve the question was, not "what was the way".
- Pronoun changes: none are needed; "his teacher" and "the question" stay as they are.
- Tense change: the reporting verb is in the past, so "is" changes to was.
Example: She said to me, "Where do you live?" → She asked me where I lived.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: Rahul told his teacher what was the way to solve the question. — Incorrect.
- "Told" reports a statement; a question is reported with "asked".
- It keeps the question order "what was the way" instead of the statement order "what the way ... was".
Option 3: Rahul asked to his teacher what the way was to solve the question. — Incorrect. "Asked" takes the person directly as its object; "asked to his teacher" is ungrammatical.
Option 4: Rahul told his teacher what the way was to solve the question. — Incorrect. The word order is right, but "told" cannot report a question; the reporting verb must be "asked".