Question

He said,"Do they work on Saturdays?" ... change into indirect speech.​

Answer 1

Question:-

He said,"Do they work on Saturdays?" (change into indirect speech.)

Answer:-

He asked if they work on Saturdays.

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The sentence we were given is He said,"Do they work on Saturdays?"

Here, reporting verb He said is in Simple Past tense and reported speech Do they work on Saturdays? is in Interrogative Sentence

We change this kind of direct speech in indirect speech as followings:-

• The reporting verb said (or any other word used as the reporting verb) changes to asked, questioned, enquired in the indirect speech.
• If, whether is placed before the reported speech.

Then change the person following this rule :-

• In Reported speech the first person change according to the subject of reporting verb, second person changes according to object, and the third person remains unchanged.

According to the reporting verb, changes are made in the direct sentence or the sentence in inverted commas.

• If the reporting verb is in the past tense, then the direct sentence is changed in its past tense.

Note that the indirect narration is always in the assertive form. In other words, the interrogative sentences in the direct speech will change into assertive sentences in the indirect speech.

Some Examples:-

• Direct: She said to me, ‘Are you coming with us?’

Indirect: She asked me if I was going with them.

• Direct: She said to me, ‘Are you unwell?’

Indirect: She asked me if I was unwell.

• Direct: She said to him, ‘Am I to wait for you till eternity?’

Indirect: She enquired of him if she was to wait for him till eternity.