Question

Change the following statement into indirect speech.
Mohan said to the servant, "Bring a hot cup of tea."
A) Mohan told the servant to bring a hot cup of tea.
B) Mohan said the servant to bring a cup of tea.
C) Mohan ordered the servant to bring a hot cup of tea.
D) Mohan ordered the servant to bring a cup of tea.

Answer 1

Hint: To change a sentence to an indirect speech, we need to convey the meaning of the sentence in our own words correctly and will change the tense into past tense. We will look for an option in which the meaning of the given sentence is conveyed without any error or changing its meaning.

Complete answer:
Let us analyse each option individually in detail to figure out the correct option with the help of the above stated hint.

A) Mohan told the servant to bring a hot cup of tea: The word ‘told’ used here is not right to convey what Mohan said. Therefore, this is not the correct option.
B) Mohan said the servant to bring a cup of tea: The word ‘hot’ is missing in this sentence. We convey the information as it is in an indirect speech. Therefore, this is not the correct option.
C) Mohan ordered the servant to bring a hot cup of tea: This sentence conveys the given sentence in the question correctly, and is also in past tense. Therefore, this is the correct option.
D) Mohan ordered to the servant to bring a cup of tea: The word ‘hot’ is missing in this sentence. We convey the information as it is in an indirect speech. Also, ‘ordered to’ is grammatically incorrect. Therefore, this is not the correct option.

Hence, the correct answer is option C.

Note: There are two ways in which a sentence can be presented. Direct and Indirect speech. A direct speech is one in which the exact words of the speaker are repeated. As it is in the given sentence. An indirect speech is the one in which only the meaning of the sentence is conveyed correctly in our own words. It is a declarative sentence.