Choose the correct indirect speech form of the following sentence. Ritu said to Neha, “What will you buy for me on my birthday next year?”

Explanation

The correct option is (a). To change direct to indirect speech for a question, we use the reporting verb “asked” and remove the question form by using statement order (subject + verb). We also apply tense backshift when the reporting verb is in the past (“said”), and we change pronouns and time expressions appropriately. Step-by-step rules applied: Reporting verb change: “said to” becomes “asked” because it is an interrogative sentence. Remove quotation marks and question mark; use indirect question form. Change word order: “What will you buy” becomes “what she would buy” (no auxiliary inversion in indirect questions). Tense backshift: “will” changes to “would” because the reporting verb is in the past. Pronoun changes: “you” (addressing Neha) becomes “she”; “me” (Ritu) becomes “her”. Time expression change: “next year” becomes “the following year” in indirect speech. Possessive/time reference: “on my birthday” becomes “on her birthday” referring to Ritu. Therefore, option (A) correctly follows all conversion rules. So the correct answer is (a)