Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: B
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This question focuses on the rules of indirect or reported speech and how word order changes when we move from a direct question to an indirect question. The sentence describes a woman asking a stranger who he was and what he wanted, but one part of the structure does not follow the correct pattern for reported questions in English.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
In reported speech, after reporting verbs like "asked", "enquired", or "wanted to know", the clause that follows usually takes the statement word order: subject before verb. Direct questions have inversion (for example: "Who is he?"), but indirect questions return to normal subject verb order: "who he is". We must scan each part and find where this rule has been broken.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Look at part A: "She enquired from the stranger". This is acceptable, although many teachers prefer "She enquired of the stranger" or simply "She enquired who he was", but there is no serious grammar error in A.Step 2: Look at part B: "who was he and". This is written in direct question word order (verb before subject) instead of indirect order.Step 3: For reported speech, we should say "who he was" inside the clause.Step 4: Look at part C: "what he wanted from her". This part properly uses the pattern subject "he" followed by verb "wanted". It is grammatically correct.Step 5: Since only one part must be called wrong, and B clearly violates the standard rule for indirect questions, part B is the error.
Verification / Alternative check:
Rewrite the sentence correctly as "She enquired from the stranger who he was and what he wanted from her". Now both subordinate clauses "who he was" and "what he wanted from her" follow normal statement word order. The new version reads smoothly and matches the rules taught in grammar books. No other part of the sentence requires change, confirming that only part B was incorrect.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A is accepted in exam contexts because "enquired from the stranger" is understandable and not strictly incorrect, though some style guides might prefer another preposition.Option C is correct because it follows the standard pattern "what he wanted from her", which is the expected word order for an indirect question clause.Option D ("No Error") is wrong because we identified a clear structural problem in part B, so the sentence cannot be error free.
Common Pitfalls:
Many learners forget that inversion (verb before subject) happens only in direct questions, not in reported speech. They get used to the sound of direct questions like "Who is he" and then transfer that pattern into indirect language. Another common mistake is to mark part A, assuming that the preposition "from" is always wrong after "enquired", even though exam patterns often accept this in favour of a more important concept such as word order in reported questions.
Final Answer:
The incorrect segment is part B, so the correct answer is "B".
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