Question

Transform the given sentence into reported or indirect speech.
Alladin said to the magician, “What have I done to deserve such a severe punishment?”
A. Alladin asked the magician what he had done to deserve such a severe punishment.
B. Alladin asked the magician what he did to deserve such a severe punishment.
C. Alladin asked the magician what he was doing to deserve such a severe punishment.
D. Alladin asked the magician what he has been doing to deserve such a severe punishment.

Answer 1

Hint: Use basics of conversion direct speech into indirect speech. The above-mentioned sentence is given in direct speech which is required to be converted into report or indirect speed to find out the sentence in direct speech the conjugation ‘that’ is not used and in indirect speech the conjugation ‘that’ is used.

Complete answer:
Option (A) ‘Alladin asked the magician what he had done to deserve such a severe punishment’ is the correct option because the sentence is given in the present perfect tense and it is converted into past perfect tense.
Option (B) ‘Alladin asked the magician what he did to deserve such a severe punishment’ is an incorrect option because the sentence is not converted into past perfect tense as the original sentence is the present perfect tense.
Option (C) ‘Alladin asked the magician what he was doing to deserve such a severe punishment’ is an incorrect option because the sentence is given in present perfect tense and it should be converted into past perfect tense but in ‘Option C’ it is converted into past continuous tense.
Option (D) ‘Alladin asked the magician what he has been doing to deserve such a severe punishment’ is an incorrect option as the sentence is converted into present perfect continuous tense and it should be converted into past perfect tense in order to make indirect speech.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note: In order to convert direct speech into indirect the first step is to make a note of the reporting verb which will be used to decide the tense of the indirect speech. Change the actual place and time that is indicated by the speaker. Remember to use appropriate pronouns for the subject and the object. Make a proper order of structure and word. All these are the key points to remember.