Question

Change into reported speech, His father asked, " Do you think you know the lesson better than your teacher?"

• A. His father asked whether he thought he knew the lesson better than his teacher
• B. His father asked whether he thinks he knew the lesson better than his teacher
• C. His father asked whether he thought he know the lesson better than his teacher
• D. His father asked whether he think he did know the lesson better than his teacher

Answer 1

Answer:

A. His father asked whether he thought he knew the lesson better than his teacher

Understanding Reported Speech for Interrogative Sentences

• Reported Speech, also known as Indirect Speech, is used to convey what someone else said without quoting their exact words. This often involves changes in tenses, pronouns, and adverbs.
• When converting an interrogative sentence (a question) from direct to reported speech, the reporting verb (like 'said to') changes to verbs such as 'asked', 'inquired', 'wondered', or 'demanded'.
• For yes/no questions (questions that can be answered with 'yes' or 'no'), the conjunctions 'if' or 'whether' are used to introduce the reported question. In this specific case, 'Do you think you know...' is a yes/no question.
• The structure of the reported question changes from interrogative to assertive (statement) form. This means the auxiliary verb (like 'do', 'does', 'did') is removed, and the subject comes before the verb, just like in a regular sentence. For example, 'Do you think' becomes 'he thought'.
• Tense Shift is a critical rule in reported speech. If the reporting verb is in the past tense (e.g., 'asked'), the verb in the direct speech usually shifts one tense back.
  • Present Simple ('Do you think', 'know') changes to Past Simple ('he thought', 'knew').
• Pronoun Changes are necessary to maintain the correct reference. 'You' changes to 'he' (assuming the 'you' refers to a male person, indicated by 'his father'). Consequently, 'your' changes to 'his'.
• The question mark (?) from the direct speech is replaced by a full stop (.) in reported speech, as it becomes a statement. Also, the inverted commas (" ") are removed.
• Key for Competitive Exams: Always look for the type of question (yes/no vs. Wh-question), the tense of the reporting verb, and the necessary pronoun and adverbial changes. Mistakes often occur in tense shifts and maintaining the statement form of the reported question.