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Difficulty: Very hardDirect and Indirect (Reported) Speech

Complete the indirect speech transformation below by filling in the missing verb form and time expression in the blanks provided.

Answer:Direct: "Must I submit the finalized expenditure report to the internal auditor tomorrow?" the accountant asked.

Indirect: The accountant inquired whether he 【had to】 submit the finalized expenditure report to the internal auditor 【the following day】.

Answer

The first blank requires 'had to' to properly backshift the modal verb 'must' expressing necessity in indirect speech, and the second blank requires 'the following day' (or 'the next day' / 'the day after') to convert the time adverbial 'tomorrow'.
In converting direct speech questions to indirect speech with a past reporting verb ('inquired'), the modal auxiliary 'must' expressing obligation shifts to 'had to', and the temporal adverb 'tomorrow' shifts to 'the following day', 'the next day', or 'the day after'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the reporting verb tense and sentence type.
The reporting verb 'asked' (inquired) is in the past tense, which mandates tense backshifting. The direct sentence is a yes/no question using the modal auxiliary 'must'.
When converting a question expressing necessity or obligation in past reporting contexts, the modal verb and time adverbs must undergo backshift and transformation.
2
Backshift the modal auxiliary verb 'must'.
'Must' expressing obligation or necessity shifts to 'had to' in indirect speech.
'Must' changes to 'had to' in reported speech when referring to a past obligation.
3
Transform the time adverbial 'tomorrow'.
'tomorrow' becomes 'the following day', 'the next day', or 'the day after'.
Time expressions indicating future relative to the speech time shift relative to the past point of reporting.

Key Concept

Backshifting modal auxiliaries and converting temporal adverbs in reported questions
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Topics

Direct and Indirect (Reported) Speech

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