Narration Change of WH Questions Examples and Rules | Reported Speech WH Question

Hello there!

This is Souvik.

Here in this article, you are going to see 5 types of Direct and Indirect Speech WH Questions Examples.

Want to learn how to change the narration of wh questions? Click here.

Table of Contents:

Examples:
1. WH Word used as the Subject.
2. WH Word used as the Object.
3. WH Word + Noun Structure.
4. WH Word used as the Adverb.
5. WH Questions with Auxiliary Verbs.
        (A) Be Verb.
        (B) Modal Auxiliary Verb.

Rules:
*** Rules for Direct and Indirect Speech of WH Questions.

>> Exercise (MCQ)

Direct and Indirect Speech WH Questions Examples :

Type 1:

WH Word Used as the Subject –

Direct	Indirect
John said to me, “Who likes me?”	John asked me who liked him.
Kamal said, “Who is talking to her?”	Kamal asked / wondered who was talking to her.
“what has made you weak?”, She said to her brother.	She asked her brother what had made him weak.
John said to me, “Who threatened Mark last night?”	John asked me who had threatened Mark the previous night.
The teacher asked, “Who was making noise?”	The teacher asked who had been making noise.
Seth asked me, “What had frightened you?”	Seth asked me what had frightened me.
Dean said to Seth and Roman, “Who will bell the cat?”	Dean asked Seth and Roman who would bell the cat.
I asked them, “Who will be playing as a forward?”	I asked them who would be playing as a forward.
John said to me, “Who didn’t laugh at you?”	John asked me who hadn’t laughed at me.
“Who did not help him yesterday?”, said John to me.	John asked me who had not helped him the day before.
John said to me, “What doesn’t irritate you?”	John asked me what didn’t irritate me.
John said to me, “Who hasn’t called him a coward?”	John asked me who hadn’t called him a coward.
John said to me, “Who doesn’t know you?”	John asked me who didn’t know me.
John said to us, “Who will not be going with me?”	John asked us who would not be going with him.
John said to me, "What doesn’t make her feel proud?"	John asked me what didn’t make her feel proud.

Related : See Indirect speech for Vocative words.

Type 2:

WH Word Used as the Object – 

 

Direct	Indirect
They asked my brother, “What do you do?”	They asked my brother what he did.
She asked me, “What are you doing.”	She asked me what I was doing.
Mary said to her sister, “When is father arriving?”	Marry asked her sister when their father was arriving.
Daniel said to her, “What have you bought for the children?”	Daniel asked her what she had bought for the children.
Dean said to her, “What did I say?”	Dean asked her what he had said.
His wife said to Rob, “Why were you running?”	His wife asked Rob why he had been running.
“Why had you sent her to the shop before cleaning the floor?”, said Rob.	Rob asked why I had sent her to the shop before cleaning the floor.
I said to him, “When will you clean the floor?”	I asked him when he would clean the floor.
The old lady asked me, “Whom will you be selling flowers if I shall die?”	The old lady asked me whom I would sell flowers if she should die.
Dean said to his daughter, “What hasn’t you bought?”	Dean asked his daughter what hadn’t she bought.
Joseph said to me, “Whom don’t you respect?”	Joseph asked me whom I didn’t respect.
His wife asked Joseph, “whom didn’t you invite?”	His wife asked Joseph whom he hadn’t invited.
Kate said to her friends, “Why don’t you talk to me?”	Kate asked her friends why they didn’t talk to her.
“Why don’t you laugh?”, said Kate to me.	Kate asked me why I didn’t laugh.
She also said, “Whom aren’t they going to allow?”	She also asked whom they weren’t going to allow.

Related: Change the Narration of Universal Truth, Habitual Action and Historical fact.

Type 3: 

Wh word used as an adverb –

Direct	Indirect
John asked her, “When do you water the plants?”	John asked her when she watered the plants?
Joe said to me, “Why do you think football is boring?”	Joe asked me why I thought football was boring.
Riyanka asked her teacher, “Why is the earth moving around the sun?”	Riyanka asked her teacher why the earth is moving around the sun.
Teacher said to Ratul, “How have you done so many mistakes?”	Teacher asked Ratul how he had done so many mistakes.
Joe said to his sister, “Where did you keep the keys?”	Joe asked his sister where she had kept the keys.
Ben said to me, “How did you do this?”	Ben asked me how I had done that.
Nitin asked his sister, “Why was Rahul placating you?”	Nitin asked his sister why Rahul had been placating her.
“Why had Dave left the place before I arrived?” said peter to his friend.	Peter asked his friend why Dave had left before he had arrived.
Reena said to her father, “Where did you see my mother for the first time?”	Reena asked her father where he had seen her mother for the first time?
Joe said to me, “Why will you go to Darjeeling?”	Joe asked me Why I would go to Darjeeling.
I said, “When will you be reading this book?”	I asked when he would be reading that book.
Joe said to me, “Why don’t you like football?”	Joe asked me why I didn’t like football.
“When will these vacancies be filled?”, said the reporter to the minister.	The reporter asked the minister when those vacancies would be filled.

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Type 4:

Wh word + noun –

Direct	Indirect
She asked me, “Which book do you want to read?”	She asked me which book I wanted to read.
The reporter asked me, “Which candidate are you going to vote for?”	The reporter asked which candidate I was going to vote for.
Her uncle said to her, “Which cycle is yours?”	Her uncle asked her which cycle was hers.
My father said to me, “Which novel have you read?”	My father asked me which novel I had read.
“Which shirt did you buy for me?” said Henry to his mother.	Henry asked his mother which shirt she had bought for him.
“Which village do you live in?” asked the old man.	The old man asked which village I lived in.
“Which chocolate don’t you like?” said the shopkeeper.	The shopkeeper asked which chocolate I didn’t like.

Type 5:

WH Questions with Auxiliary Verbs :

(A) WH Question with Be Verbs:

Reported Clause – "auxiliary verb + Subject".

Indirect – Subject + auxiliary verb .

As,

Direct	Indirect
Peter said to me, “What am I supposed to do here?”	Peter asked me what he was supposed to do there.
She asked me, “Who is that lady?”	She asked me who that lady was.
I said to my sister, “Which is not your notebook?”	I asked my sister which her notebook was not.
I asked her “How are you?”	I asked her how she was.
The old man asked the child, “What is your name?”	The old man asked the child what his name was.
I asked mother “How was your day?”	I asked mother how her day had been.
“Who was not present yesterday?” asked the teacher.	The teacher asked who had not been present the day before.
The teacher asked her “Why were you absent yesterday?”	The teacher asked her why she had been absent the previous day.
I said to my friend “Why weren’t you sitting there?”	I asked my friend Why she had not been sitting there.
“What will be the consequences in your opinion?” the activist asked.	The activist asked what the consequences would be in my opinion.
Rachael asked me, “Why shall I be there for nothing.”	Rachael asked me why she should be there for nothing.
Michael said, “Why shall I not be there if I get valuable advice?”	Michael asked why she should not be there if she got valuable advice.

(B) WH Questions with Modal Auxiliary Verbs:

Direct	Indirect
I said, “How can you be so irresponsible?”	I wondered how she could be so irresponsible.
She said to us, “Who cannot remember math formula?”	She asked us who couldn’t remember math formula.
I asked her, “How could you insult me?”	I asked her how she could insult me.
“Why couldn’t you score even a single run?” they said to me.	They asked me why I couldn’t score even a single run.
“When will you switch off the TV?” Said Mr. Paul to his son.	Mr. Paul asked his son when he would switch off the TV.
Jaya said to her son, “Why won’t you visit your grandparents?”	Jaya asked her son why he wouldn't visit his grandparents.
“Well” he said, “What would you like to take?”	He asked what I would like to take.
The police said, “Why wouldn’t you answer my questions?”	The police asked why he wouldn’t answer his questions.
“Why shall I help him?” Said Roger.	Roger asked why he should help him.
“Why shall not we encourage her?” I asked.	I asked why we shouldn’t encourage her.
“What should I ask for?” she said.	She asked what she should ask for.
Mrs. Jones asked Mr. Jones, “Why shouldn’t she come to our house?”	Mrs. Jones asked Mr. Jones why she shouldn't go to their house.
I said, “Who may be there?”	I asked who might be there.
“Why may not I come in?” She asked me.	She asked me why she might not go in.
She said, “What might he ask for?”	She asked what he might ask for.
“What might not she say?” I asked.	I asked what she might not say.
“Who must be driving the car?” Mrs Jones said.	Mrs. Jones asked who must be driving the car.
Anne said to her husband, “Who used to stare at me?”	Anne asked her husband who used to stare at her.
“Why used you not to help your mother?” I asked my friend.	I asked my friend why he used not to help his mother.
I said, “What ought I to sacrifice?”	I asked what I ought to sacrifice.
The young man said, “Why ought you to take tuitions?”	The young man asked why I ought to take tuitions.
I said to my friend, “Why need you say this?”	I asked my friend why he need say that.
She asked, “Who need not pass the exam?”	She asked who need not pass the exam.
She said, “How dare you say this?”	She exclaimed how he dare say that.
I asked her, “Whom you dare not oppose?”	I asked her whom she dare not oppose.

Okay, 

That's all.

You've seen some examples.

Now if you need know the rules, continue reading.

Wondering how to change the narration of a wh-question?

Well,

Here we’re going to talk about how to change the narration when the reported clause of a direct narration is a wh question.

Rules for Direct and Indirect Speech of WH Questions

You might know how many types of question are there.

Yes.

There are two types of question – Yes-No question and Wh question.

But do you know how many types of Wh question are there?

There are mainly four types of WH questions.

The structures are given below-

 Type 1:  WH + verb + object + ? 

           E.g.-Who did it?  [Go⬇ ]

 Type 2:  WH + helping verb + subject + verb + ? 

           E.g.- What do you want?  [Go⬇ ]

 Type 3:  WH + helping verb + subject + main verb + object + ? 

           E.g.-When did you make it?  [Go⬇ ]

 Type 4:  WH + noun + helping verb + subject + main verb + ? 

          E.g.- Which book do you want?  [Go⬇ ]

In today's discussion of changing the narration, every reported clause will be a WH question. And each of them is based on any one of these four structures.

Start with 3 general rules:

(i) As it is an interrogative sentence, you must replace say/says/said (+ to) with ask/asks/asked or enquire/enquires/enquired.

(ii) No conjunction ('that') is used, since the same wh word of the direct speech itself acts as a conjunction here.

(iii) Turn the interrogative sentence into a statement. 

For this purpose, the word order is changed as follows -

But, in case there is a do verb in the interrogative, the statement will remove the do verb and modify its main verb -

Questions	Statements
How do you know that?	How you know that.
Why does he smoke?	Why he smokes.
Where did she go?	Where she went.

However, let's come to our main discussion

Change the Narration of Wh Questions - step by step process :–

 Reported Speech Based on Type 1 Question: 

Direct – Subject + say, “Wh word (Only Who/What) + verb + object + ?”

E.g.-

Direct – Kamla said, “Who breaks it?” 

[Turn it into indirect speech]

Here the reported speech is based on the type 1 wh question.

Now you can turn it into an indirect speech with 3 easy steps...

Step 1:

Replace say /says /said (+ to) with ask/ asks/ asked or enquire / enquires / enquired.

Indirect – Kamla asked...

Step 2:

Remove the inverted commas.

Step 3:

Write the reported speech (including the WH word) as an assertive sentence  by removing the question mark (‘?’).

Indirect – Kamla asked who broke it.

This is the answer.

The wh word ‘who’ acts as a relative conjunction, that joins the reporting verb with the reported speech.

Did you notice?
Structure 1 of wh question follows a normal word order i.e. subject + verb + object where the wh word itself acts as the subject. In this case only 'Who' or 'what' or 'which' can be used.

Other examples –

Direct – Ben said to me, “Who calls you a liar?”
Indirect – Ben asked me who called me a liar.

Direct – I said, “Who did it?”
Indirect – I asked who had done it.

Direct – She said, “What helped him at that moment?”
Indirect – She asked what had helped him at that moment.

Direct – She said to me, “What motivates you?”
Indirect – She asked me what motivated me.

Okay,

Structure 1 is almost complete.

Now all you have to do is test yourself.

Open your copy and start writing the answers one by one.

Are you ready?

Alright. 

Quickly turn these direct speeches given below into indirect:

A. Direct – Nancy asked him, “Who says that?”

Indirect – 

B. Direct – Bryan said to me, “Who doesn’t know you?”

Indirect – 

C. Direct – “Who will talk to her?” I asked Dave.

Indirect –

D. Direct – "What prevents her from taking bribe?" Asked the man.

Indirect – 

Okay,

Now match your answers with the answers given below.

If your answers are...

A. Nancy asked him who said that.

B. Bryan asked me who didn’t know me.

C. I asked Dave who would talk to her.

D. The man asked what prevented her from taking bribe.

...then you are absolutely correct.

Isn't it that easy?

Go ahead.

Read more: 100+ Change the Narration Exercises.

 Reported Speech Based on Type 2 Question: 

Direct – Subject + say, “WH + helping verb + main verb + ?"

E.g. –
Direct – Joe said to me, “What do you want?”

Let's turn into indirect speech with 4 simple steps...

Step 1:

 

Replace say/says/said (+ to) with ask/asks/asked or enquire/enquires/enquired.

Indirect – Joe asked...

Step 2:

Put down the object of the reporting verb.

[Here the object is 'me']

Indirect – Joe asked me...

Step 3:

 Remove the inverted commas.

Step 4:

Write the reported speech as an assertive sentence by removing the question mark (‘?’).

Indirect – Joe asked me what I wanted.

So here is the final indirect structure.
Indirect – Subject + ask/asks/asked + Wh + Subject + verb + object.

Other examples –  

Direct –  “What have you done?” I asked him.

Indirect – I asked him what he had done.

Direct –  “What did I say?” She asked him.

Indirect – She asked him what she had said.

Direct – Chris said to me, “What will you eat?”

Indirect – Chris asked me what I would eat.

Direct – Daniel asked me, “Whom hasn’t John abused?”  

Indirect – Daniel asked me whom John hadn’t abused.

Did you notice?
Structure 2 of wh question follows a structure i.e. auxiliary verb + subject + main verb+ ? where the wh word acts as the object. In this case only 'Whom', 'what'  etc. can be used.

In the indirect speech, the word order must be normal i.e. Subject + auxiliary verb + main verb + object.

Well,

Type 2 is also done. 

Now, Can you turn these direct speeches given below into indirect?

Open your copy and please write the answers.

1. Direct – “Whom do you obey?” She asked me.

Indirect – 

2. Direct – The police asked him, “whom did you see?”

Indirect – 

3. Direct – “Whom are we awaiting?” Asked the boy.

Indirect – 

4. Direct – “What does she like?” I said.

Indirect – 

5. Direct – She said to me, “Whom don’t you see here?”
Indirect – 

Well,

Check your copy.

I'm sure your answers are...

1. She asked whom I obeyed.

2. The police asked him whom he had seen.

3. The boy asked whom they were awaiting.

4. I asked what she liked.

5. She asked me whom I didn't see there.

...respectively and again, you are correct.

So, you have completed the first two types.

Related: Direct and Indirect Speech rules for Vocative word or Addressing word.

Now, move on to structure 3

 Reported Speech Based on Type 3 Question: 

Direct – Subject + reporting verb (+ to + object) + , + "WH + helping verb + subject + main verb + object + ?"

E.g. – 

Direct – Derek said to me, “When did you read the book?”

[Turn it into an Indirect Speech.]

You can see - this reported speech is almost similar to the previous one. Only the object was missing in the previous type. 

Anyways.

You can answer it easily with these 4 steps. 

Step 1:

Replace say/says/said (+ to) with ask/asks/asked or enquire/enquires/enquired.

Indirect – Derek asked...

Step 2:

Put down the object of the reporting verb.

[Here the object is 'me']

Indirect – Derek asked me...

Step 3:

 Remove the inverted commas.

Step 4:

Put the reported speech as an assertive sentence (in normal word order) removing the question mark (‘?’).

Indirect – Derek asked me when I had read the book.

Other examples: 

Direct – You say to your sister, “Where did you keep the bunch of keys?”
Indirect – You ask your sister where she  kept the bunch of keys.

Direct – I said to my father, “How did you do it?”
Indirect – I asked my father how he had done it.

Direct – She said to me, “Whom did you give your earphones?”
Indirect – She asked me whom I had given my earphones.

Direct – I asked my brother, “Why don’t you like football?”

Indirect – I asked my brother why he didn’t like football.

Related: How to Change the Narration (basic level).

Okay,

You have finished type #3 which is quite similar to type #2.

Again it's time to solve questions.

Turn into indirect speech:

1. Direct – “Why do you think football is boring?” she cried.

Indirect – 

2. Direct – “When will she invite them?” We ask.

Indirect – 

Answers:

1. She asked why we thought football was boring.

2. We ask when she will invite them.

Great!

Move on to the Final type -->

 Reported Speech Based on Type 4 Question: 

Direct – Subject + say, “WH + noun + helping verb + main verb + object + ?

E.g.-

Direct – You said to me, “Which book do you want to read?”

Step1:

 

Replace say/says/said with ask/asks/asked or enquire/ enquires/enquired.

Indirect – You asked...

Step 2: 

Put the object of the reporting verb (said).

(Here the object is 'me'.)

Indirect – You asked me...

Step 3:

Remove the inverted commas.

Step 4: 

Write the reported speech (including the WH + noun) as a statement and remove the question mark (‘?’).

Indirect – You asked me which book I wanted to read.

Other examples: 

Direct – Maroof said to his mother, “Which shirt did you buy for me?”
Indirect – Maroof asked his mother which shirt she had bought for him.

Direct – Rakib said to Akil, “Which village do you live in?”
Indirect – Rakib asked Akil which village he lived in.

Direct – Kamal says to Bimal, “Which chocolate don’t you like?
Indirect – Kamal askes Bimal which chocolate he doesn’t like.

Read more: Active and Passive Voice of WH Questions.




Okay, now we are going to discuss how to change the narration of a WH question with be verb –

Direct and Indirect Speech of WH Question with Be-Verb:

 Type 1: 

Direct – ...say, “WH + be verb + object + ?”

E.g. –
Direct – Rohit said, “Who is the man?”

[Turn into indirect narration.] 

Step 1:

Replace say/says/said with ask/asks/asked or enquire/ enquires/enquired.

Indirect – Rohit asked...

Step 2:

Put the object of the reporting verb.

[Here the reporting verb doesn't have an object.]

Step 3: 

Remove the inverted commas.

Step 4:

Write the reported speech including the WH + noun as an assertive sentence placing the object before the be verb. And remove the question mark (‘?’).

Indirect – Rohit asked who the man was.

So here is the final indirect structure.
Indirect – ...asked Wh + object + be verb.



Other examples:

Direct – Grandmother said to me, “How are you?”
Indirect – Grandmother asked me how I was.

Direct – They say to him, “What is your name.”
Indirect – They ask him what his name is.

 Type 2: 

If both (the reporting verb and the reported speech) of them are in past tense, the indirect narration will be in past perfect tense (had + V3). 

The third form of every be verb is been. So the past perfect tense, in this case, is had + been.

Hence, we have to use had been instead of was/were.

E.g. –
Direct – Kafil said, “How was your day?”
Indirect – Kafil asked how my day had been.

Direct – The teacher said to my sister, “Why were you absent yesterday?”
Indirect – The teacher asked my sister why she had been absent the previous day.


For negative sentence use a 'not'    between had and been.

Direct – He said to his sister, “Why weren’t you present there?”
Indirect – He asked his sister why she had not been present there.

So, that's all for Changing the Narration of Wh questions. 

Okay that's all for the lesson. 

Now it's time to practice. 

Here I have chosen 20 MCQs for you.

What should you do? 

(i) Select an option of each question which you think is correct.

(ii) Press the "Submit" button at the bottom.

(iii) Scroll up.

(iv) There you'll find a "View score" button. Hit it.

Thank you...