Question

Turn the following into indirect speech:

The young sparrow said, "Mother, what is that queer object?"

• A. The young sparrow said to its mother what that queer object is.
• B. The young sparrow asked its mother what that queer object was.
• C. The young sparrow asked whether the object was queer.
• D. The young sparrow asks its mother what is that queer object.

Answer 1

Answer:

B. The young sparrow asked its mother what that queer object was.

• Direct speech: “Mother, what is that queer object?”

• Indirect speech: The reporting verb "said" changes to "asked" because it is a question.

• Tense Change: The present tense "is" changes to the past tense "was"

• Word Order: In indirect speech, the question structure changes to a statement format