Identify the underlined the clauses: Inspite of repeated assurances by the chairman, nothing positive was done.
Answers
Explanation:
Independent Clause ➙ Nothing positive was done .
Dependent Clause ➙ In spite of repeated assurances by the chairman.
An interrogative sentence, when changed to reported speech, does not function as an interrogative anymore. It turns into a declarative sentence.
So, the word order of an interrogative changes to that of an assertive/declaratory sentence.
Option C: This sentence is the correct narration of the direct speech, as 'said' has changed to 'asked', to keep the meaning of the sentence intact. The question form 'will he' is changed to the declarative form 'he would'. 'Would' is the past tense form of 'will' in reported speech. Hence C is correct.
Option A is incorrect because the question form has not been changed; 'would he' must be changed to 'he would'.
Option B is incorrect because the tense of the verb 'will' has not been changed here. (When the reporting verb 'said' is in past tense, and the direct speech is in future tense, 'will' changes to 'would'.)
Option D is incorrect because the answer lies in C.