Choose the correct reported construction of the given sentence:
Rohit said to me,“Where were you last night ? I had to keep awake till midnight for you!”
(A) Rohit asked me where had I been the previous night and complained that he had been kept awake till midnight for me.
(B) Rohit questioned me about my whereabouts of the night before and shouted that he was awake till midnight for him.
(C) Rohit enquired where I was the last night and exclaimed that he kept awake till midnight for me.
(D) Rohit asked me where I am going for the night and if he should keep awake for him till midnight.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → (A) only
Note: The given answer is as per the official NTA Answer Key. However, none of the four reported sentences is fully correct. Sentence (A) keeps the question word order "where had I been", while a reported question takes the order of a statement: "where I had been". It is still NTA's answer because it is the closest: every other change in it is right, as explained below.
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| Rohit said to me, "Where were you last night? I had to keep awake till midnight for you!" | Rohit asked me where I had been the previous night and complained that he had had to keep awake till midnight for me. |
A question and an exclamation in indirect speech:
- Reporting verb: the question is reported with asked (or enquired); the exclamation is reported with a verb that shows the feeling, such as complained or exclaimed, followed by "that".
- Word order: the question becomes a statement, subject before verb ("where I had been"), and the question mark goes.
- Tense change: "were" moves back to had been; "had to keep" also moves back to the past perfect.
- Pronoun changes: "you" (the person Rohit spoke to) becomes I / me; "I" (Rohit) becomes he.
- Other standard changes: is/am/are → was/were, do/does → did, has/have → had, was/were → had been, will → would, can → could, may → might.
- Words of nearness (time and place): "last night" becomes the previous night (or the night before).
Example: She said to me, "Where were you yesterday?" → She asked me where I had been the previous day.
(A) Rohit asked me where had I been the previous night and complained that he had been kept awake till midnight for me. — Closest (Answer as per NTA). It uses "asked" and "complained", moves the tenses back, changes "last night" to "the previous night" and keeps "for me"; only "had I" should be "I had".
Correct form: Rohit asked me where I had been the previous night and complained that he had had to keep awake till midnight for me.
(B) Rohit questioned me about my whereabouts of the night before and shouted that he was awake till midnight for him. — Incorrect. "for him" is wrong, since Rohit stayed awake for the speaker ("for me"); "he was awake" is not moved back, and "shouted" does not report a complaint.
Correct form: Rohit asked me where I had been the previous night and complained that he had had to keep awake till midnight for me.
(C) Rohit enquired where I was the last night and exclaimed that he kept awake till midnight for me. — Incorrect. "the last night" should be "the previous night", "where I was" should be "where I had been", and "he kept awake" is not moved back.
Correct form: Rohit asked me where I had been the previous night and complained that he had had to keep awake till midnight for me.
(D) Rohit asked me where I am going for the night and if he should keep awake for him till midnight. — Incorrect. It changes the meaning: "where I am going" asks about the future in the present tense, and "if he should keep awake for him" turns Rohit's complaint into a question.
Correct form: Rohit asked me where I had been the previous night and complained that he had had to keep awake till midnight for me.