A sentence is provided in direct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding indirect speech. I said, “Why are you crying?”

Correct — A. A reported wh-question makes four changes.

The reporting verb said becomes asked.
Question order 'are you crying' becomes statement order, subject before verb.
The listener 'you' becomes he, a third person in the narrator's report.
After past 'asked', present continuous 'are crying' backshifts to was crying.

Result: 'I asked why he was crying.' → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  I said why are you crying. — I said why are you crying converts nothing: it keeps said, the question order 'are you' and the present tense. A reported question needs asked and statement order.
• (c)
  I told why you cried. — Told needs the listener after it when it reports speech (told him why), and it reports statements, not questions. The option also keeps you and turns 'are crying' into past simple 'cried'.
• (d)
  I asked why he cried. — Cried is past simple. Present continuous 'are crying' backshifts to past continuous was crying, so (d) loses the -ing that shows the crying in progress.

A reported question is no longer a question. It loses the question mark and the inverted order, and its tense moves one step back after a past reporting verb.

The wh-word itself, why, links the two clauses, so no if or that is added. Continuous stays continuous: are crying → was crying.

Key facts

• Present continuous reports as past continuous: are crying → was crying.
• A reported wh-question takes asked, keeps the wh-word and uses statement order.
• When tell reports speech it needs the listener: told him why, not told why.

Common traps

• Backshifting are crying to cried, which drops the continuous, as option (d) does.
• Keeping question order in a report: why are you crying instead of why he was crying.

No directly related past PYQ was found.