In the following questions, choose the option which correctly changes the given sentence from Direct Speech into Indirect Speech.

He said to me, 'How is your mother?"

The correct answer is '1' i.e. He asked me how my mother was.

Key Points

• The given sentence is in Direct Speech, and the task is to convert it into Indirect Speech.
• In Indirect Speech for interrogative sentences, the reporting verb (e.g., "said to") changes to "asked," "enquired," or similar, depending on the context.
• In this case, the sentence is a question introduced by "How," so the reporting verb changes to "asked."
• The question word "How" remains unchanged, but the sentence is converted into a statement form (no question mark).
• The tense of the verb changes from present tense ("is") in Direct Speech to past tense ("was") in Indirect Speech due to the rule of tense backshifting.

Correct sentence: He asked me how my mother was.

Additional Information

• Rules for changing Direct Speech to Indirect Speech for questions:
  • Remove quotation marks and the question mark.
  • The reporting verb changes based on the type of question (e.g., "asked," "enquired").
  • If the question starts with a question word (e.g., "How," "What," "Why"), it remains unchanged.
  • The verb tense changes according to backshifting rules.
• Common Mistakes:
  • Do not retain the question mark in Indirect Speech.
  • Avoid incorrect word order like "how was my mother" (which is grammatically incorrect for Indirect Speech).