MCQHard1 mark
5(iv)
Choose the correct option and rewrite the sentence according to the instruction given after each.
He asked, "When do you intend to make the payment?" (Begin: He asked......)
Topic: Direct and indirect speech
Previous-year question practice database
Try it
Pick an option and check your answer. The full worked answer is below either way.
Answer
Exam answer
(c) He asked when I intended to make the payment..
Explanation
Converting a QUESTION into indirect speech requires three changes, and option (c) makes all three:
- NO INVERSION. A reported question takes the word order of a STATEMENT — "when I intended", not "when did I intend". That eliminates option (a), which keeps the auxiliary "did".
- TENSE BACKSHIFT. The reporting verb "asked" is past, so the present "do you intend" becomes the past "intended". Options (b) and (d) leave it in the present.
- PRONOUN SHIFT. "You" refers to the person being addressed, who in the reported version is the speaker — so it becomes "I".
Note also that no question mark is used in reported speech, since the sentence is now a statement about a question.
For a WH-question the question word (when, where, why) is retained as the link; for a yes/no question you would use "if" or "whether".
In words
He asked when I intended to make the payment..
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