Question

A sentence is provided in direct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding indirect speech. He said, "How long have you been waiting?"

• A. He asked how long had I been waiting.
• B. He said how long I was waiting.
• C. He asked how long I have been waiting.
• D. He asked how long I had been waiting.

Answer 1

Answer:

D. He asked how long I had been waiting.

• Reporting Verb Transformation:

  • The reporting verb "said" introduces a question. In indirect speech, when reporting a question, "said" is changed to verbs like "asked", enquired, or wondered. Therefore, "He said" becomes "He asked".

• Connecting Word (Conjunction):

  • The direct speech is an open-ended question starting with a "Wh-" word phrase ("How long").

  • For "Wh-" questions, we do not use connecting words like that, if, or whether. Instead, the question word itself (how long) acts as the connector.

• Change of Sentence Structure (Interrogative to Assertive):

  • In direct speech, the word order is interrogative (verb before subject: "...have you been...").

  • In indirect speech, the sentence must become a statement/assertive (subject before verb: "...I had been..."). The question mark is removed.

• Pronoun Change:

  • The second-person pronoun "you" in the direct speech changes based on the implied object of the reporting verb (the person being spoken to). Assuming he is speaking to "me", "you" changes to the first-person pronoun "I".

• Tense Backshift:

  • The reporting verb (said) is in the past tense, which means the tense inside the quotation marks must take a step backward into the past.

  • The original tense is Present Perfect Continuous ("have you been waiting").

  • This must shift to the Past Perfect Continuous ("had been waiting").