Yes or no questions are reported with ‘if’ or ‘whether’. Note that we cannot use the words say and tell to report questions.
Study the examples given below.
‘Are you a clever boy?’ the stranger asked Harry. (Direct speech)
The stranger asked Harry if / whether he was a clever boy. (Indirect speech)
Some people ask, ‘Is there a God?’
Some people ask whether there is a God.
Exercise
Report the following Yes or No questions.
1. ‘Were you present yesterday?’ the teacher said to Raju.
2. ‘Have you ever been to a zoo?’ James asked me.
3. ‘Did you have any difficulty solving the problem?’ the master asked the girl.
4. The lady asked the servant, ‘Did you collect my letters from the post office?’
5. Tom asked Ben, ‘Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?’
6. ‘Has your father gone to the office?’ I asked the boy.
7. ‘May I go home?’ the girl said.
8. ‘Shall we call the police?’ one of them asked.
9. ‘Will you buy my hair?’ Della asked Madam.
10. The man said to the boy, ‘Can’t you do this yourself?’
Answers
1. The teacher asked Raju if he had been present the previous day.
2. James asked me if I had ever been to a zoo.
3. The master asked the girl if she had any difficulty solving the problem.
4. The lady asked the servant if he had collected her letters from the post office.
5. Tom asked Ben whether a boy got a chance to whitewash a fence every day.
6. I asked the boy whether his father had gone to the office.
7. The girl asked if she might go home.
8. One of them asked if they should call the police.
9. Della asked Madam if she would buy her hair.
10. The man asked the boy if he could not do that himself.
