Question : Select the correct indirect form of the given sentence.
Anna said, "What are you talking about, Mark? How can you leave us alone at such a difficult time?"
Option 1: Anna was surprised and asked Mark what he was talking about. She further asked him how he could leave them alone at such a difficult time.
Option 2: Anna was surprised and asking Mark what he was talking about. She was asking him how he could leave them alone at such a difficult time.
Option 3: Anna asked Mark what he is talking about. She further asked him how could he leave them alone at such a difficult time.
Option 4: Anna was surprised and asking Mark what was he talking about. She also asked him how he can leave them alone at such a difficult time.
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Correct Answer: Anna was surprised and asked Mark what he was talking about. She further asked him how he could leave them alone at such a difficult time.
Solution : The first option is the correct choice.
Indirect speech, also known as reported speech or indirect discourse, is a way of reporting what someone else has said without quoting their exact words.
Narration conversion:
- The reporting verb "said" is changed to "asked".
- The present continuous tense "am talking" is changed to the past continuous tense "was talking".
- The modal "can" is changed to its past form, "could".
- The question words "what" and "how" are used as conjunctions in both sentences to emphasise the interrogative nature of the sentence.
Therefore, the indirect form would be: Anna was surprised and asked Mark what he was talking about. She further asked him how he could leave them alone at such a difficult time.
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