Select the option that expresses the given sentence in indirect speech. "Dear daughter," she said caressing her cheeks, “have you come to comfort me in my time of need?”
The correct option is 1. Caressing her daughter’s cheeks, she asked affectionately if she had come to comfort her in her time of need.
This option accurately reflects the indirect speech of the given sentence. Let's analyze why other options are incorrect and what makes option 1 the best choice:
- Option 1 correctly changes the direct question into an indirect question using "if" and adjusts the verb tense accordingly ("have you come" becomes "had come"). The tone is also appropriately conveyed using "asked affectionately."
- Option 2 uses the continuous past tense ("had been coming"), which is inappropriate in this context. The original sentence implies a single act of coming, not an ongoing action.
- Option 3 uses the past simple tense ("did come"), which doesn't reflect the past perfect implied in the original question. The question asks about an action that happened *before* the mother's asking.
- Option 4 uses the present perfect tense ("has come"), which is incorrect because it places the action in the present, while the context is clearly past.
In converting direct speech to indirect speech, it's crucial to maintain the original meaning and tense consistency. Option 1 successfully achieves this by using the appropriate indirect question structure, verb tense (past perfect to align with the past context), and descriptive adverbs to retain the original emotion ("affectionately"). The change of the direct quote "Dear daughter" into the introductory phrase "Caressing her daughter's cheeks" adds context efficiently. The indirect question appropriately reflects the mother's inquiry while maintaining grammatical accuracy and conveying the original sentiment of the direct speech.
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