Interrogative sentence

Structure of indirect speech

(a) Reporting verb is changed into ask or enquire of.

(b) If or whether is used as a linking word.

(c) The auxiliary verb in the reported speech is used after the subject.

(d) If the sentence begins with who, which, what, how, when, where, why etc., these are not changed and if or whether is not used.

Note : The indirect speech becomes a statement and no question mark is used.

Direct:Nadim said to Nadia, "Are you reading now?"

Indirect:Nadim asked Nadia (or enquired of) if she was reading then.

Direct:The boy said to Hafiz, "Will you help me?"

Indirect:The boy asked Hafiz whether he would help him.

Direct:The man said to Shaila, "What is your name?"

Indirect:The man asked Shaila what her name was.

Direct:Karim said to Asif, "When will you return to me?"

Indirect:Karim asked Asif when he (A) would return to him (K).

Direct:The man said to his brother, "Can you do it alone?"

Indirect:The man asked his brother if he could do it alone.

Direct:The lady said to her husband, "How did you manage it?"

Indirect:The lady enquired of her husband how he had managed it.

Direct .:He said to me, "Do you know me?"

Indirect:He asked me if I knew him.

Direct .:He said to me, "Do you not go there?"

Indirect:He asked me if I did not go there.

Direct .:He said to me, "Why did you go there?"

Indirect:He asked me why I had gone there.

Direct .:Hesaid toNadia, "Why did you not go there?"

Indirect:He asked Nadia why I had not gone there.

Direct .:He said to me, "What makes you laugh?"

Indirect:He said to me what made me laugh.

Direct .:He said to her, "Who are you? What do you want?"

Indirect:He asked her who she was and what she wanted.

Exercise :

1. Turn into the indirect form:
2. I said to him, "When will you go there?"
3. He said to me, "Did you write a letter?"
4. They said to us, "How will you sink a tube-well?"
5. We said to them, "Have you seen the man going?"
6. He said to me, "When did you do the work?"
7. He said to me, "Is your father at home?"
8. The man said to the boy, "When will you go home?"
9. He said to me, "Why do you go there?"
10. He said tome,. "Are you waiting for me?"
11. The stranger said to me, "Did you not see me?"
12. Transform the following into direct speeches:
13. He asked Karim how he had done the work.
14. The man asked me when I would be able to help him.
15. The leader asked me who I was and why I was opposing him.
16. The gentle man asked me how many countries I had visited.
17. The Headmaster-asked the boy why he did not prepare the lesson.
18. Asadullah asked his friend if he liked to stay with him.
19. They asked us if we had not paid our telephone bill.
20. They asked the boy why, he had failed in the examination.
21. She asked Nazma if it was hers.
22. The lady asked the boy if he had lost his father.