Choose the most appropriate reported construction of the following sentence :
She said to me, "Can you answer this question?" "No", I said.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → She asked me if I could answer that question. I replied that I couldn't.
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| She said to me, "Can you answer this question?" "No", I said. | She asked me if I could answer that question. I replied that I couldn't. |
Yes/no question and a short reply in indirect speech:
- Reporting verb: "said to" → asked for the question, joined with if (or whether) and statement word order; "said" → replied for the answer, joined with that.
- Tense change: the reporting verb is in the past, so "can" → could; the short reply "No" becomes the full negative "I couldn't".
- Pronoun changes: "you" (the listener, "me") → I.
- Words of nearness: "this" → that.
- Other standard changes: do/does → did, will → would, may → might, is/am → was, has/have → had.
Example: He said to me, "Can you swim?" → He asked me if I could swim.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: She asked me if I can answer that question. I said, I couldn't. — Incorrect.
- "can" is not moved back to "could".
- "I said, I couldn't" leaves the reply half in direct speech.
Option 2: She asked me if I could answer that question. I said, I can't. — Incorrect. The reply is left in direct form, and "can't" is not moved back to "couldn't".
Option 4: She asked me if I could answer this question. I replied in affirmation. — Incorrect.
- "this" is not changed to "that".
- "Replied in affirmation" means the answer was yes, but it was "No".
Contrast: in indirect speech "can" moves back to could and the reply is reported with "replied that"; "I said, I can't" leaves the reply in direct speech.