Choose the sentence that correctly structures an indirect reported question:
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. The auditor inquired whether the department had reconciled its annual financial statements.
- Step 1: In indirect (reported) questions, standard declarative word order (subject + verb) must be used rather than inverted question word order (verb + subject or auxiliary insertion).
- Step 2: An indirect question concludes with a period, not a question mark.
- Step 3: 'The auditor inquired whether [the department (subject)] [had reconciled (verb)]...' adheres to proper declarative syntax.
Answer
The auditor inquired whether the department had reconciled its annual financial statements.
Why not the others: 'whether had the department' incorrectly maintains subject-verb inversion; 'inquired that if' is redundant and ends in an improper question mark; 'whether did the department' incorrectly retains the auxiliary 'did'.
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