A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech.
He wondered whether they had already locked the doors.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
"He wondered whether they had already locked the doors."
Reporting Verb: The word "wondered" indicates an internal question or doubt. Option C is the only one that preserves this specific reporting verb, which is more accurate than "asked" or "said."
Conjunction: The word "whether" signals that the original direct speech was a Yes/No question.
Tense: The indirect speech uses the Past Perfect ("had already locked"). In narration, the Past Perfect usually comes from the Present Perfect ("have/has locked") or the Simple Past.
Present Perfect: "Have they already locked..." - becomes Past Perfect.
Structure: When moving to direct speech, we remove the conjunction "whether" and change the statement format back into a question format (Auxiliary Verb + Subject)