The traveler enquired to the farmer if he could tell him the way to the nearest inn.
Correct answer: C. The traveler said to the farmer, "Can you tell me the way to the nearest inn?"
- A. The traveler said to the farmer, "Where is the nearest inn?"
- B. The traveler said to the farmer, "Which is the way to the nearest inn?"
- C. The traveler said to the farmer, "Can you tell me the way to the nearest inn?"
- D. The traveler said to the farmer, "Can you tell me where is the nearest inn?"Booking Historical Guided Tours
Explanation
The indirect question reports a request for information, so the natural direct form is, “Can you tell me the way to the nearest inn?” Option d incorrectly retains the indirect-question order “where is.”
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About Direct and Indirect Speech
Direct speech gives a speaker’s exact words, whereas indirect speech reports the meaning without quotation marks. Questions cover reporting verbs, pronoun changes, tense backshift, time and place expressions, punctuation, and the transformation of questions, commands and requests, including cases where backshift is not required.
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