Reported Questions

I have a question about the use of reported speech.

" Who were with you", asked Tom.

If I have to change the above question into a reported question, should the answer be

1. Tom asked me who I had been with. Or
2. Tom asked me who had been with me.

Thanks!

Solution 1:

Both sentences are grammatically correct, and have essentially the same meaning, with a slight difference in emphasis: "... who I had been with" emphasises the active participation of the speaker, where "... who had been with me" emphasises the active participation of the others.

"... who had been with me." is the most direct paraphrase of the direct question "Who were with you?". The direct equivalent of "... who had been with me" would be "Who were you with?"