Select the option that expresses the given sentence in indirect speech.
The instructor said to the student, “Can you explain this?”
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is option 4, i.e. The instructor asked the student whether she could explain that.
Changes required:
Conjunction: "whether" is used to introduce the indirect question.
Verb: "Can" changes to "could" (as per the rules of backshifting in indirect speech).
Pronoun: "you" changes to "she", as the speaker is talking to the student.
Others: "this" changes to "that" (as the speech is being reported later, so the reference becomes distant).
Converted sentence: The instructor asked the student whether she could explain that.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.