Choose the correct indirect speech of the sentence:
She said, "Don’t you understand the seriousness of the matter?"
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
To convert a "Yes/No" question (a question starting with an auxiliary verb like "Don't") into indirect speech:
Reporting Verb: "Said" changes to "asked" or "inquired."
Conjunction: We use "if" or "whether" to connect the reporting verb to the speech.
Tense: The Simple Present ("Don't understand") shifts to the Simple Past ("understood").
Note: In competitive exams, negative rhetorical questions like "Don't you understand?" are often converted into a positive inquiry ("if I understood") because the speaker is essentially checking for understanding.
Sentence Structure: The question format (Verb + Subject) changes into an assertive format (Subject + Verb).
Pronoun Change: The second-person pronoun "you" changes to the first-person "I" (assuming the speaker is addressing the narrator).