In this Direct and Indirect speech question, the sentence What makes you so sad, she asked Manoj must be reported in indirect speech, and you have to choose the option that correctly conveys the question in reported form with proper tense and pronoun changes.

Introduction / Context:
Questions on direct and indirect speech require you to convert a quoted sentence into reported form while respecting changes in tense, pronouns, and word order. In this case, the direct question is what makes you so sad, she asked Manoj. We need to convert this into indirect speech, where the reporting verb is asked and the question word what introduces the reported clause. Because the reporting verb is in the past tense, the tense of the verb inside the reported question usually shifts back, and pronouns should change according to who is speaking and who is being spoken to.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Direct speech: What makes you so sad, she asked Manoj.
• Reporting verb: asked, which is in the past tense.
• Listener in the original sentence: Manoj, who corresponds to he in reported speech.
• The question begins with the interrogative word what, not with an auxiliary verb.
• We assume normal backshift of tense from present to past in indirect speech.

Concept / Approach:
When converting a wh question from direct to indirect speech, we keep the wh word, use a statement word order in the reported clause, and adjust tenses and pronouns. The simple present makes changes to simple past made, because the reporting verb asked is in the past. The pronoun you refers to Manoj, so it becomes him or he depending on its position in the sentence. Since you is the subject of makes in the direct sentence, the equivalent subject in indirect speech will be he, but inside the object clause we use him after made to form what made him so sad. The word order changes from what makes you so sad to what made him so sad, but we do not use a question mark in the reported sentence.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
We can verify our answer by checking each grammatical requirement. First, the reporting verb asked remains unchanged and correctly introduces the indirect question. Second, the wh word what appears at the start of the reported clause, so the question meaning is preserved. Third, the tense backshift from makes to made is correctly applied, because the reporting verb is in the past. Fourth, the pronoun you has been converted to him, which matches Manoj viewed from the speaker position. Finally, the sentence uses statement order rather than question order; we say what made him so sad, not what made him so sad question mark. This matches the standard pattern of indirect wh questions and confirms that the chosen option is correct.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
She asked Manoj what makes him so sad fails to backshift the tense, leaving makes in simple present even though the reporting verb is in the past, which is normally incorrect in reported speech. She asks Manoj what made him so sad uses the present tense asks for the reporting verb while using made in the reported clause, producing an inconsistent and illogical time reference. She asks Manoj what makes him so sad uses present tense throughout and therefore does not correspond to the original past context given in the question. She asked Manoj why was he so sad changes the question word from what to why and incorrectly inverts the subject and verb in the reported clause, giving a direct question pattern instead of statement order. All these options violate one or more rules of indirect speech.

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners forget to backshift tense when the reporting verb is in the past, especially if the idea seems still true in the present. Others incorrectly preserve the direct question word order, using structures like what made him so sad with auxiliary inversion, which is not acceptable in indirect speech. Some candidates also change the wh word itself, for instance replacing what with why even though the original question asked what makes you so sad. To avoid these errors, always check three things carefully: the tense of the reporting verb, the wh word used, and the final word order of the reported clause. The reported clause should look like a normal statement, not like a direct question.

Final Answer:
The correct indirect speech form is She asked Manoj what made him so sad.