Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word
“Can you open the door for me, my son?” asked an old woman.
An old woman asked a young man _______ the door for her.
a) Can he open
b) He opens
c) Does he open
d) If he can open
e) To open

Answer 1

Hint: Direct speech is the words and ideas passed on to the second person by the first person themselves. Indirect speech is the one which is told to the third person by the second person; the words of the first person. As a direct speech sentence is converted to reported speech or indirect speech, several changes occur in the format of the sentences.

Complete answer:
Here, the old woman requests a young man to do something for her. Here, the format for the reported speech would likely be,
If + subject + action word
For reporting verbs such as ask, beg and encourage, the above format is used.
Now, looking at the options given above,
a) Can he open: is the wrong format.
b) He opens: this is the wrong format for the above reported speech, since the young man didn’t open the door for the old woman. She was requesting him to open the door.
c) Does he open: usage of wrong format. Here, we are not forming a question; the question is being converted to reported speech.
d) If he can open: the format here is apt for the sentence since the old woman is requesting the young man to help her.
To open: this format is often used when it comes to giving commands and orders and hence is not suitable for the sentence.

So, the correct answer is “Option d”.

Note:
There might be a confusion in deciding between option d and option e, but the former uses the proper forms of the sentence when converting a request to a reported speech. The latter refers to giving an order or command.
Eg: He ordered her to open the door.