Select the option that expresses the given sentence in indirect speech.
'Dear daughter,' she said caressing her cheeks, “have you come to comfort me in my time of need?”
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The correct answer is option 2: i.e. “Caressing her daughter’s cheeks, she asked affectionately if she had come to comfort her in her time of need.”
- The reporting verb “said” becomes “asked” because the original is a question with “have you come...?”
- Present perfect “have you come” shifts to past perfect “she had come” in reported speech.
- Pronouns are updated:
“you” → “she”
“me” → “her”
- The participial phrase “Caressing her daughter’s cheeks” correctly opens the sentence, showing action while speaking.
Why the other options are incorrect:
Option 1: “she asked affectionately if she had been coming…” uses past perfect continuous (“had been coming”), changing the aspect incorrectly.
Option 3: “if she has come…” fails to backshift the tense, retaining present perfect.
Option 4: “if she did come…” uses simple past instead of the required past perfect for this context.