Fill the blank spaces with the most appropriate of options A-E:
X: How do you want to be paid? In cash or by cheque?
Y: They asked him .... in cash or by cheque
how he wanted to be paid
whether he wanted to be paid
how he wants the money
how to pay
how did he want to be paid
Explanation
Video Explanation
No video available
Post your Contribution
Discussions (18)
Reporting on questions
When we report questions, we have to pay attention to the auxiliary verb. These are words like do, be, and have. Yes or no questions begin with an auxiliary, such as
"Do you like pizza?"
To report that question, drop the auxiliary and add if:
He asked me if I liked pizza.
Learners often make the mistake of leaving the auxiliary verb in the reported speech: He asked me do I like pizza.
Information questions start with a question word:
"Where are you going?"
To report on these, simply change the pronoun and word order.
She asked me where I was going.
Here, learners often make the mistake of keeping the same word order: She asked me where was I going.
A similar word order switch appears with the verb "be" in questions.
They asked, "When is the party?"
-> They asked me when the party was.
The question word "when" remains. "Be" moves from a position before the noun to after the noun.
Undoubtedly, B is the correct option. The reason being that, a choice much be made between Cash and Cheque.
Reporting on questions
When we report questions, we have to pay attention to the auxiliary verb. These are words like do, be, and have. Yes or no questions begin with an auxiliary, such as
"Do you like pizza?"
To report that question, drop the auxiliary and add if:
He asked me if I liked pizza.
Learners often make the mistake of leaving the auxiliary verb in the reported speech: He asked me do I like pizza.
Information questions start with a question word:
"Where are you going?"
To report on these, simply change the pronoun and word order.
She asked me where I was going.
Here, learners often make the mistake of keeping the same word order: She asked me where was I going.
A similar word order switch appears with the verb "be" in questions.
They asked, "When is the party?"
-> They asked me when the party was.
The question word "when" remains. "Be" moves from a position before the noun to after the noun.
The right answer is B. Y is reporting the speech, so the sentence would be, They asked him whether he wanted to be paid in cash or by cheque.
E is very wrong.
Thanks for the observation. We've been able to review the question and provide an appropriate answer.
A is no doubt the answer.its a reported speech which should be in a past tense form.
The correct option is 
A. how he wanted to be paid.
Explanation
The sentence is an example of reported speech (indirect speech). When converting a direct question into reported speech:
The tense shifts backward: "do you want" (present simple) becomes wanted (past simple).
The word order changes from a question format to a statement format (Subject + Verb): instead of "did he want," it becomes he wanted.
The question word "how" is retained as the conjunction to connect the reporting clause with the reported question.
