Question

Change the following sentence into indirect speech:
My father said to me, “Speak the truth and be noble.”
A) My father asked me to speak the truth and be noble.
B) My father forbade me to speak the truth and be noble.
C) My father ordered me to speak the truth and be noble.
D) My father advised me to speak the truth and be noble.

Answer 1

Hint: In the given question, we have to form an indirect speech. Direct speech refers to reporting the same and exact words of the speaker. Meanwhile, indirect speech refers to reporting the sentence of the speaker in its own words to a third party without changing its meaning by changing it into appropriate past tense.

Complete answer:
In order to change the sentence into indirect speech, we have to change the tense of the sentence into past tense. However, when the speaker is speaking about some facts or universal truth, the tense is not changed.

Let us evaluate the options:
Option A) My father asked me to speak the truth and be noble – This option is incorrect as the father is not asking a question; rather he is giving a life lesson. Hence, we cannot use the word “asked” since there is no question involved.
Option B) My father forbade me to speak the truth and be noble – This option is incorrect because forbade means prohibiting. The father is not disallowing the child from speaking the truth. It is the complete opposite of what the sentence is trying to convey. Hence, we cannot use “forbade” since it will be contradictory to the sentence.
Option C) My father ordered me to speak the truth and be noble – This option is incorrect because there is no command involved in the given case. The father is not ordering the child; rather he is teaching the child about the fact that speaking the truth is the way to becoming noble. Hence, we cannot use “ordered” since there is no compulsion or command involved.
Option D) My father advised me to speak the truth and be noble – This option is correct because the father is teaching the child about the fact that speaking the truth will lead to nobility. We can use “advised” since the father is providing guidance and the meaning of direct speech is retained.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘D’.

Note: Indirect speech is a declarative sentence. It cannot be in the form of a question or exclamation. Care should be taken that the meaning of the sentence is not changed while forming an indirect speech. Since the sentence is talking about facts/universal truth, it will not be appropriate to change and write “spoke the truth” or “became noble”.