Direct and Indirect Speech :INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES (QUESTIONS)

If the Reported Speech is in the interrogative, it is changed into the Indirect Speech as follows :

1. Said to is replaced by asked or enquired.

2. The Conjunction that is not used.

3. The question is given the declarative form; that is, it is made a statement and no Mark of Interrogation (?) is used.

Questions are of two types : 1. Yes/No-type questions, and 2. Wh-type questions.

Change of Yes/No-type Questions into Indirect Speech

When the Reported Speech contains a Yes/No-type question, the Conjunction if or whether is used and the question is changed into a statement; for example :

Direct : He said to me, "Are the students happy about their result?"

Indirect : He asked me if the students were happy about their result.

Direct : The postman said to him, "Do you write letters to your friends?"

Indirect : The postman enquired of him if he wrote letter to his friends.

Change of Wh-type Questions into Indirect Speech

The Wh-word questions begin with question words, such as what, where, when, how, who, which etc. When the Reported Speech contains a question of this type, no Conjunction is used and the question is changed into a statement; for example :

Direct : I said to my friend, "When do you go to the gym?"

Indirect : I asked my friend when he went to the gym.

Direct : She said to her father, "Which gift will you give me this birthday tomorrow?"
Indirect : She asked her father which gift he would give her that birthday the following day.