I said to her, “Why are you sleeping”?
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Answer: A. I asked her why she was sleeping.
Explanation
Indirect wh- questions change to statement word order without using the conjunction that. Option A correctly transforms the direct question into a statement introduced by why. The subject she precedes the auxiliary verb was in the indirect reporting clause. Direct questions use auxiliary inversion, whereas indirect questions use standard word order. Reporting interrogatives requires dropping question marks and adjusting verb tenses. Wh- question words retain their role as connectors when converting speech formats.
Journalists interviewing subjects must master indirect question transformations for news articles. Clear dialogue reporting is essential for writing engaging fiction and narrative essays. Grammar rules prevent redundant connectors like that in indirect wh- questions. I asked her that why she was sleeping incorrectly combines the conjunction that with a wh- word. I asked her that why was she sleeping retains question word order and adds an unnecessary that. None of these is incorrect because option A provides the flawless grammatical transformation.
- Subject
- English
- Category
- English Grammar and Vocabulary
- Topic
- —
- Difficulty
- medium
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