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.
She asked whether I was going to attend the seminar.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Correct Answer
She asked, "Are you going to attend the seminar?"
Explanation
Interrogative Structure: The presence of the conjunction whether in the indirect speech indicates that the original direct speech was a polar (yes/no) question. Therefore, the direct quotation must begin with an auxiliary verb to form a proper question.
Tense Shift: The past continuous tense (was going) in indirect speech must be reverted back to the present continuous tense (are going) in direct speech, as the reporting verb (asked) is in the past tense.
Pronoun Alignment: The first-person pronoun (I) inside the reported clause reverts to the second-person pronoun (you) to correctly reflect that the speaker was addressing the listener directly.
Key Points
Word: She asked, "Are you going to attend the seminar?"
Meaning: The grammatically accurate direct question configuration that matches the reporting constraints.
Grammatical Role: Direct interrogative clause (functions as an inverted question structure enclosed within quotation marks).