This question is about reported speech (also called indirect speech). When we report what someone said, we often change the pronouns, tenses, and word order.

Let's break down the original direct speech sentence:

Direct Speech: "Have you seen my daughter?"

In this sentence:

• The speaker (the woman) is asking a question.
• "you" refers to the neighbor.
• "my daughter" refers to the woman's daughter.

When we convert this into reported speech, we need to make several changes:

Step 1: Identify the reporting verb. The sentence begins with "A woman is asking her neighbour...". This tells us the action.

Step 2: Change the pronoun 'you'. In the direct question, "you" is the object of the question (the person being asked). In the reported version, this "you" (the neighbor) becomes "she" because the neighbor is a woman (implied by "her neighbour").

Step 3: Change the pronoun 'my'. The word "my" refers to the woman who is speaking. In reported speech, this changes to "her" to match the subject "a woman".

Step 4: Change the question structure. A direct question (e.g., "Have you seen...?") becomes an indirect question in reported speech. We use "if" or "whether" to introduce the reported question, and the word order changes from a question (verb-subject) to a statement (subject-verb). So, "have you seen" becomes "if she has seen".

Step 5: Final Construction. Putting it all together, the correct reported speech is: "A woman is asking her neighbour if she has seen her daughter."

Why the other options are wrong:

• "if they have seen": Incorrect pronoun. "They" is plural, but the neighbor is one person ("her neighbour").
• "have I seen": This keeps the direct question structure and the wrong pronoun "I". It is not reported speech.
• "have you seen": This is just the original direct question placed into the sentence. It does not follow the rules of reported speech.

Related Topic: Reported Speech (Questions)

When reporting a question, the structure changes significantly from direct speech.

• The reporting verbs are often 'ask', 'inquire', 'wonder', etc.
• The question mark is removed.
• The word order becomes that of a normal statement (Subject + Verb).
• Use 'if' or 'whether' for yes/no questions. Use the original question word (what, where, when, why, how) for other questions.
• Pronouns and tenses often need to be shifted back.

Key Formulae/Rules

General Structure:
Subject + Reporting Verb (e.g., asked) + if/whether/question word + Subject + Verb + ...

Pronoun Change:
You → He/She/They (depending on the object of the reporting verb)

Tense Change (Backshifting):
Present Perfect ("have seen") often becomes Past Perfect ("had seen"). However, if the reporting verb is in a present tense (e.g., "is asking"), the tense in the reported clause can often remain the same, which is why "has seen" is correct here.