Question

Change the following statement into indirect speech.

The student said to the teacher, "Sir, mark me present."

• A. The student told the teacher to mark me present.
• B. The student respectfully requested the teacher to mark him present.
• C. The student proposed the teacher to mark him present.
• D. The student urged the teacher to mark him present.

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

The student respectfully requested the teacher to mark him present.

The given sentence is a request.

In an imperative sentence, the verb of the reported speech takes 'to' i.e. to go, to do, etc. In the negative sentence the infinitive (to+ verb) is preceded by 'not'.

Infinitive always takes the basic form of the verb preceded by to. So, 'mark' will change into 'to mark'. The second person pronoun 'you' will change into the person of the speaker.

In an imperative sentence the reporting verb is changed into request, beg, order, advise, instruct, forbid.

Thus, in indirect speech, the sentence must be,

The student respectfully requested the teacher to mark him present.

Thus option B is the correct answer.

Options A,C,D are incorrect as they do not follow the rules of Narration and Reporting.