Choose the most suitable option to replace the highlighted part of the sentence:
He did not know where was the book kept.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is Option 1 i.e. where the book was kept.
Error Concept: This error is related to the word order in an indirect question or a noun clause.
What is wrong: The phrase "where was the book kept" uses an interrogative structure (Verb + Subject), which is only used for direct questions.
Grammatical concept: In a statement where a question word (like where, what, why) is used as a conjunction to join two clauses, we use the assertive structure (Subject + Verb).
Incorrectness of the concept in context: Since the sentence is a statement and not a direct question, placing the auxiliary verb "was" before the subject "the book" is grammatically incorrect.
How to correct: We need to move the verb after the subject. Therefore, "where was the book kept" should be changed to "where the book was kept."
Correct phrase: where the book was kept
Final sentence: He did not know where the book was kept.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.