Convert from direct speech into indirect speech. "Where were you last week?" Alok asked Sheela
- (a)Alok told Sheela where she had been the week before
- (b)Alok asked Sheela where she had been the week before
- (c)Alok asked Sheela where she was the week before
- (d)Alok asked Sheela where she had been the last week
Correct — B. A question is reported with 'asked'; a wh-question keeps its question word ('where') and takes statement word order, 'you' shifts to 'she', 'were' back-shifts to 'had been', and 'last week' becomes 'the week before'. Option B makes all of these changes.
- (a)Alok told Sheela where she had been the week before — Uses 'told', which reports a statement or command, not a question.
- (c)Alok asked Sheela where she was the week before — Keeps 'was' instead of back-shifting the past tense to 'had been'.
- (d)Alok asked Sheela where she had been the last week — Leaves 'last week' unchanged instead of shifting it to 'the week before'.
Reporting a wh-question: 'asked' + question word + statement word order, with tense back-shift (were → had been) and time shift (last week → the week before).
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
'When did you arrive?' he asked me. In reported speech this becomes —
- (a)He asked me when I had arrived
- (b)He told me when I arrived
- (c)He asked me when did I arrive
- (d)He asked me when I have arrived
Answer(a) He asked me when I had arrived — asked + statement order + did arrive → had arrived.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In reporting a wh-question, the word order after the question word becomes —
- (a)inverted (verb before subject)
- (b)that of a statement (subject before verb)
- (c)unchanged, keeping the question mark
- (d)exclamatory
Answer(b) that of a statement (subject before verb) — reported questions drop the inversion.