Direct and Indirect Narration, Interrogative Sentence.

We change an Interrogative Sentence into Indirect Speech according to the following rules-

 All of first we change the Reporting Verb Said To into Asked or Enquired Of.

Example–

1. He said to me,”Where are you?”

• He asked me where I was.

We change Interrogative Sentence into Assertive Sentence and replace the Question marks with the full stop.

Example–

1. He said to me,”Where are you?”

• He asked me where I was.

 We change Tenses,Pronoun and Nearness of Time or Position according to the rules.[Link for the Basic Rules.]

 In Interrogative Sentence we use two types of Conjunctions If/Whether and QUESTION WORD.

[A]:- If the Interrogative Sentence is Single Interrogative means starts with Is,Am,Are,Was,Were,Has,Had etc we use Conjunction IF/WHETHER.

Examples–

1. My friend said to me,”Are you going to school?”

• My friend asked me if I was going to school.

2. They said to him,”Do you know Amar?”

• They asked him if he knew Amar.

3. The boy said to his mother,”Have you brought chocolate for me?”

• The boy asked his mother whether she had brought chocolate for him.

[B]:- If the Reported Speech starts with Question Words [what,why,when,where,how etc] we do not use any other connective words.Question words themselves work as conjunction.After writing Question Words we write Subject and make the sentence Assertive.

 Examples- 

1. He said to his brother,”Why are you using my mobile?”

• He asked his brother why he was using his mobile.

2. They said to us,”Who is sitting there?”

• They asked us who was sitting there.

3. I said to Mohan,”Where do you live?”

• I asked Mohan where he lived.

Practice Set.

1. My friend said to me,”Can you wait for us?”
2. The host said to the guests,”Are you comfortable here?”
3. The doctor said to the patient,”Do you take your medicine daily?”
4. My mother said to me,”Were you feeling well there?”
5. He said to his father,”Will you bring a new toy for me this evening?”
6. The teacher said to Sarla,”Did you not complete your homework yet?”
7. The boy said to the gardener,”Are you selling the rose?”
8. Sohan said to his sister,”Will our parents not be coming back from the market now?”
9. The patient said to the nurse,”Has the doctor come to the hospital?”
10. My father said to my younger brother,”Had you not seen an elephant before we went to the zoo yesterday?”
11. The teacher said to him,”Why do you waste your time?”
12. The police said to the man,”Where did the thief live?”
13. Amar said to his friends,”When will you come to my home?”
14. The mother said,’Who is weeping at this time?”
15. My brother said to me,”How was your trip to Shimla?”
16. Aruna said to her friend,”Which player will be playing now?”
17. The judge said to the lawyer,”How many witnesses have been killed?”
18. Mr.Sharma said to his son,”Who had taught you chemistry?”
19. The manager said to the peon,”How can you be so late?”
20. The police said to the passenger,”What is happening there?”

Content Writer– Mohammad Anas.….. Edited by– Shadab Akhtar.