SSC CGL 2025 Tier-II · Paper-I, 19 January 2026 · English Language and Comprehension · Question 4 of 150

We transcribed this text from the pictures of a candidate's response sheet for this paper; the answer is the key SSC marked with a green tick on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. This paper reaches us as a candidate's response sheet saved as pictures, so we transcribed the text from those pictures, and a second reader checked every question against them; where the layout carries meaning, we show the picture too. Each answer is the key SSC marked with a green tick on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. UnlockIAS wrote the solutions.

Select the correct direct form of the given sentence. I asked Mary if she would lend me a pencil.

(a)I said, “Mary, will she lend me a pencil?”
(b)I said to Mary, “Can you lent me a pencil?”
(c)I asked to Mary, “Would you lend me a pencil?”
(d)I said, “Mary, will you lend me a pencil?”

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Undo each change the report made.

asked ... if marks a yes/no question, so the direct form is a real question: auxiliary first, question mark at the end.

would is read as the back-shifted will, so it returns to will.

Mary is the listener, so she becomes you, and her name moves inside the quotation as the person addressed: I said, "Mary, will you lend me a pencil?" That is option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
I said, “Mary, will she lend me a pencil?” — will she keeps the reported pronoun inside the quotation. The speaker is talking to Mary, so the direct question must address her as you.
(b)
I said to Mary, “Can you lent me a pencil?” — Can you lent puts a past form after a modal; a modal takes the base form, lend. Can would also be reported as could, not as the would in the given sentence.
(c)
I asked to Mary, “Would you lend me a pencil?” — asked to Mary is the error: ask takes the person as a direct object (asked Mary), with no to. That rules this option out, even though Would you lend me a pencil? is itself good English.

Concept

Turning reported speech back into direct speech reverses each change in turn.

The reporting verb becomes said or said to, and the words go inside quotation marks. A reported yes/no question (asked if/whether) becomes a real question: auxiliary before subject, question mark at the end.

Back-shifted modals step forward again: would → will, could → can. Pronouns return to the speaker's view, so the listener is you.

Would you lend me a pencil? is also good English, and it too would be reported as if she would lend. The option that keeps would fails for another reason (asked to Mary), so it does not compete with the keyed answer.

Key facts

Reported yes/no question → direct question: asked if she would lend → "Will you lend ...?"
Modals step back in a report (will → would, can → could) and forward again in the direct form.
Ask takes the person directly: ask Mary, not ask to Mary.

Study next

Direct form of reported wh-questions: asked where he lived → "Where do you live?"Direct form of reported orders: told me to sit down → "Sit down."Punctuating a name used in address: "Mary, will you ...?"

Common traps

Leaving the reported pronoun (she) inside the quotation.
Writing asked to Mary or said me: ask takes the person directly, and say needs to before a person.

This paper turns another reported question back into direct speech at 19 Jan 2026, 11:00 AM, English Q.24: He inquired whether the boy's name was Ahmed becomes He asked, "Is the boy's name Ahmed?"

At 12 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.23 the same reversal returns would to will: "I will join the meeting after lunch," he said.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Narration — all 27 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.