Question

Read the conversation between a professional writer and a school student: Student: What prompted you to become a professional writer? Writer: My childhood library housed books of all kinds. I was fascinated with the compelling stories and wanted to create my own. Report the student’s question.

Hint:

In reporting Wh-questions: keep the Wh-word, remove inversion, and shift tense back (prompted → had prompted).

Answer 1

The student asked the writer
what had prompted him to become a professional writer
.
Alternative correct reporting:

• The student inquired of the writer
  what had prompted him to become a professional writer
  .
• The student asked the writer
  what prompted him to become a professional writer
  . (less formal, but acceptable in some contexts)
• The student wanted to know
  what had prompted the writer to become a professional writer
  .

Explanation of changes in reported speech:
\begin{tabular}{|l|l|} \hline
Direct Speech
&
Reported Speech

\hline What prompted & what had prompted
\hline you & him
\hline Question form & Statement form
\hline \end{tabular}
Step-by-step transformation:

• This is a
  Wh-question
  (question word "What"), so no if/whether is needed.
• The reporting verb "asked" is in past tense, so we apply backshift of tenses:
  • "Prompted" (simple past) changes to
    "had prompted"
    (past perfect)
• Pronoun changes:
  • "You" (writer) changes to
    "him"
    
• The question format changes to statement format (subject + verb order).
• The Wh-word "what" is retained and connects the two clauses.

Complete reported sentence:
"The student asked the writer
what had prompted him to become a professional writer
."