Question

Read Somil’s request to his mother:
“Can you teach me to swim?”
Report Somil’s request by completing the following sentence correctly:
Somil asked his mother _________

Hint:

Convert requests using: asked + person + to + verb (e.g., asked me to help, asked her to wait).

Answer 1

Somil asked his mother
if she could teach him to swim
.
Alternative correct completions:

• Somil asked his mother
  whether she could teach him to swim
  .
• Somil asked his mother
  to teach him to swim
  .
• Somil requested his mother
  if she could teach him to swim
  .
• Somil asked his mother
  whether she would teach him to swim
  .

Explanation of changes in reported speech:
\begin{tabular}{|l|l|} \hline
Direct Speech
&
Reported Speech

\hline Can you & if she could / whether she could
\hline me & him
\hline Question form & Statement form
\hline \end{tabular}
Rules applied:

• Modal verb "can" changes to "could" in reported speech
• First person pronoun "me" changes to third person "him"
• "You" (mother) changes to "she"
• "If/Whether" used to introduce the reported question
• Question format changed to statement format