Select the most appropriate option that can substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence.
The mother asked the child, “Will you tell me who did accompany you to the airport?”
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The correct answer is option 3 i.e. who accompanied you.
Error Concept: Incorrect use of auxiliary verb in reported speech.
What is wrong: The phrase 'who did accompany you' is incorrectly used in the question form inside indirect speech.
Grammatical Concept: In indirect or reported speech, the question form with auxiliary 'did' is usually changed into a simple past statement form without the auxiliary verb.
Incorrectness of the concept in context: The sentence uses “did accompany” in a question inside reported speech, which is unnatural and grammatically incorrect. The auxiliary “did” should be removed to form a correct indirect question.
correction: Remove the auxiliary “did” and use the simple past verb form directly after “who”.
Correct phrase: who accompanied you.
Final sentence: The mother asked the child, “Will you tell me who accompanied you to the airport?”
Hence, the chosen option is correct.