In this direct to indirect speech question, the original sentence is: “My grandfather said to the visitor, ‘Who are you? Where do you come from?’” Choose the option that best expresses this meaning in correct indirect speech while preserving both questions asked by the grandfather.

Introduction / Context:
This question examines your understanding of converting direct speech into indirect speech, especially with interrogative sentences. The original sentence contains two questions that the grandfather addresses to the visitor, and the indirect speech version must reflect both queries correctly while following rules of tense change, pronoun change, and appropriate reporting verbs. Indirect speech questions are a frequent topic in English grammar sections of competitive exams.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Direct speech: “My grandfather said to the visitor, ‘Who are you? Where do you come from?’”
• Reporting verb: “said to,” which will normally change to “enquired of” or “asked.”
• The questions are in the present tense and second person: “are you,” “do you come.”
• The context clearly refers to a past event, so the tense in reported speech should shift to the past.

Concept / Approach:
When changing from direct to indirect speech for questions, we usually replace “said to” with a reporting verb like “asked” or “enquired of.” The question word such as “who” or “where” is kept, but the auxiliary verb structure changes into a statement form, and the question mark is removed. Tense shifts typically follow the rule that present tense in the original becomes past tense in the reported clause, and personal pronouns are changed according to the perspective of the reporter. Therefore “who are you” becomes “who he was,” and “where do you come from” becomes “where he came from.”

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Replace “said to the visitor” with an appropriate reporting verb. “Enquired of the visitor” is suitable for asking questions politely.Step 2: Convert the first direct question “Who are you?” to indirect form. The structure becomes “who he was,” dropping the direct question inversion and using past tense.Step 3: Convert the second direct question “Where do you come from?” to indirect form as “where he came from,” again changing to past tense and statement order.Step 4: Combine both clauses after the reporting verb: “My grandfather enquired of the visitor who he was and where he came from.”Step 5: Remove question marks and ensure that the entire reported speech is a single, clear statement.

Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, we can reverse the process. Starting from “My grandfather enquired of the visitor who he was and where he came from,” we can reconstruct the direct speech as, “My grandfather said to the visitor, ‘Who are you? Where do you come from?’” The meaning, the two questions, and the polite, investigative tone are fully preserved. The pronouns have been correctly shifted from “you” to “he,” and the tenses have undergone the standard backshift from present to past.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A uses “enquired the visitor” without the preposition “of,” which is incorrect usage; we enquire of someone. It also keeps the original question word order “who are you, where do you come from,” which is wrong in reported speech. Option B uses the present tense “enquires” even though the reporting verb in the original is in the past (“said”). It also incorrectly mixes tense by using “he was” and “he came from” with a present reporting verb. Option D suffers from both errors: it uses “enquires” and keeps the direct question order “who are you,” “where do you come from.”

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners forget to change the auxiliary and word order when turning questions into reported speech, leaving them in direct question form. Another common mistake is leaving the reporting verb in the wrong tense or omitting necessary prepositions like “of” after “enquired.” Pronoun changes also cause confusion; “you” in direct speech is often changed to “he” or “she” in indirect speech, depending on context. Carefully applying all three rules—tense backshift, pronoun adjustment, and reordering to a statement form—helps avoid these issues.

Final Answer:
The correct indirect speech form is My grandfather enquired of the visitor who he was and where he came from.